Imation to Ship Water Resistant Discs

New AquaGuard technology will provide protection from water and humidity

Imation Corp. yesterday announced a new water-resistant and smear-resistant surface for inkjet printable material. Dubbed AquaGuard, this new surface cover material should start appearing on Imation optical media in the second quarter of this year.

AquaGuard uses a proprietary surface which uses nanoparticles to grip and hold ink, locking printed images in place. This helps to resist smears and color bleeding when exposed to water or humidity. Imation said discs with this technology, which is already available in Japan, are compatible with all models of leading inkjet-based disc duplication and printing equipment from Primera as well as disc printable systems from Epson.

“Water-resistance is a feature that our customers have been requesting for many years,” said Mark Strobel, Primera’s vice president of sales and marketing. “Imation’s AquaGuard surface delivers the outstanding print quality, instantaneous drying and incredible water resistance that will allow inkjet printed CDs and DVDs to be used in virtually any application where exposure to raindrops, snowflakes or immediate handling was a concern.”