Optical MediaOptical MediaOptical MediaOptical Media•The History of…The History of…•How it WorksHow it Works•Installing the HardwareInstalling the Hardware•TroubleshootingTroubleshooting•Types of CDs/drivesTypes of CDs/drives•Types of DVDs/drivesTypes of DVDs/drives•Burning to CDsBurning to CDs•HD DVD and Blue RayHD DVD and Blue Ray

The History of Optical Media

The first optical disks were invented in 1958. It was not, however introduced to the public and made available for use until 1978. At that time, computers became equipped with optical drives. The optical disk was followed by the invention of the Compact Disk in 1983. This went strong, until the invention of the DVD in the mid-1990’s.

CD file systems

• The Joliet extension is the most common file system that is used with MS Windows. It allows for a read-write disk, unlike some of the previous file systems.

Installing the CD/DVD drive

• Before it can be used, a CD/DVD drive must be installed in the computer. The drive needs two things to function. It needs a connection to the power supply and a connection to the motherboard by way of either a SATA or IDE cable.

Caring for CD-DVDs• One common misconception in the care of

CDs and DVDs is that it is not a good idea to keep them upside down. The thought by most people is that when upside down, the bottom is protected. The mistake is that the data is stored on the shiny film on the top of the CD, so that is more important.

Types of CDs

There are many types of CDs in use today. There is the CD-ROM which stands for “compact disk – read only memory”. Or the CD-R which is a “write once, read many” disk that can be written to and burned.

Burning to CD/DVDs

• Many programs take advantage of the ability of CD-R to be written to. ImgBurn, for example, allows the user to burn files or music or movies to a CD. Once this is done, it cannot be undone, except with CD-RW. (which is considerably less reliable)

HD DVD and Blue Ray

HD DVD is a kind of DVD that can hold a much larger amount of data, 15 GB as opposed to 4.2GB. Blu-ray disks are the 4th generation of Compact Disks, that have a much higher capacity than previous CDs. The blu-ray has a single layer capacity of 25 GB, and a prototyped dual layer with a capacity of 50 GB.