CD-R / RW FAQs

	General CD-R / RW Questions
	What is CD-R (CD-Recordable)?
	What is CD-RW (CD-Rewritable)?
	How much can a CD hold?
	What are the different types of CDs that can be created with a CD-Recorder?
	How long does it take to record a CD-R and CD-RW disc?
	I've heard that burning a CD-R at 4X or 8X speed is better than slower recording speeds. Is this true, and if so, why?
	What is a multisession disc?
	What is incremental writing?
	What is the difference between CD-R discs and normal CDs?
	Can I use equipment to copy my CDs?
	Can I download MP3s from the Internet and make an audio CD?

	CD Media Questions
	How long will CDRs last?
	What is the difference between gold and silver and blue CDRs (when viewing from the bottom)?
	Why are different manufacturers' discs different color green (or blue)?
	What are the differences/benefits between cyanine, phthalocyanine and azo dyes?
	I can buy discs for less than $1.00 why should I buy Mitsui?
	Is CD-R media 100% universal and compatible with all CD-ROM readers?
	Is there a audible quality difference between the blue and silver CDRs?
	I bought some cds (not from Mediastore) and they do not play in my car stereo nor do they play in some of my friends CD players. What do you think could be the problem?
	I can read the CD-R disc on my CD-R drive, but when I put it into a CD-ROM drive it won't play. Why?
	I just bought a Philips CD recorder for my stereo system. Can I use any CD-R media?

	CD Printing Questions
	Should I purchase an Ink Jet printer or a Thermal Printer?
	What is the most professional looking CD-R printer you have?
	Do I have to hand load each CD into the printer (or are their robotics to do it for me)?

	CD Duplication Questions
	What's the difference between CD replication and CD duplication?
	What do you mean by CD Publishing versus CD Duplication?

	DVD Question
	What is the difference between DVD-RAM and DVD-R (DVD-Recordable)?

Q: A:	What is CD-R (CD-Recordable)? CD-R (CD-Recordable) discs are CD?s that are made with an organic dye that allow a user to write data or audio using a special CD-ROM drive called a CD-Recorder. After the CD has been recorded with data, it can be played in any standard CD-ROM reader. If the CD has been recorded with audio, it can be played in any consumer audio player or computer CD-ROM reader.
Q: A:	What is CD-RW (CD-Rewritable)? CD-RW (CD-Rewritable) discs are very similar to CD-R discs in size and appearance, except they have the ability to be written and erased over 1000 times. By comparison, sectors of a CD-R that have been recorded cannot be erased or overwritten.
Q: A:	How much can a CD hold? About 74 minutes of audio or 650MB of data. Newer CDs can hold 80 minutes of audio or 700MB of data.
Q: A:	What are the different types of CD?s that can be created with a CD-Recorder? Red Book -- Audio CD?s (a.k.a. CD-DA) Yellow Book -- Data CD?s - Mode 1 -- Standard CD-ROM - Mode 2 -- utilizes larger sector size for data, but has no ECC (Error Correction Code) Green Book -- CD-I (CD-Interactive) Orange Book (Part II) -- Physical format for CD-Recordable discs White Book -- Video CD (1.0 & 2.0) Blue Book -- CD Extra (a.k.a. Enhanced CD, CD Plus), this is an audio CD with a data track at the end that a PC will recognize, but an audio player will not. CDROM/XA -- extended architecture, a bridge between yellow book and CD-I ISO 9660 -- Standard file layout (readable by all platforms of computers) Rock Ridge -- an extension of ISO 9660 to allow for long UNIX filenames. CDR-UDF -- industry-standard incremental packet-writing file system CD-Text -- Philips standard for encoding disc and track data onto audio CDs.
Q: A:	How long does it take to record a CD-R and CD-RW disc? The amount of information being recorded will affect the time required. A full 650MB of data will take the following: 74 min at 1x (150KB/sec) 37 min at 2x (300KB/sec) 19 min at 4x (600KB/sec) 13 min at 6x (900KB/sec) Add 1 to 5 minutes additional time for writing the TOC (Table Of Contents).
Q: A:	I've heard that burning a CD-R at 4X or 8X speed is better than slower recording speeds. Is this true, and if so, why? There is some truth to this. The physics, chemistry and thermodynamics of the recording process seem to produce more consistent and readable marks within the CD-R recording layer when recording is 4x or higher. This may be due to the annealing process of pit formation at 1x where the heat caused by the laser remains focused on the pit for too long. Newer recorders and media are tuned better for 4x and 8x recording speeds.
Q: A:	What is a multisession disc? A session is a recorded portion of a disc and it?s TOC (Table Of Contents). A multisession CD is made by adding an additional session to a CD which already has a session on it. Some multisession CDs are made with linking to previous sessions so that all sessions can be accessed, others which are not linked allow only the last session to be read.
Q: A:	What is incremental writing? Incremental writing is the process of creating a disc in multiple writing sessions. The disc is not closed after each session and cannot be accessed until the CD is finished. The disc is closed when writing to it the last time, at which point the TOC (Table Of Contents) are written.
Q: A:	What is the difference between CD-R discs and normal CDs? The CDs you buy in a store are pressed from a mold. CD-Rs are burned with a laser. They may look different (often green, gold, or blue instead of silver), they're less tolerant of extreme temperatures and sunlight, and they're more susceptible to physical damage. Whether CD-Rs or pressed CDs last longer is difficult to answer. While they're not physically identical, they function the same. Some CD players and CD-ROM drives aren't as good at reading CD-R and CD-RW discs as they are at reading pressed CDs, but in general they work just fine. You can't write data onto pressed discs. You have to buy blank CD-R or CD-RW media.
Q: A:	Can I use equipment to copy my CDs? Yes, both audio and data CDs can be duplicated with CD duplication equipment. You can even create audio CDs that are compilations of other audio CDs (perhaps a personal "best of" disc). Please remember that most CDs are protected by copyright laws.
Q: A:	Can I download MP3s from the Internet and make an audio CD? Yes. You can download MP3s, burn them to a CD, and play them in anything that can play audio CDs. Your CD recording program must decode the MP3s and turn them to WAV files before they can be burned to CD. It's also possible to ?rip? songs from a CD and convert them to MP3s.
Q: A:	How long will CDRs last? Lifetime estimation of any storage medium is a very complex and statistical based process. Improper testing or measurement procedures can seriously impact and compromise lifetime estimates. ANSI Committee ll9-5 is currently developing comprehensive guidelines for CD-ROM and CD-R lifetime estimation. The CD-R media manufacturers have performed extensive media longevity studies within these industry defined tests and mathematical modeling techniques with results claiming longevity from 70 years to over 200 years. The primary caveat is how you handle and store the media. With proper handling and storage, your CD-Rs will outlive you.
Q: A:	What is the difference between gold and silver and blue CDRs (when viewing from the bottom)? Most importantly, gold CDRs are no longer being made. Silver CDRs are the premium CDR in the industry and years of experience tell us that the best CDRs are Mitsui Silver. Blue CDRs are a widely mixed breed. You will find bluish-grey, greenish-blue, bluish-purple, greenish-grey, and more, but the best test is to hold the CD up to the light and see how translucent or see-through that it is compared with others. Generally, the more see-through discs have less recording dye and are of a lesser quality. We recommend the more opaque disc, whether it is silver, green, blue, or whatever.
Q: A:	Why are different manufacturers' discs different color green (or blue)? The color of the CD-R disc is related to the color of the specific dye that was used in their recording layer of the disc. This base dye color is modified when the reflective coating is added. Some of the dye - reflective coating combinations appear green, some appear blue and others appear yellow. Visual differences between various media types are irrelevant from the standpoint of their actual operation. At 750 nm, where CD-R recorders and CD-ROM readers function, the media are, for all intents and purposes, indistinguishable from an optical standpoint. They all "look" the same.
Q: A:	What are the differences/benefits between cyanine, phthalocyanine and azo dyes? There are a number of important recording characteristics associated with each dye and reflectivity coating combination as well as some longevity issues. Each media manufacturer strives to balance the engineering characteristics of the dye to insure greater compatibility with recorders and readers and long archive life. In addition to cyanine and phthalocyanine, there is also azo dye. Cyanine dye and its metal-stabilized derivatives were originally used because the Orange Book, Part l referred to the recording characteristics of cyanine-based dyes in establishing CD-Recordable standards. So, dyes based on cyanine tend to have a wide range of acceptable recording power levels and recording speeds. The phthalocyanine dye is a newer dye that appears to be less sensitive to exposure to light after recording so that longevity has been improved. Azo dye has been used in other optical recording media and is now being used in CD-R. The media manufacturers use these different dyes in combination with dye thickness, reflectivity thickness and material and groove structure to fine tune their recording characteristics for a wide range of recording speeds, recording power and media longevity. Over time, there has been a steady convergence in the properties of the various dyes used for CD-R.
Q: A:	I can buy discs for less than $1.00 why should I buy Mitsui? This is probably true. While Mitsui discs are always competitively priced, it is not Mitsui's intention to be the low-price leader. Mitsui makes a premium product which is demonstrably better than the competition. If price were the only buying criteria, Yugo would own the car market and Mercedes would be struggling for survival. The same applies to CD-R. A good thing to ask yourself is how many current discs don't work after they've been written? Or what is the cost incurred in time and prestige when the cheap discs don't work? Mitsui is a chemical company, few manufacturers produce all the materials which go into making a CD-R blank. This allows Mitsui to have 100% control over the production process and hold quality assurance to the highest of standards.
Q: A:	Is CD-R media 100% universal and compatible with all CD-ROM readers? In theory, yes, but in actuality, no. This is why manufacturers have different colored dyes. Not all blanks are compatible with all records. It is wise to carry two or three brands to hedge against incompatibility issues. The majority of CD-ROM readers will recognize CD-R media, but some readers are old with optics out of alignment, the heads are dirty or the reader is near end of life. The only way to determine compatibility issues is through experience of trial and error. A good recommendation is using high quality media that is proven in the market place. We've found that CD-R blanks with discounts or rebates making the net cost under $0.50 is usually a red flag for inferior product.
Q: A:	Is there an audible quality difference between the blue and silver CDRs? We have never been able to tell the difference audibly from a blue and silver cds. But We strongly suggest performing an A/B test of different media to see if you, the consumer, can tell a difference in the sound quality. We can say that the most sought after disc for mastering purposes is the Silver Mitsui disc. It has been well documented in several professional audio trade magazines that this disc sounds the best to the professionally trained ear.
Q: A:	I bought some cds (not from Mediastore) and they do not play in my car stereo nor do they play in some of my friends CD players. What do you think could be the problem? All Media is not created equal. That is why we are committed to stocking the most reliable brand of CDR recording media, Mitsui silver CDRs. Also, some car CD players have a problem playing CDRs, most noticeably the Kenwoods. The issues with the Kenwoods have been confirmed by several tech specialists. The best way to avoid this problem is to use quality media. We have tested many brands of CDR media in car stereos and realize the best performance from Mitsui Media.
Q: A:	I can read the CD-R disc on my CD-R drive, but when I put it into a CD-ROM drive it won't play. Why? The most common reason for this is that the disc has not been "finalized" by the recording software making it unreadable by the CD-ROM reader. The finalization process is the last part of the multisession recording process which writes the overall disc table of contents into the disc lead-in area which makes the disc conform to the ISO 9660 standard required by most reader and reader driver software.
Q: A:	I just bought a Philips CD recorder for my stereo system. Can I use any CD-R media? No, the Phillips CD recorder uses ?Consumer Audio Only CDRs?. Most of the CDR discs that we carry cannot work with this system. Why? I don?t know, ask Philips. But Mitsui does make ?Consumer Audio Only CDRs?.
Q: A:	Should I purchase an Ink Jet printer or a Thermal Printer? The purchase of a CD printer depends on individual situations. Taking price out of the picture and considering just technical information we have found customers who require high resolution, photo-quality graphics lean towards the Ink Jet technology. This customer typically has low run requirements and is more concerned with image and prestige than volume. Thermal printers are truly designed for volume output. The resolution is lower, the print speed is faster, the consumables are cheaper and the print job is more durable. Now, putting price back into the picture, consumers need to calculate the long term costs of Ink Jet over Thermal after the initial purchase price of the printer. For example, the average cost for Ink Jet is + $.35 per CD when considering the cost of printable media, ink cartridges and time, verses Thermal printing which is + $.06 per CD (considering the same requirements).
Q: A:	What is the most professional looking CD-R printer you have? We carry two different CD-R printers. The Picasso III, is a high quality, 1200 by 1200 dpi resolution, ink jet printer that prints in full color. The printing time for this unit is 20-40 seconds for full coverage, depending on the amount of layers. The Picasso III has had so many improvements over the Picasso II, that youi really have to see the quality to believe that this is a ink-jet printer. While the Picasso III is a ink-jet, water based printer, the mishandling of cdrs and water will smudge the printing on the disc, some care is needed in handling of these discs. For those people who wish for something closer to a silkscreened look, checkout the Rimage. The Rimage printer is a thermal wax based printer, where is image is actually ?melted? to the cdr. This process is very fast, 10-20 seconds and the results are outsanding. The Rimage comes in a monochrome version and a full color version. This printer has been dominating the market for the past five years and is by far, short of investing $100,000 on a silkscreen machine, the highest quality cd-r printer you can buy.
Q: A:	Do I have to hand load each CD into the printer (or are their robotics to do it for me)? The Picasso III and the Rimage Color printer can be attached to specially designed auto-loading devices. These devices hold anywhere from 50 to 150 CDRs s and are either standalone (Rimage) or host dependent (Picasso III). These autoloaders will place the CDR into the printer and when the print job is done the loader will place the CDR in a separate bin.
Q: A:	What's the difference between CD replication and CD duplication? CD Replication is for high volume CD jobs (10,000 or greater)where the individual CDs are "stamped" out of a silver blank; CD Duplication is for small to middle volume runs (1-10,000) where the silver or gold CD-R blanks are actually "burned" or written with information.
Q: A:	What do you mean by CD Publishing versus CD Duplication? The CD-Recordable market is always evolving. With e-business becoming a major part of revenue for many companies, developing an on-line solution for products such as music, software or data retrieval are dependent on solutions like CD Publishing. This powerful equipment allows distant users to connect to recorders and printers to create unique single CDs, at the same time, providing the company with a turn-key solution to manufacture these ?unique? products. Mediastore provides CD publishing equipment that connects to internal networks allowing jobs to be submitted across a network. Mediastore also offers CD publishing equipment and the service that allows it to be connected to web sites, allowing consumers to custom order uniquely compiled content (data, graphics, music/mp3) and create that product the best way they see fit. CD duplication equipment is an ideal way to solve small run duplication needs. Many replicators have a CD minimum before accepting jobs, this number usually falls around a 1000. With CD duplication equipment, consumers can bring this business in house and fulfill their own orders. Mediastore?s seen many customers turn this service into a major profit center because they no longer farm out the duplication services. With the introduction of 8X recorders, duplication equipment can have an output range topping 240 CDs per hour.
Q: A:	What is the difference between DVD-RAM and DVD-R (DVD-Recordable)? DVD-Recordable is the record once writable DVD format, Book D of the DVD Forum?s specifications. DVD-RAM specified in Book E of the DVD Forum, stands for DVD Random Access Memory. DVD-RAM drives use a phase change technology similar to phase change dual formats introduced by Panasonic. The DVD-RAM media itself resembles the look of MO media. DVD-RAM media is either single sided in a removable cartridge or double-sided in permanent cartridges. This technology allows users to record any type of data to a large storage area, however, the media isn?t backward compatible with DVD read-only drives. Once information is stored on DVD-RAM drive it can only be read on similar DVD-RAM drives. DVD-R media is different from DVD-RAM media in form factor. DVD-R is a bare disc similar to CD-R, but with a 4.7GB capacity, while DVD-RAM is cartridge based. DVD-Recordable media is backward compatible and gives users the ability to distribute their titles at a universal level. This gives developers a cheap way of authoring DVD titles without paying for short replication runs or expensive glass one-offs. DVD-R was basically done from scratch, and it was designed to be backward compatible with read-only DVD-Video and DVD-ROM drives. It had to comply with established drive and media parameters in order to ensure backwards compatibility, and having to design a medium that fit within these parameters was more expensive than designing a medium that did not. Thus you will find a large discrepancy in price between DVD-R drives and DVD-RAM drives.

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