CD Replication is the professional and original process of making CDs that basically replicate or clone the real master copy. It is also known as CD Pressing, CD Molding or bulk copying. Fundamentally, CD replication is preferably suitable for commercial use. It offers a high quality, rapid and reliable way of replicating data at maximum readability level.
You will find a number of companies in the UK offering CD, DVD and Blu-ray disc bulk copying services. However, not all may be able to provide great quality services and not all may be ISO certified. The more professional ones can fulfil orders of 500 to millions copies of discs, which are configured through multipage Digipak Technique.
CD Molding needs to go through a unique procedure in order to make copies of data. First of all from the original copy, a Glass Master is created which aid in making bulk of exact Molding. From this glass master Stampers or Molds are formed. The stampers behave like blueprints for the bulk copying and use high-tech injection mold machine to make accurate copies of the master copy in the figure of 120mm plastic disc. The created disc is then coated with a reflective aluminum layer. At the end the disc is sealed with a protective lacquer toughened by ultraviolet light rays.
In addition, Molding/Pressing also includes label and packaging to give a professional look to CDs that is why it is often referred to as Professional CD Burning. As the CD Pressing process is completely automated so it requires a bit expensive start up cost and low per unit cost and is proficient to make volumes of at least 1000 units. In other ways, CD Molding is generally used for large amounts of data and can make nearly $1.00 each per disc cost.
The turnaround time for CD Molding is 10-14 days because it needs to add some necessary steps for it completion. The whole procedure is a definite process and prevents factors like pollen and dust etc to maintain quality of exact copies. Disc Pressing ensures reliable copies of data up to the standard.
Sometimes, both the CD Replication/Molding and CD Duplication are used interchangeably but there are few technical differences which makes them dissimilar. The former is meant for commercial use whereas CD duplication is used for personal usage. CD duplication needs individual discs for data burning while CD Molding is a specialized way to make copies of discs via master copy.
In order to produce high volume of data its ideal to go for CD Molding i.e. more than 1,000 discs and for less than 1,000 CDs, CD duplication is a better option. Pressing/Molding of CDs requires 10-14 days for its complete process while CD duplication requires 3-5 days for its process. CD burning is a tiresome process while CD pressing is clearly a quick and more perfect process.
Whether the choice is Molding or duplication, the end product works in a same way. They only differ when we talk about the turnover time and quantity instead of quality. However, CD replication may produce CDs with more professional quality.