LightScribe
thermal printing technology for the label side of optical media
LightScribe is an optical disc recording technology that was created by the Hewlett-Packard Company. It uses specially coated recordable CD and DVD media to produce laser-etched labels with text or graphics, as opposed to stick-on labels and printable discs. Although HP is no longer developing the technology, it is still maintained and supported by a number of independent enthusiasts.
The LightScribe method uses the laser in a way similar to when plain data are written to the disc; a greyscale image of the label is etched onto the upper side of the disc using a laser. The discs were initially available only in a sepia color but later became available in many monochromatic hues.
The purpose of LightScribe is to allow users to create direct-to-disc labels (as opposed to stick-on labels) using their optical disc writer. Special discs and a compatible disc writer are required. Before or after burning data to the read-side of the disc, the user turns the disc over and inserts it with the label side down. The drive's laser then burns the label side in such a way that an image is produced.
History
LightScribe was conceived by Hewlett-Packard engineer Daryl Anderson, and the coating's chemistry was developed by Dr.
The public source identifies “LightScribe” as thermal printing technology for the label side of optical media. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around LightScribe, thermal and printing.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q679874. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “LightScribe” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.