DVD Duplication provides a cost effective way to produce low volumes of DVD for demonstration purposes
. It is important to note this method does not produce a genuine retail quality product. Only DVDs manufactured by replication will provide the shop ready article.
For replication it is common for the minimum production run to be 500 and in some cases 1000. DVD duplication provides the option of lower quantities. It is worth noting however that it can prove more cost effective to replicate especially if you are likely to require more copies in the future. Costs for DVD duplication remain similar for each time you order whereas replication unit costs are lower. For example if you ordered 200 duplicated DVDs initially and then had a requirement for a further 200 a short time later, the likelihood is it would be far cheaper to replicate 500 or even 1000 at the outset.
Another important factor to consider is compatibility. Although success rate is very high, it is impossible for any company offering DVD duplication to 100% guarantee that every copy will work in any drive. All discs have errors and although these errors are not determined by the actual data, because the duplicated DVDs are burnt to blank recordable media, every disc will be different. It is even possible some brands of blank media are not compatible with some drives or the speed at which they are burnt can cause issues. Replication avoids these issues because each disc is pressed from a stamper created from a glass master. Because each disc is replicated from the exact same source and are pressed they will all be identical with the purest possible result.
Printing and packaging are also likely to be different. For replicated DVDs, the print is standard as screen or litho. It is not cost effective to print low volumes with these methods and therefore the alternatives are usually digital print or inkjet. Results should still look good however can never truly compare with the professional retail quality product provided with replication.
That said, there are still many advantages for DVD duplication. Not only the option of low volume but the turnaround is usually much faster than replication so for those trade shows or demo copies that are needed within a few days it provides the perfect solution.