• Coelacanth@feddit.nu
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    23
    ·
    1 month ago

    I haven’t thought about burning CDs in a long time, man that takes me back. Remember Nero Burning ROM?

    I think the etymology of the term is that when you’re writing data onto a disk you’re shooting a laser onto it to alter the chemistry and change its color, for which “burning” the data into it makes sense.

    • Albbi@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 month ago

      It wasn’t the colour, you would burn little bubbles into the disk. The bubbles would deflect a laser and flat parts would not. This would give the 0 or 1 bits.

      There were CD- and CD+ versions. I don’t know which is which but one would create a divot, and the other would create a bubble. Either way the laser is diverted away from the sensor.

      • Coelacanth@feddit.nu
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 month ago

        Ah, that’s what it was! I always thought it was just a different color for 0 and 1, today I learned! That makes more sense when I think about it.

        • MeThisGuy@feddit.nl
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          1 month ago

          CD - red laser

          BlueRay - blue laser… shorter wavelength --> more data on same size disk

          and inbetween there was DL - dual layer
          light scribe - could etch a picture on the top of the cd
          and RW - rewriteable CDs

          (CD is short for compact disc)

          • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 month ago

            CDs like laserdiscs before them are read with an infrared laser.

            DVDs use a red laser, and Blu-ray does indeed use a blue-violet laser. The smaller wavelengths, plus the ability to do multiple layers, are indeed how they cram more data more densely onto a disc of nearly identical size.