Advantages of Compact Disk

What is a CD(Compact Disk)?

CDs or Compact Disks are optically readable media. CDs are the replacement of the phonograph disc. The main material of the CD is plastic. The shape of the plastic is circular and one side of the circular plastic is coated with the reflecting metal coating, usually aluminium. Data can be stored much more densely in optic media than in magnetic media, like Hard disk. Optic media have a much longer life span. Millions of bits are burned into this coating....

History of Compact Disk

At first, as CD invented in the year 1960 by the American physicist James Russell. The compact disk (CD) was introduced by Philips and Sony in 1980 and released in 1982. One day he listened to music and he recognizes that the audio quality is very poor and he tried to improve the record player. But he realized that the poor quality of the music happens due to the recorder due to the contact of the needle with the recorder....

How Compact Disc Works?

Compact discs, sometimes known as CDs, typically have a diameter of 12 cm, or 4.5 inches. There are four distinct layers in it....

Characteristics of Compact Disk

The standard diameter of a CD is 120mm and thickness is 1.2mm. The main body of the CD is made of hard plastic known as polycarbonate with a reflective metallic layer. This layer is coated with metallic acrylic plastic. This metal is aluminum. In this layer, the data are stored using the laser light which reflects the coated layer for reading and writing the data. The data is read in the form of pits, each pit is of 0.83-micrometre and the data is arranged as spiral track from the disc’s inner hole to its outer edge, because the CD is of circular shape....

Types of Compact Disks

There are three types of CDs available:...

Advantages of Compact Disk

Portable: CDs are more compact and lightweight, they are easier to store and travel. Reliable: In that time, an entire software can be stored on one CD, so its very reliable for the software industries in the days. Multiple Applications: It is also adaptable. The higher capacity of the compact disc was exploited for uses other than storing digital audio. CDs became a popular media for distributing home films, software packages, and other digital content. Random Access: CD provides random data access. Users can use this random access to choose music tracks, specific files or data, or explore a menu via a user interface. Rewritable Formats: Another benefit of compact discs is the availability of rewritable versions such as CD-R and CD-RW....

Disadvantages of Compact Disk

Inferior Capacity: CDs have more storage capacity than their predecessors, but subsequent storage mediums have more capacity. Storage capacity is lower than a hard drive or DVD, now a days CD is not used at all. Older Technology: A compact disc’s limitation stems from its older read and write mechanism technology, which is based on 780nm wavelength. Inferior Quality: It should be noted that audio-video files with higher audio and video quality can be stored on DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. Durability Issues: Magnetic tapes are less durable than CDs. However, it is still fragile because it is easily scratched if not treated carefully. When exposed to severe heat and humidity, it might deform and become unusable. Obsolete Medium: Another issue of CDs is that they have become obsolete as better storage methods have become available. It’s also worth noting that compact discs aren’t suitable for backup storage because of their limited storage capacity, susceptibility to breakage, and obsolescence. It is preferable to use hard drives or solid-state drives....

Compact Disk – FAQs

1. How much data does a CD hold?...