NEC has launched the world's first DVD burner that features the LabelFlash technology. The company announced that the PC drives will be available later this month. NEC claims that the LabelFlash technology has few restrictions on creativity and design.

NEC's Label Flash technology is competing against HP's Lightscribe.

LabelFlash technology simplifies the labeling of self-burned DVDs and also enables creative DVD design. It eliminates the need for complex adhesive labeling systems and considerably enhances the durability of the media because, especially in the case of DVD blanks, the label can make the medium unreadable.

LabelFlash delivers high image quality because it enables 256 brightness shades.
The labeling process takes around five minutes to produce good quality results. One special feature is that both the top side and the data side of the blank can be labeled - provided that there is enough available memory.

LabelFlash can be used for any blanks with a writable top surface. On these media, the labeled top surface is covered by a 0.6 millimeter-thick protect layer which ensures that even labels that are exposed to light are extremely durable.

NEC is also launching two Slim SuperMulti DVD burners, optionally with or without LabelFlash, under the names of ND-7551A and ND-7550A. The ND-7550A slimline burner writes all DVD formats at 8x speed (DVD-R DL at 6x) and it can write DVD-RAMs at up to 5x speed.