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Optical disc authoring Optical disc authoring, including DVD and Blu-ray Disc authoring, is the process of assembling source material—video, audio or other data—into the proper logical volume format to then be recorded ("burned") onto an optical disc (typ ...
requires a number of different optical disc
recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...
technologies working in tandem, from the
optical disc In computing and optical disc recording technologies, an optical disc (OD) is a flat, usually circular disc that encodes binary data (bits) in the form of pits and lands on a special material, often aluminum, on one of its flat surfaces. ...
media to the
firmware In computing, firmware is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for a device's specific hardware. Firmware, such as the BIOS of a personal computer, may contain basic functions of a device, and may provide h ...
to the control electronics of the
optical disc drive In computing, an optical disc drive is a disc drive that uses laser light or electromagnetic waves within or near the visible light spectrum as part of the process of reading or writing data to or from optical discs. Some drives can only ...
.


Types of recordable optical disc

There are numerous formats of recordable optical direct to disk on the market, all of which are based on using a
laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The firs ...
to change the
reflectivity The reflectance of the surface of a material is its effectiveness in Reflection (physics), reflecting radiant energy. It is the fraction of incident electromagnetic power that is reflected at the boundary. Reflectance is a component of the respon ...
of the
digital recording In digital recording, an audio or video signal is converted into a stream of discrete numbers representing the changes over time in air pressure for audio, or chroma and luminance values for video. This number stream is saved to a storage de ...
medium in order to duplicate the effects of the pits and lands created when a commercial optical disc is pressed. Emerging technologies such as
holographic data storage Holographic data storage is a potential technology in the area of high-capacity data storage. While magnetic and optical data storage devices rely on individual bits being stored as distinct magnetic or optical changes on the surface of the recor ...
and
3D optical data storage 3D optical data storage is any form of optical data storage in which information can be recorded or read with three-dimensional resolution (as opposed to the two-dimensional resolution afforded, for example, by CD). This innovation has the pote ...
aim to use entirely different data storage methods, but these products are in development and are not yet widely available. The earliest form is
magneto-optical A magneto-optical drive is a kind of optical disc drive capable of writing and rewriting data upon a magneto-optical disc. Both 130 mm (5.25 in) and 90 mm (3.5 in) form factors exist. In 1983, just a year after the introduct ...
, which uses a magnetic field in combination with a laser to write to the medium. Though not widely used in consumer equipment, the original
NeXT Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...
cube used MO media as its standard storage device, and consumer MO technology is available in the form of
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
's
MiniDisc MiniDisc (MD) is an erasable magneto-optical disc-based data storage format offering a capacity of 60, 74, and later, 80 minutes of digitized audio. Sony announced the MiniDisc in September 1992 and released it in November of that year for ...
. This form of medium is rewriteable. The most common form of recordable optical media is write-once
organic dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution and ...
technology, popularized in the form of the
CD-R CD-R (Compact disc-recordable) is a digital optical disc storage format. A CD-R disc is a compact disc that can be written once and read arbitrarily many times. CD-R discs (CD-Rs) are readable by most CD readers manufactured prior to the in ...
and still used for higher-capacity media such as
DVD-R DVD recordable and DVD rewritable are optical disc recording technologies. Both terms describe DVD optical discs that can be written to by a DVD recorder, whereas only 'rewritable' discs are able to erase and rewrite data. Data is written ('bur ...
. This uses the laser alone to scorch a transparent organic dye (usually
cyanine Cyanines, also referred to as tetramethylindo(di)-carbocyanines are a synthetic dye family belonging to the polymethine group. Although the name derives etymologically from terms for shades of blue, the cyanine family covers the electromagnetic ...
,
phthalocyanine Phthalocyanine () is a large, aromatic, macrocyclic, organic compound with the formula and is of theoretical or specialized interest in chemical dyes and photoelectricity. It is composed of four isoindole units linked by a ring of nitrogen atom ...
, or
azo compound Azo compounds are organic compounds bearing the functional group diazenyl (, in which R and R′ can be either aryl or alkyl groups). IUPAC defines azo compounds as: "Derivatives of diazene (diimide), , wherein both hydrogens are substituted ...
-based) to create "pits" (i.e. dark spots) over a reflective spiral groove. Most such media are designated with an R (recordable) suffix. Such discs are often quite colorful, generally coming in shades of blue or pale yellow or green. Rewritable, non-magnetic optical media are possible using phase change alloys, which are converted between crystalline and amorphous states (with different reflectivity) using the heat from the drive
laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The firs ...
. Such media must be played in specially tuned drives, since the phase-change material has less of a contrast in reflectivity than dye-based media; while most modern drives support such media, many older
CD drive In computing, an optical disc drive is a disc drive that uses laser light or electromagnetic waves within or near the visible light spectrum as part of the process of reading or writing data to or from optical discs. Some drives can only ...
s cannot recognize the narrower threshold and cannot read such discs. Phase-change discs are designated with RW (ReWriteable) or RE (Recordable-Erasable). Phase-change discs often appear dark grey. Another technology creates pits in an inorganic carbon layer, a "write-once" option. Created by Millenniata,
M-DISC M-DISC (Millennial Disc) is a write-once optical disc technology introduced in 2009 by Millenniata, Inc.and available as DVD and Blu-ray discs. Overview M-DISC's design is intended to provide archival media longevity.M-Disc claims that prop ...
, records data on special M-DISC with a data life-time of several hundred years.M-Disc
millenniata.com. 2010-11-24. Retrieved 20-10-08


Optimum Power Calibration

Optimum Power Calibration (OPC) is a function that checks the proper laser power for writing a particular session in the media in use. More sophisticated is ''Active OPC'', which calculates the optimum laser power and adjusts it in real-time.


Recording modes

Optical discs can be recorded in Disc At Once, Track At Once, Session at Once (i.e. multiple burning sessions for one disc), or
packet writing Packet writing (or incremental packet writing, IPW) is an optical disc recording technology used to allow write-once and rewritable CD and DVD media to be used in a similar manner to a floppy disk from within the operating system. Details P ...
modes. Each mode serves different purposes: *Disc At Once: writes the entire disc in one pass; preferred for duplication masters *Track At Once: writes individual tracks with a gap between tracks; used for audio CDs *Session At Once: writes and finalizes multiple sessions on one CD; usually not supported for CD Audio, and not universally supported by authoring software *Packet writing: writes data to the medium on demand (see below)


Connection technologies

Unlike early
CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both compute ...
drives, optical disc recorder drives have generally used industry standard connection protocols. Early computer-based CD recorders were generally connected by way of SCSI; however, as SCSI was abandoned by its most significant users (particularly
Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
), it became an expensive option for most computer users. As a result, the market switched over to
Parallel ATA Parallel ATA (PATA), originally , also known as IDE, is a standard interface designed for IBM PC-compatible computers. It was first developed by Western Digital and Compaq in 1986 for compatible hard drives and CD or DVD drives. The connection ...
connections for most internal drives; external drives generally use PATA drive mechanisms connected to a bridge inside the case that connects to a high-speed serial bus such as
FireWire IEEE 1394 is an interface standard for a serial bus for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Apple in cooperation with a number of companies, primarily Sony ...
or Hi-Speed
USB 2.0 Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad ...
. Nearly all modern drives, particularly
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of stori ...
drives use
Serial ATA SATA (Serial AT Attachment) is a computer bus interface that connects host bus adapters to mass storage devices such as hard disk drives, optical drives, and solid-state drives. Serial ATA succeeded the earlier Parallel ATA (PATA) standard to ...
. Standalone recorders use standard A/V connections, including
RCA connector The RCA connector is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry audio and video signals. The name ''RCA'' derives from the company Radio Corporation of America, which introduced the design in the 1930s. The connectors male plug and ...
s,
TOSlink TOSLINK (from ''Toshiba Link'') is a standardized optical fiber connector system. Also known generically as optical audio, its most common use is in consumer audio equipment (via a "digital optical" socket), where it carries a digital audio st ...
, and
S/PDIF S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) is a type of digital audio interface used in consumer audio equipment to output audio over relatively short distances. The signal is transmitted over either a coaxial cable (using RCA or BNC connectors ...
for audio and RF,
composite video Composite video is an analog video signal format that carries standard-definition video (typically at 525 lines or 625 lines) as a single channel. Video information is encoded on one channel, unlike the higher-quality S-Video (two channels) ...
,
component video Component video is an analog video signal that has been split into two or more component channels. In popular use, it refers to a type of component analog video (CAV) information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals. Compon ...
,
S-Video S-Video (also known as separate video, Y/C, and erroneously Super-Video ) is an analog video signal format that carries standard-definition video, typically at 525 lines or 625 lines. It encodes video luma and chrominance on two separate channe ...
,
SCART SCART (also known as or , especially in France, 21-pin EuroSCART in marketing by Sharp in Asia, Euroconector in Spain, EuroAV or EXT, or EIA Multiport in the United States, as an EIA interface) is a French-originated standard and associated 2 ...
, and
FireWire IEEE 1394 is an interface standard for a serial bus for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Apple in cooperation with a number of companies, primarily Sony ...
for video. High-bandwidth digital connections such as
HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as a display controller, ...
are unlikely to feature as recorder devices are not permitted to decrypt the
encrypted In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. Ideally, only authorized parties can deci ...
video content.


Overburning

Overburning is the process of recording data past the normal, vendor-specified size limit of the recordable media. Structures in the ATIP do not allow such sizes to be specified. Overburning may be used to determine the actual capacity limit of a recordable disc, since the capacity rated by recordable disc vendors merely is the ''guaranteed'' capacity, beyond which the actual capacity is indefinite. Data located beyond the specified capacity is not guaranteed to be readable.''"Overburning: 100 Minutes On An Audio CD"''
– by Frank Völkel of TomsHardware – April 11, 2002


Buffer underrun protection

Usually, the recorder must perform a complete write without pauses. Once the laser is on, stopping and restarting the recording process may introduce flaws. A buffer underrun occurs during recording if the supply of data to the recorder is interrupted before the write is complete. Software typically moves the data to be recorded into a
buffer Buffer may refer to: Science * Buffer gas, an inert or nonflammable gas * Buffer solution, a solution used to prevent changes in pH * Buffering agent, the weak acid or base in a buffer solution * Lysis buffer, in cell biology * Metal ion buffer ...
; underrun occurs if the recorder processes data in the buffer faster than the software reloads it. Historically, buffer underrun was often caused by writing data obtained from a slow device, or by slowness of the recording software, from a slow processor or a processor executing other tasks concurrently. Various recorders minimize or cope with buffer underrun in the following ways: *Nearly all burners can slow the rotation of the disc and record at a slower rate. A burner may do so on sensing that it is drawing down the data in the buffer faster than software is reloading it. *Recording software maintains larger buffers than when CD recorders were first introduced. Some recorders maintain their own buffer memory independently of the computer. This additional buffering ensures that momentary pauses in the supply of data do not cause buffer underrun. *Some recorders are, in fact, able to stop writing in the middle of a session, and resume writing whenever the buffer is refilled. Recorders with such buffer underrun protection handle the interruption with an extremely small gap in the recorded track on the disc. Since the techniques for protecting against buffer underrun are proprietary and vendor-specific, technical details vary. *DVD+R, DVD+RW and the recordable
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of stori ...
formats are immune from buffer underrun as these discs contain technology that allows the recorder's write mechanism to precisely locate the end of the recorded track and to seamlessly carry on from where it left off. Many disc authoring utilities disable the buffer underrun protection option when these discs are being written. Buffer underrun is minimized by a strategy in which the recorder burns a
packet Packet may refer to: * A small container or pouch ** Packet (container), a small single use container ** Cigarette packet ** Sugar packet * Network packet, a formatted unit of data carried by a packet-mode computer network * Packet radio, a form ...
rather than an entire session or an entire disc. When using
rewritable media Computer data storage is a technology consisting of computer components and recording media that are used to retain digital data. It is a core function and fundamental component of computers. The central processing unit (CPU) of a compute ...
(
CD-RW CD-RW (Compact Disc-Rewritable) is a digital optical disc storage format introduced in 1997. A CD-RW compact disc (CD-RWs) can be written, read, erased, and re-written. CD-RWs, as opposed to CDs, require specialized readers that have sens ...
,
DVD-RW DVD recordable and DVD rewritable are optical disc recording technologies. Both terms describe DVD optical discs that can be written to by a DVD recorder, whereas only 'rewritable' discs are able to erase and rewrite data. Data is written ('bur ...
,
DVD-RAM DVD-RAM (DVD Random Access Memory) is a DVD-based disc specification presented in 1996 by the DVD Forum, which specifies rewritable DVD-RAM media and the appropriate DVD writers. DVD-RAM media have been used in computers as well as camcorders ...
), the UDF file system organizes the disc into packets that are written individually. The packets are referenced by a single, updated address table.


Specific proprietary technologies


''Sanyo'' BURN-Proof

BURN-Proof (Buffer Underrun-Proof) is a proprietary technology for buffer underrun protection developed by
Sanyo , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded b ...
.


''Asus'' FlextraLink

FlextraLink is a proprietary technology for buffer underrun protection developed by Asus. FlextraSpeed™ continuously monitors the recording media and sets the optimal writing speeds to ensure best recording quality, for discs that can’t withstand high-speed burning.


''Sony'' Power Burn

Power Burn is a proprietary technology for buffer underrun protection, developed by
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
. Features: * Buffer underrun protection: When a buffer underrun occurs, the drive suspends writing. The drive memorizes the end writing point and timing, and immediately resumes writing from that exact point when sufficient data is filled in the buffer memory. * Protection from write errors caused by shock and vibration: PowerBurn's Shock Proof technology pauses writing when the device is moved, and resumes after the drive becomes stable. This allows it to work in a mobile environment. * Optimization of write conditions: The drive detects characteristics of each individual medium and optimizes all key writing conditions such as writing speed, laser power and write strategy.


''Yamaha'' SafeBurn

SafeBurn is a proprietary technology for buffer underrun protection developed by
Yamaha Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate with a very wide range of products and services. It is one of the constituents of Nikkei 225 and is the world's largest musical instrument manufacturing company. The former motorcycle div ...
.


Packet writing

Packet writing is a technology that allows optical discs to be used in a similar manner to a
floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined wi ...
. Packet writing can be used both with once-writeable media and rewriteable media. Several competing and incompatible packet writing disk formats have been developed, including DirectCD and
InCD InCD is
a
Universal Disk Format Universal Disk Format (UDF) is an open, vendor-neutral file system for computer data storage for a broad range of media. In practice, it has been most widely used for DVDs and newer optical disc formats, supplanting ISO 9660. Due to its design, ...
in the plain, VAT, and spared builds.


Simulated writing

Using the ''simulated writing'' or ''simulated burning'' feature of
optical disc authoring Optical disc authoring, including DVD and Blu-ray Disc authoring, is the process of assembling source material—video, audio or other data—into the proper logical volume format to then be recorded ("burned") onto an optical disc (typ ...
software, the writing process will be simulated, which means that the disc spins and the laser moves as if on an actual writing process, but without any data being recorded to the disc. This feature allows for observing the writing speeds and patterns (e.g.
constant angular velocity In optical storage, constant angular velocity (CAV) is a qualifier for the rated speed of any disc containing information, and may also be applied to the writing speed of recordable discs. A drive or disc operating in CAV mode maintains a const ...
,
constant linear velocity In optical storage, constant linear velocity (CLV) is a qualifier for the rated speed of an optical disc drive, and may also be applied to the writing speed of recordable discs. CLV implies that the angular velocity (i.e. rpm) varies during an o ...
and P-CAV and Z-CLV variants) with different writing speed settings and testing the highest capacity of an individual disc that would be achievable using
overburning Optical disc authoring requires a number of different optical disc recorder technologies working in tandem, from the optical disc media to the firmware to the control electronics of the optical disc drive. Types of recordable optical disc T ...
. This feature is standardized on
CD-R CD-R (Compact disc-recordable) is a digital optical disc storage format. A CD-R disc is a compact disc that can be written once and read arbitrarily many times. CD-R discs (CD-Rs) are readable by most CD readers manufactured prior to the in ...
,
CD-RW CD-RW (Compact Disc-Rewritable) is a digital optical disc storage format introduced in 1997. A CD-RW compact disc (CD-RWs) can be written, read, erased, and re-written. CD-RWs, as opposed to CDs, require specialized readers that have sens ...
,
DVD-R DVD recordable and DVD rewritable are optical disc recording technologies. Both terms describe DVD optical discs that can be written to by a DVD recorder, whereas only 'rewritable' discs are able to erase and rewrite data. Data is written ('bur ...
and
DVD-RW DVD recordable and DVD rewritable are optical disc recording technologies. Both terms describe DVD optical discs that can be written to by a DVD recorder, whereas only 'rewritable' discs are able to erase and rewrite data. Data is written ('bur ...
, but not on
DVD+R DVD recordable and DVD rewritable are optical disc recording technologies. Both terms describe DVD optical discs that can be written to by a DVD recorder, whereas only 'rewritable' discs are able to erase and rewrite data. Data is written ('burne ...
and
DVD+RW DVD recordable and DVD rewritable are optical disc recording technologies. Both terms describe DVD optical discs that can be written to by a DVD recorder, whereas only 'rewritable' discs are able to erase and rewrite data. Data is written ('bur ...
, on which only
Plextor Plextor (styled PLEXTOR) ( zh, 浦科特; ja, プレクスター) is a Taiwanese (formerly Japanese) consumer electronics brand, best known for solid-state drives and optical disc drives. Company The brand name Plextor was used for all products ...
optical drives support simulated writing so far.


Longevity

Retail recordable/writable optical media contain dyes in/on the optical media to record data, whereas factory-manufactured optical media use physical "pits" created by plastic molds/casts. As a result, data storage on retail optical media does not have the life-span of factory-manufactured optical media. The problem is exacerbated because as the writing laser of the recorder is used, its power output drops with age - typically after just a few years. Consequently, a disc written with a laser that is nearing the end of its useful life may not have a readable life that is as long as if a new laser had been used. Dye based optical media should not be solely relied on to archive valuable data. MAM-A (
Mitsui is one of the largest ''keiretsu'' in Japan and one of the largest corporate groups in the world. The major companies of the group include Mitsui & Co. ( general trading company), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Nippon Paper Industrie ...
) claims a life of 300 years on their archival
gold CD A gold compact disc is one in which gold is used in place of the super pure aluminium commonly used as the reflective coating on ordinary CDs or silver on ordinary CD-Rs. Gold CDs can be played in any CD player. Blank gold CD-Rs are also availab ...
-R and 100 years for gold DVDs. Good alternatives would be to additionally backup one's media using other media technologies and/or investing in
non-volatile memory Non-volatile memory (NVM) or non-volatile storage is a type of computer memory that can retain stored information even after power is removed. In contrast, volatile memory needs constant power in order to retain data. Non-volatile memory typic ...
technologies.Results of research by the U.S. Library of Congress on the reliability of backups on optimal media https://www.loc.gov/preserv/rt/projects/cd-r_dvd-r_rw_longevity.html


See also

* Write strategy *
Optical disc recording modes In optical disc authoring, there are multiple modes for recording, including Disc-At-Once, Track-At-Once, and Session-At-Once. CD Disc-At-Once Disc-At-Once (DAO) for CD-R media is a mode that masters the disc contents in one pass, rather than a ...
* CD and DVD writing speed


References


External links


Understanding CD-R & CD-RW
by Hugh Bennett
Understanding Recordable & Rewritable DVD
by Hugh Bennett


CD and DVD Longevity: How Long Will They Last?

Blu Ray Technology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Optical Disc Recording Technologies Compact disc Optical computer storage media Computer storage technologies