Pyral SAS is a manufacturer of magnetic recording media products, based in Avranches

Avranches

Avranches is a commune in the Manche department in the Basse-Normandie region in north-western France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. The inhabitants are called Avranchinais.-History:...

, France. As of 2004, it is an independent company.
Prior to 2004, it was part of EMTEC

EMTEC

EMTEC is part of the Dexxon Group headquartered in Gennevilliers, France and markets consumer computer data storage products and other computer related consumables. Dexxon Group's North American subsidiary, Dexxxon Digital Storage Inc. is located in Lewis Center, Ohio. EMTEC evolved from BASF...

, BASF

BASF

BASF SE is the largest chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Germany. BASF originally stood for Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik . Today, the four letters are a registered trademark and the company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, and Zurich Stock...

, and Rhône-Poulenc

Rhône-Poulenc

-History of the company:The Company was founded in 1928 through the merger of Société des Usines Chimiques du Rhône from Lyon and Établissements Poulenc Frères from Paris founded by Étienne Poulenc, a 19th century Parisian apothecary and brought to prominence by his second and third sons Emile...

.

In 1934, Pyral created a new type of transcription disc. Their innovation was to coat the aluminum disc

Aluminum disc

An aluminium disc is a disk made out of aluminium and is used as a transcription disc in magnetic recording media, specifically early radio recordings...

 with a layer of lacquer

Lacquer

In a general sense, lacquer is a somewhat imprecise term for a clear or coloured varnish that dries by solvent evaporation and often a curing process as well that produces a hard, durable finish, in any sheen level from ultra matte to high gloss and that can be further polished as required...

. These discs came to be known as lacquers or acetates

Acetate disc

An acetate disc, also known as a test acetate, dubplate , lacquer , transcription disc or instantaneous disc...

.

Pyral was originally based in Créteil

Créteil

-Health:As of 1 January 2006, 27 pharmacies, about 60 dentists, about 60 general practitioners, 10 pediatricians, and a half-dozen ophthalmologists and dermatologists constitute the general medical staff of the city.Health facilities include:...

, France, but moved to the Avranches location in 1985.

As of 2007, The company's primary product is perforated magnetic tape

Magnetic tape

Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...

, used to record sound for movie productions. They also produce magnetic inks and slurries used in the production of magnetic stripe card

Magnetic stripe card

A magnetic stripe card is a type of card capable of storing data by modifying the magnetism of tiny iron-based magnetic particles on a band of magnetic material on the card...

s.