What is an Optical Disc?

An optical disc is an electronic data storage medium that can be written to and read using a low-powered laser beam. Originally developed in the late 1960s, the first optical disc, created by James T. Russell, stored data as micron-wide dots of light and dark. A laser read the dots, and the data was converted to an electrical signal, and finally to audio or visual output. However, the technology didn't appear in the marketplace until Philips and Sony came out with the compact disc (CD) in 1982. Since then, there has been a constant succession of optical disc formats, first in CD formats, followed by a number of DVD formats.

Optical disc offers a number of advantages over magnetic storage media. An optical disc holds much more data. The greater control and focus possible with laser beams (in comparison to tiny magnetic heads) means that more data can be written into a smaller space. Storage capacity increases with each new generation of optical media. Emerging standards, such as Blu-ray, offer up to 27 gigabytes (GB) on a single-sided 12-centimeter disc. In comparison, a diskette, for example, can hold 1.44 megabytes (MB). Optical discs are inexpensive to manufacture and data stored on them is relatively impervious to most environmental threats, such as power surges, or magnetic disturbances.

Optical Disc formats include dvd, cd, vcd, bluray, cd/dvd business card

What is a cd ?

Short for Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory, a type of optical disk capable of storing large amounts of data -- up to 1GB, although the most common size is 650MB (megabytes).

A single CD-ROM has the storage capacity of 700 floppy disks, enough memory to store about 300,000 text pages.

CD-ROMs are stamped by the vendor, and once stamped, they cannot be erased and filled with new data. To read a CD, you need a CD-ROM player. All CD-ROMs conform to a standard size and format, so you can load any type of CD-ROM into any CD-ROM player. In addition, CD-ROM players are capable of playing audio CDs, which share the same >technology.

CD-ROMs are particularly well-suited to information that requires large storage capacity. This includes large software applications that support colour, graphics, sound, and especially video.

What is dvd5?

This is what most people think of as a DVD, it's a single layer disc with a 4.7GB capacity. We can duplicate these individually (DVD-Rs) or replicate them in quantities starting at 1,000.

What is Dvd 9?

A dual layer DVD. Dual Layer discs advertise that they store around 8.5GB's. This is somewhat misleading, as they actually store around 7.95GB's of data. Swap Magic isn't compatible with DVD-9 games at present. The only way to play a DVD-9 without shrinking it to DVD-5 (single layer DVD) is with a modchip that supports DVD-9, or HD advance 3.0.

What is the difference between dvd5 and dvd9?

There are many different capacities of DVD. The one used by consumer DVD burners is a DVD-5. It has one side and one layer- making its total capacity about 4.2 GB

When we say layer we mean that a DVD surface can actually have two slightly different layers that can be read by the player's laser. In general, most Hollywood DVDs are DVD-9s: one side, two layers with a total capacity of 8.4 GB.

What is Blu-ray?

Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD) is the name of a next-generation optical disc format. The format was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data. The format offers more than five times the storage capacity of traditional DVDs and can hold up to 25GB on a single-layer disc and 50GB on a dual-layer disc.

Where did the name Blu-ray come from?

The name Blu-ray is derived from the underlying technology, which utilizes a blue-violet laser to read and write data. The name is a combination of "Blue" (blue-violet laser) and "Ray" (optical ray). According to the Blu-ray Disc Association the spelling of "Blu-ray" is not a mistake, the character "e" was intentionally left out so the term could be registered as a trademark.

How much data can fit in a Blu-ray Disc?

A single-layer disc can hold 25GB.

A dual-layer disc can hold 50

To ensure that the Blu-ray Disc format is easily extendable (future-proof) it also includes support for multi-layer discs, which should allow the storage capacity to be increased to 100GB-200GB (25GB per layer) in the future simply by adding more layers to the discs.

What is the difference between replication and duplication

CD/DVD replication is a "mass-production" injection molding method for manufacturing the highest quality and lowest price of copies. CD/DVD duplication is a term that typically describes "burning" or writing low-volume production runs of discs.

The decision to replicate is dependent upon the number of discs that you want to order. If you need a small number of discs, then burning may be the right choice. Replication (molding) of discs always should be the choice for larger orders.

What is Macrovision?

An anti-taping process that modifies a signal so that it appears unchanged on most televisions but is distorted and unwatchable when played back from a videotape recording. Macrovision takes advantage of characteristics of automatic game controlAGC circuits and burst decoder circuits in VCRs to interfere with the recording process.

What is CSS Encryption?

CSS is an abbreviation for Content Scrambling System. It uses a proprietary 40-bit encryption stream cipher algorithm. A specific key set is needed in order to play the CSS encrypted product. .

What is a Glass Master?

The first step in the process to produce a stamper for the purpose of the replication of CD and DVDs.

What is the difference between a DVD 5, DVD 9 & DVD 10 ?

All DVD’s are comprised of two 0.6 millimeter discs bonded together. The main difference between the various formats is their data storage capacity. A DVD 5 holds 4.7 gigabytes of data and is a single layer, single sided disc. A DVD 9 holds 8.5 gigabytes of data and is a dual layer, single sided disc. Both DVD 5 and DVD 9 allow the customer to print a full side disc label. A DVD 10 holds 9.4 gigabytes of data and is a single layer, dual sided disc. This format only allows a small ring to be printed on both sides of the disc.

What is the difference between replication and duplication ?

Duplicated discs are writable discs that can be copied in small quantities. The process of duplicating is the same as it is on a desktop computer. The information or video is burned on to a blank disc. Duplicated discs can be made in any amount in as fast as one day. Duplicated DVD-R discs will play back in most new DVD decks and computers, but they are not as reliable or compatible as replicated discs.
Replicated discs are injection molded from scratch in very expensive replicators. Replication discs are more reliable and considered "retail ready" discs. The main drawback to replication is that it requires a minimum order of 1,000 discs and takes about 10 business days. Replicated discs play in all players and are highly recommended for large quantity orders.

Duplication utilizes blank DVD discs where the information or video is "Burned" onto the disc. Replicated discs are manufactured from scratch from plastic pellets. Duplicated discs are more delicate than Replicated discs.

What is the Difference between Audio CD-R and Data CD-R?

An audio CD-R is formatted to play back audio recordings in Music CD players and computer drives. They are similar to the CDs you buy at a music store. Data CD-R’s contain data files and do not play in conventional music CD players. It is possible to burn audio files on to a data cd, but they will read back as data file