Compact Disks

Originally developed for storing audio, CDs have gained their popularity in the data
department because they are highly compact in both size and volume. CDs have a
unique variety of storing data and are now available in many types, which we will
expand upon further in this report.

• Types of CDs

a. CD-ROM: Contains data that is accessible to, but not writable by, a
computer. The 1985 version CD-ROM was given a "Yellow Book"
Standard by Sony and Phillips, from which it was developed, and it
adapted the format to hold any type of binary data. Popularity of
CD-ROMs contributed to the creation and distribution of software
that included games and multimedia applications, though any type
of data can be stored.

b. CD-R: The CD-R was also created by Sony and Philips, but this time
as a WORM optical medium [or a Write Once Read Many disc]. This
meant that the user would be able to copy information into the disk
only once, but had the ability to read it as many times as they
preferred. Interestingly, CD-Rs retained a high level of compatibility
with standard CD readers, unlike its brother, the CD-RW, which had
the ability to be re-written, but had lower compatibility and used
more expensive media.

c. CD-RW: It is a rewritable optical disc format. Known as CD-

Erasable during its development, CD-RW was introduced in 1997,
and was preceded by the never officially released CD-MO in 1988.
Though they it was rewritable and therefore had greater appeal to
the public, CD-RWs never gained the widespread popularity of the
CD-R, partly due to their higher per-unit price, lower recording and
reading speeds, and compatibility issues with CD reading units, as
well as between CD-RW formats of different speeds specifications.

d. The first CD format was that which defined the audio CD used in
all regular CD players, called CD Digital Audio [CD-DA for short.]
The specifications for this format were codified in the first CD
standard called the "red book" which was developed by Philips and
Sony, the creators of the original compact disk technology. This
book specifies not just the data format for digital audio but also the
physical specifications for compact disks: the size of the media, the
spacing of the tracks, etc. Data in the CD digital audio format is
encoded by starting with a source sound file, and sampling it to
 convert it to digital format. CD-DA audio uses a sample rate of 44.1
kHz, which is roughly double the highest frequency audible by
humans. Each sample is 16 bits in size, and the sampling is done in
stereo and for that reason, each second of sound takes (44,100 * 2
* 2) bytes of data, which is 176,400 bytes.

• Capacities

a. A CD has a single spiral track [approximately 0.5 microns

wide, and 1.6 microns separating one track from another] of
data, circling from the inside of the disc to the outside. The fact
that the spiral track starts at the center means that the CD can
be smaller than 4.8 inches (12 cm) if desired, and in fact there
are now plastic baseball cards and business cards that you can
put in a CD player. CD business cards hold about 2 MB of data
before the size and shape of the card cuts off the spiral.

b. As discussed in How Analog and Digital Recording Works, a

CD can store up to 74 minutes of music, so the total amount of
digital data that must be stored on a CD is:
44,100 samples/channel/second x 2 bytes/sample x 2
channels x 74 minutes x 60 seconds/minute =
783,216,000 bytes

To fit more than 783 megabytes (MB) onto a disc only 4.8 inches
(12 cm) in diameter requires that the individual bytes be very
small. By examining the physical construction of a CD, you can
begin to understand just how small these bytes are.

• CD Multisessions

a. A multisession CD is a recordable CD format (like a CD-R) that allows

the recording of a compact disk to be conducted in more than one
recording session. If there is free space left on the CD after the first
 session, additional data can be written to it at a later date. Each
session has its own lead in, program area, and lead out. This takes
up about 20 megabytes of space, and therefore, is less efficient than
recording data all at once.
b. Multisession CDs can be read in current CD-ROM drives, unless data
is recorded track-by-track or sector by sector This process is known
as packet writing and in this case only the newer CD-ROM drives,
accompanied by appropriate software are able to read the disk.

Digital Versatile/Video DIscs

DVDs, short for Digital Versatile/Video discs, can be used for digital recordings [such
as movies] on an optical disc and can be played on a computer or television set.
They are a new generation of CDs that have the ability to store data faster and
bigger than its predecessor, thus having the ability to hold high quality audio, still
photos, and computer data. In this report we will research the types of DVDs and
extra features that make the DVD special.

• Combo drives.

a. Combo drives are a type of optical drive that combines the

recording capabilities of the CD-R && CD-RW to read DVD media,
and was created as a mid-range option between a CD and DVD
burner. Unfortunately, though combo drives are a good idea, their
price range is pretty high, costing in excess of $300 a unit.

• DVD Video, ROM, +R, -R, +RW, -RW

a. DVD-Video

DVD-Videos are currently the dominant consumer video format in

Canada, Europe, and Australia and use require only two things, a DVD drive
and an MP2 decoder. A major selling point of the DVD-Video is its storage
capacity, which allows a wide variety of extra features in addition to the film
itself. Such extra features include audio commentary, documentary features,
deleted scenes, photo galleries, storyboards, isolated music scores, trivia text
commentary, simple games, film shorts, TV sports, radio spots, and most
commonly trailers and teaser trailers.

b. DVD-ROM

DVD-ROMs support disks with capacities from 4.7 GB to 17GB at access

rates of 600KBps-1.3MBps. One of the best features of the ROM is its
compatibility to CD-ROMs, allowing DVD-ROMs to play old CD-ROMs, CD-I
disks, and video CDS.

c. DVD-R

This is a DVD that is in recordable format. Like the DVD-ROM, it has a

storage capacity of 4.71 GB which is significantly larger than its 700 MB CD-R
predecessor. Like the CD-R, data cannot be changed on the DVD-R and once
something is put in it cannot be reformatted.

d. DVD+R

This type of optical disc, like the DVD-R, is also write-only and contains
a storage capacity of 4.7 GB, which is slightly less than the capacity of the
DVD-R. [Since the DVD+R format is a competing format to the DVD-R format,
which is developed by the DVD Forum, it had not been approved by the DVD
Forum, which claimed that the DVD+R format was not an official DVD format
until January 25, 2008]

e. DVD-RW

The DVD+RW is a rewriteable version of the optical disk ; it holds up to

4.7 GB of memory and is used to store films, music, or other data. DVD-RWs
support random write access and can be treated like a large floppy disk.

f. DVD+RW

It is the same as the the DVD+RW, and has a storage capacity of 4.7
GB. Its format was developd by Pioneer and has been approved by the DVD
forum. It, unlike the DVD-ROM, is playable in about 75% of conventional DVD
players.
 • Single Sided, double sided, single layer, dual Layer DVD

[DVDs are of the same diameter and thickness as CDs, and similarly have data
encoded in the form of small pits and bumps in the track of the disc. DVDs are
composed of several layers of plaster injected with polycarbonate plastic. There are
various types of layers made when creating the bumps on the CD]:

a. Single Layer

On single-layer DVDs, the track always circles from the inside of the
disc to the outside. That the spiral track starts at the center means that a
single-layer DVD can be smaller than 12 centimeters if desired.

b. Single Sided

The bumps are composed only on one side of the DVD

c. Double Sided

Bumps are composed on both sides of the disc therefore increasing

storage space. Storage capacity can amount up to 17GB.

d. Dual Layer

The DVDs have two layers of spiral tracks in contrast to the singly layer
which only has one.

• Capacities of the different types of optical media

-DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW have respectably the same capacity, which
is 4.7 GB.

-Single-sided/single-layer can hold up to 4.4 GB, while Single-sided/double-layered

DVDs can hold up to 7.95 GB. Double-sided/single-layered CDs have a capacity of
8.75 and Double-sided/double-layered CDs can amount to 15.9 GB.

-DVD-ROMs can hold from 4.7GBs to 17GBs.

• Which DVD is right for you?

-If you would like to insert data only once you should try the DVD-R or DVD+R. If
you are looking for a re-writable optical disk, try your luck with the DVD-RW and the
DVD+RWs. If you want to view videos DVD-ROMs are perfect and allow you to view
extra visual effects thus enhancing your entertainment. But as of the moment
DVD+RWs are more popular than DVD-ROMs because it is compatible to about 75%
of most conventional DVD players.

• Dolby AC-3 audio compression

Lossy format designed for the encoding of surround sound, AC-3 was developed to
support motion picture presentations in theaters and at home. The maximum
bitrate in the ATSC AC-3 specification is 640 kb/s. In DVD applications and in digital
cable television, however, player and distribution limitations keep the maximum to
448 kb/s.

• MPEG2 video compression

DVDs use a video coding standard called MPEG-2 that can compress around two
hours of video data by 15 to 30 times, while still producing a picture quality that is
generally considered high-quality for standard-definition video

• Decoders

A decoder is a piece of software that allows playback of DVD Movies on a PC or

MAC, and most commonly used within Windows Media Player for Windows XP and
Vista. By default, WMP does not contain a Decoder, thus the plugin must be used for
DVD playback. A decoder will not copy DVD's only play them