A roll of direct-thermal material may have a length of direct-thermal material including a facestock. An adhesive layer is on a first side of the facestock. A direct thermal coating is on a second side of the facestock, the direct thermal coating configured to selectively darken by heat activation when direct thermal printed. a cured ultraviolet LED coating is on the direct thermal coating, the cured ultraviolet LED coating having photoinitiators with substantial activation at an exposure limited to LED radiation at a 365 nm-450 nm wavelength range, and configured to allow direct thermal printing of the direct thermal coating therethrough, the cured ultraviolet LED coating curable without heat activating the direct thermal coating. The length of direct-thermal material being rolled on itself.

Provided are energy curable high-stretch inks and coatings for heat transfer labels. The inks and coatings include monofunctional monomers/oligomers, thermoplastic inert resins, and zero or a limited amount of multifunctional monomers/oligomers and exhibit good stretchability and surface resistance, such as scratch resistance and solvent (water, oil) resistance. Also provided are methods of using the high stretch inks in heat-transfer label (HTL) applications.

A thermal sensitive media for use with labeling or identification methods is disclosed. The thermal sensitive media comprises a media layer and a thermally sensitive record layer formed upon at least one surface of the media layer. The thermally sensitive record layer forms a visually discernable colored image in response to heat. However, the colored image is subject to degradation as a result of exposure to ultraviolet radiation within a known photodegradative wavelength range. An ultraviolet protective coating layer may then disposed over the thermally sensitive record layer. A lamination layer is positioned internal to the media layer and comprises a matrix of micro heating elements driven by radio frequency (RF) power. The matrix of micro heating elements are arranged in a pin array to energize the micro heating elements within the laminated media structure to create a simple numeric image.

A recording medium capable of reducing a color gamut change is provided. The recording medium includes a plurality of coloring layers and at least one diffusion reduction layer. Each of the coloring layers includes a coloring compound that is electron-donative, a developer that is electron-acceptive, and matrix resin. The diffusion reduction layer is provided between the coloring layers adjacent to each other. The diffusion reduction layer is capable of reducing diffusion of the coloring compound between the coloring layers adjacent to each other during heating of the recording medium.