you can't rely on the media id, because it can and has been faked during the manufacturing process of the disc... even taiyo-yuden dvd's have been faked.

at this point in time, it appears that both maxell and taiyo-yuden have seperate product lines that might have been manufactured in both japan and taiwan(or elsewhere?).

maxell used to be made only in japan, and i suspect that is what you are getting if you buy the discs in lots of 100... but there are many claims that the retail maxell you get at the department store is manufactured elsewhere.

supermediastore.com is now selling a taiyo-yuden "value line" product, in addition to the standard taiyo-yuden lineup... is this "value line" also manufactured in japan?

As I've heard. It should go without saying that one should only purchase from a reputable store, but I probably should have said it, anyway.

Really? I didn't know that.

Still, since one obviously can't check the media ID while the discs are in their packages at the store, buying only made in Japan DVDs is a fairly sure way of getting good quality media.

Well, all one has to do is look at the label. But as long as the quality control is up to par at all the Maxell plants, there shouldn't be any reason to worry.

I honestly have no idea. I didn't even know Taiyo-Yuden had brought out a value line.