About Us

Evidence Grade^® is now the sole source of Evidence Grade^®, Judicial Grade™, Law Enforcement Grade™, and Discovery Grade™ media, including CD-R, DVD-R DVD±R, BD-R, BD-R-DL, and BD-RXL. We provide this media to the US Government Agencies, Federal and State Prosecutors, District Attorneys, Courts, and State, Local, and County Law Enforcement organizations. These organizations require that any media used for original or derived evidence must be readable until after the last appeal. For evidence use, we manufacture Evidence Grade^® media and Judicial Grade Media. The Evidence Grade^® media is for use where recording and storage may be under adverse environmental and physical conditions. Judicial Grade™ media is for use under semi-controlled conditions that are less detrimental to the life of the media. Evidence Grade^® has been the source for Evidence Grade^® media for the Law Enforcement community since 2009.

Media manufactured today by even the major brands varies in correctable error rates, Jitter, and Reflectivity due to normal manufacturing processes and materials used. During handling, different manufacturing processes (printing, serialization, etc.), storage, and shipping conditions, additional defects can be introduced, which reduces the maximum number of errors that can be corrected during record and playback functions. When errors occur, uncorrectable parts or even the whole disc can become unreadable, thus making the media unusable in a court of law.

Evidence Grade^® has instituted very strong Quality Assurances Testing and Procedures to assure that our media will survive the use, handling, and storage under adverse and semi-controlled conditions for at least 32 years, usually well beyond the last appeal time. (The industry standard for life claims 100 years, but that applies only if the media is carefully handled and stored under perfect conditions).

Most companies that sell to the public and small businesses do not test the media during incoming or in-process operations. Neither do they usually insist on media manufactured using specific materials. Our media and materials are sample tested upon receipt and during manufacturing to ensure that the discs do not exceed our specified Error rates, Jitter, and other criteria.

Part of our Quality Assurance consists of the following: Incoming inspection: Compliance in materials used in manufacturing. Visual for scratches, deformations, inconsistency in dye coatings and reflective surfaces, and adequacy of bonding on DVD±R and BD-R media.

In-process inspection: Visual for scratches and foreign material on media due to manufacturing process and operator handling, printing defects, and electronic testing, as above. Verification of added Serialization and readability of Barcodes.

As a result of these procedures, any non-compliant media is scrapped.

Materials used in the manufacture of CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R-DL, BD-R, BD-R-DL, and BD-R-XL are critical to low error rate, jitter, longevity, reflectivity, and resistance to mishandling during use and storage conditions.

Our media is precisely manufactured using the following materials, which have proven to be the most reliable and error-free:

• Media used in adverse conditions such as high humidity is subject to corrosion on the reflective surface which can make the disc unreadable. We suggest the Evidence Grade Gold version for these conditions as Gold does not oxidize/corrode. In semi-controlled conditions with standard humidity, Silver is sufficient. We use 99.9% Silver for Judicial Grade media.
• Virgin Polycarbonate is optically pure, whereas recycled, which some manufacturers use, is not. The polycarbonate layer acts as a lens, and any distortion can cause errors in recording and reading.
• Dyes drastically affect life (Longevity) due to UV and heat exposure. We use AZO dyes (CD-R & DVD-R), which are the least affected and the most reliable.
• Bonding, if not complete, can cause DVD-Rs to separate if dropped or even when handling, thus making them unusable. We manufacture with the hub area left clear and a sufficient outer edge (nonmetallic) to ensure a good bond.
• Hard Coating on the read surface to reduce the possibility of scratches caused by handling, which, if they penetrate the reflective layer, can make the media unusable.
• Method of printing can increase error rates. Thermal printing is the least desirable because of the pressure of the individual pins pressing on the media. Silk Screen is the second least damaging and long-lasting. We print using Zero Contact Full Color Digital Printing. The discs are printed without any contact from the print head or pressure during printing. The print is cured using Cold Cure UV Curing technology which dramatically reduces the heat from the UV lamps to the disc surface. Some suppliers send out their media to be printed, which adds to the risk of damage caused by the additional handling and shipping.

Human and machine-readable serialization can strengthen the chain of evidence procedures. We verify that serialization is consecutive from order to order, and each barcode is tested for readability.

Packing and packaging can protect the media from damage or add to it. All our media is packed on stand-up 10, 25, 50, or 100-count spindles depending on the media ordered; with the bottom disc being a blank protective disc that is shrink-wrapped to prevent dust contamination. Each contains a printed description of the product with the customer's name. The packaging uses a custom-designed inner cardboard sleeve in a 4, 5, or 6-count carton depending on the media chosen.

All of this is done by design to assure that your Evidence, original or derived, recorded on our Evidence Grade^® media will still function and be readable through the last appeal cycle regardless of the conditions in which it was used or stored. The same is true of the other Grades of media but only when used and stored under semicontrolled conditions.

Evidence Grade^® assures you that no other manufacturer or distributor can recreate the process of the Evidence Grade^® products.