How CD’s Work More than likely, you have moved past using CDs when it comes to listening to music. The majority of people now use their MP3 player to listen to music, rather than putting their CD in a CD player and listening to a CD. If you grew up using CDs you remember making sure that they stayed clean, making sure that they didn’t get scratched, and maybe even burning your own CD so you could have a personalized playlist on the CD that you wanted to listen to. Even though you may not use this technology much anymore, did you ever learn how they worked? Understanding how a CD works can help you understand a variety of other technologies. Even though you do not use a CD, you probably use DVDs or even Blu Ray discs. Understanding CDs will help you understand all of these technologies as well.
A Spiral If you look on the back of any CD, you will notice that there is a large spiral that covers the entire area of the back of the CD. This spiral is one continuous track. The spiral is extremely small, and when you see the rings on the back of your CD, know that you are not seeing the track. The track that is visible on the back of the CD is not the smallest track. You would need to look at the CD with a stronger lens to be able to see the smallest track on the back of the CD. When a CD is created, there is code that divides the tracks from one another. This way, you can skip to different tracks on the CD. Many people do not realize that all of the different tracks are embedded on one single track.
Media If you ever took part in CD duplication, you understand that there are a lot of different types of media that you can put on a CD. Many people that take part in CD duplication, do so to transfer a variety of types of media. When you are duplicating a CD, you may find that you are transferring pictures, text, music, or even different types of data.
Size There are many different sizes of CDs out there. When you know that you are going to be using CDs for storage, you should understand what size is going to be the best for you. Take time to understand how large the media is that you are looking to transfer. By doing this ahead of time, you can be sure that you are not going to start your project only to find that you do not have enough room to keep it on one CD. Should you find yourself in this situation, you may be able to transfer your data onto more than one CD. If this happens, it is very important that you know how to label your CDs appropriately. You do not want to get frustrated looking for a piece of your media on a variety of CDs without knowing where it is.
CD’s are a fascinating technology. Although we do not use them on a consistent basis anymore, learning about them is a great way to ensure you can use them properly should you need to. Photo Credit: gun4hire, martina123