CD and DVD packaging
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- Jewel box redirects here. For the open cluster NGC 4755 see Jewel Box
CD and DVD packaging is the packaging that accompanies commercial CDs and DVDS.
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Jewel case
Image:Packaging Jewelcase with music-booklet.jpg A Jewel case is a three-piece plastic case, measuring 142 mm × 125 mm × 10 mm, which usually contains a compact disc along with the liner notes and a back card. Two opposing transparent halves are hinged together to form the casing, the back half holding a media tray that grips the disc by its hole. All three parts are made of injection-molded polystyrene.
The front lid contains two, four, or six opposing tabs to keep any liner notes in place. The liner notes typically will be a 120 mm × 120 mm booklet, or a single 120 mm × 240 mm leaf folded in half. In addition, there is a back card between the media tray and the back, usually listing the track names, studio, copyright data and other information the consumer would need to read before purchasing. The back card is folded into a flat U shape, with the sides being visible along the ends of the case. The ends usually have the disc name and artist printed on them, and are designed to label the case when it is stored book-style.
The back media tray snaps into the back cover, and is responsible for securing the disk. In its center is a circular hub of teeth which grip the disc by its hole. This effectively suspends the disk in the middle of the container, preventing the recording surface from being scratched. Originally, the media tray was constructed of a flexible black polystyrene, but many newer trays use a more fragile transparent polystyrene. This allows the reverse of the back card to be visible, and is usually used for additional artwork.
Origin of the name: the case does not derive in any way from containers for jewelry. Instead, the name apparently originates from watchmakers' use of the term jewel to refer generally to a polished hemispherical bearing used in a mechanism (high-quality mechanical watches and clocks commonly use gemstones, typically rubies, for such bearings because of their low friction properties). A jewel case has two moulded hemispherical plastic bearings, in its hinges, hence the use of the term "jewel".
Weaknesses
The original jewel case design has a well-known and very frustrating weakness in that the case is hinged on two brittle plastic arms, which often break if the case receives shock or stress. The teeth of the hub holding the disc are also prone to failure. An opposite problem are the tabs which hold the liner notes in place; sometimes, especially with larger booklets, the tabs grip the booklet too tightly, leading to tearing. As noted above some CD releases have only two tabs, which allows the booklet to be easily removed (at the small cost of the booklet sometimes falling out if held the wrong way).
Variations
Double albums can either be packaged in a normal jewel case with a hinged media tray (which can be lifted up to reveal the second disc, and is even more breakable than the lid) or in a double jewel case, which is the size of two normal jewel cases put together. The latter do not fit in most CD racks, however the design of these cases (with a small gap between the two normal sized trays) allows them to fit in specially designed racks.
The intended successor, which is now gaining ground, is the "Super Jewel Box", a more advanced design which offers (amongst other improvements) a greatly strengthened hinge area. Unfortunately the Super Jewel Box cannot be used as a direct replacement for the older jewel case design, as its card insert for the back is slightly different in size. However in many other ways it is an attractive concept and some CD manufacturers (for example the high-end company Linn) are supplying them. The Super Jewel Box was developed by Philips and other CD format developers, originally in a larger format as a DVD case, and then in smaller formats as CD cases.
A number of other alternatives to the standard jewel case are also seen, including digipak sleeves, and DVD-style larger cases with a more book-like format.
In the United States, the jewel box of a music CD was originally packaged for retail sale in a large cardboard box called a longbox, in order to fit in store fixtures designed for vinyl records, offer larger space for display of artwork and marketing blurbs, and deter theft. This packaging was much-criticized as environmentally wasteful, and was eventually dropped.
Slimline jewel case
Slimline jewel cases first gained popularity as cases for European-made CD singles, and have become a common space-saving packaging for burned CD-ROMs. Most are roughly half the thickness of a standard CD jewel case, allowing twice as many CDs to be stored in the same space, but they generally do not have room for a full package insert booklet, only a slip of paper for a track listing or cover art.
Most slimline cases are made from the same fragile polystyrene as full-sized jewel cases. A stronger alternative is made from semi-opaque, semi-flexible polypropylene, strong enough to protect the disc, but flexible enough not to break easily.
Spindle or cakebox
Spindles are generally used for shipping blank recordable CD and DVD media, and sometimes for storage, though it is generally more common to use jewel boxes or envelopes for storing individual burned media. They are not generally used for prerecorded media.
However, a growing trend in computer game packaging is to put them into a DVD case featuring a spindle. Games like The Movies and Black And White 2 come with all the discs on a spindle.
Paper or Tyvek Sleeve
Image:Packaging Paper Sleeve with CD.jpg
The simplest, least expensive package is a paper envelope. More expensive versions add a transparent window to the envelope allowing the disc label to be seen. The envelope can also be made out of spin-bonded polyethylene (trade-named Tyvek); this is both more durable and less abrasive than paper.
Digipack
A digipack is a generic term for any cardboard CD case, stemming from the trademarked Digipak, which is a jewel-case-style plastic CD tray glued inside a folding cardboard "case." The term has been appropriated to generally refer to any cardboard-based CD packages, not necessarily Digipaks themselves. Originally thought of as a more environmental alternative to jewel boxes, they are still used less than jewel boxes due to construction costs and durability concerns.
LP Style Case
A recent trend in CD packaging has been packaging CDs in sleeves comparable to LPs. Many of these albums come from Japan, however, a few American albums are given LP style packaging, such as Morrissey's live album Live at Earls Court, and R.E.M.'s 2 disc version of their greatest hit package, In Time. A similar packaging type was also used for Phish's 1995 live release A Live One, with the CDs inserted into interior slots perpendicular to the spine rather than the ends. While some new albums are given the treatment, many of these albums were older albums that were released back when records were still the predominant medium.
The downside to this format is that unless the disc is given a protective sleeve of some sort, the disc can be easily scratched each time it is taken out for play. A more serious issue can also be that if the glue that keeps the sleeve that holds the CD closed on the side closest to the spine (on gatefold covers) weakens, it can get onto CD, rendering it unplayable.
However, the advantages are that album covers that were originally textured, such as Fear of Music by Talking Heads, can retain the texturing on the CD release.
Even more recently, CD manufacturers have encased standard CD jewel cases in a cardboard slipcover, to give the appearance of LPs and allow more space for cover art. Vitalic's album OK Cowboy is one example of this style of packaging.