Optical Disc Storage – Computer Science Essay (100 Level Course)
An optical disc is a storage media consisting of a flat, round, portable disc made of metal, plastic, and lacquer. Optic disc are written and read by a laxer. Different formats of optical disc are CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD+RAM. Optical drive(s) usually are a standard feature on today’s
personal computers. Users can read but not write or erase a CD-ROM, which stands for compact disc read-only memory.
Users record their own items such as text, graphics, and audio on a CD-R, (compact disc recordable).
You can write on a part of the disc at one time and another part at a later time. Oce recorded, a CD-R can be read from as many times as necessary. However, each part of a CD-R can be written only one time. The disc’s contents cannot be erased. You need a CD recorded or a CD-R drive to write on a CD-R. On the other hand, a CD-RW, a compact disc-rewritable, is an erasable disc you can write and rewrite multiple times. Reliability of the disc tends to drop, however, with each successive rewrite. To write on a CD-RW disc, you must have CD-RW software and a CD-RW drive (Manzanera & Brautigam 14-20).
A DVD-ROM is extremely high-capacity optical disc that stores 4.7 GB to 17 GB. DVD-ROM means digital versatile disc-ROM or digital video disc-ROM. The goal of DVD’s is to meet the needs of home entertainment, computer usage, and business data and information storage with a single medium. DVDs store huge databases, music, complexes, software, and movies. You must have a DVD-ROM drive or DVD player to read a DVD-ROM. Newer DVD-ROM deives also can read audio CD’s, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs (High Capacity Storage Media).
To write on DVD-recordable or DVD-rewriteable disc, you must have the proper type of drive. DVD-R and DVD+R are competing DVD-recordable formats. Each has 4.7 GB of storage capacity. Both allow users to write on the disc once and read it many times. DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD-RAM are competing rewritable DVD formats. DVD-RW and DVD+RAM allow users to erase and record more than 1,000 times. DVD+RAM allows users to erase and record on a DVD+RAM disc more than 100,000 times (Guzman & Padilla).
Works Cited
Encarta Dictionary. English (North America). 14 Sept. 2005. Microsoft Word Online Research.
Guzman C & C. Padilla. A Guide to DVD Formats. California: Mideast Publishing, 2006.
High Capacity Storage Media. Shelly Cashman Series. Course Technology. 28 Dec. 2006.
www.scsite.com/ed20032e.pr2/wc3.htm
Manzanera, Dennis A & Jeffery T. Brautigam. “Using Computer CD’s.” Internet Talk.
November 2006: 14-20.