What Is the Difference Between Optical Discs & Compact Discs?

The compact disc was a great leap forward in optical disc technology.

With so many different types and brands of digital storage devices out there, it is helpful to understand the basics of storage media for software, recording and other purposes.

The Optical Age

The "lens," found in all optical disc drives, uses a laser beam to read the data.

The optical disc is a type of digital storage media, and the compact disc (CD) is a type of optical disc. Whereas a CD is necessarily an optical disc, there are many other formats of optical discs. Data is stored on the optical discs and can only be read with an optical disc drive, which spins the disc and reads the encrypted data using a laser beam.

Design

"Optical disc" is a catch-all term for any media storage device that is read using lasers. Optical discs are usually flat, small and circular. The most common size is that of CDs, Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs) and Blu-ray discs. However, there are smaller and larger types of optical discs.

History

DVD sparked a whole generation of affordable, high memory discs.

Initially, optical discs were used to store music and computer software. The CD was the most popular format for storing music and software. However, due to its relatively low memory capacity and the proliferation of a new generation of more advanced, versatile optical discs such as the DVD and CD-RW, the CD is being slowly being superseded by these more advanced formats.

Recently, the Blu-ray disc has emerged as the next generation of optical disc technology, with a large memory capacity that can store larger files, such as High Definition picture and superior sound quality. However optical discs are ever evolving, and new, more advanced models are constantly in the works. The Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD), for example, can hold many times the amount of data that Blu-ray discs can.

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While the CD holds relatively little data when compared with the next generation of optical discs, its importance in terms of sound recording and software storage cannot be overstated, and it is still widely used today.

References

• PC Tech Guide: PC Data Storage