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CD-R Compatibility Study – Phase 2 1.0 Introduction From its first faltering steps, CD-R technology has evolved dramatically to become recognized as a mainstream storage choice. In 1995 some 150,000 writers and 22 million pieces of media were sold worldwide. This grew to more than 70 million CD-R discs sold worldwide in 1996, and in 1997 those numbers exceeded 185 million. Current estimates project media sales in excess of a half billion units by the year 2000, aided by the addition of CD-RW (CD-ReWritable) to the product family. The CD-R market continues to grow at a faster rate than the CD-ROM market did, aided by steep price erosion of the media and main stream corporate CD use. Another important factor has contributed to explosive CD-R growth: the vast installed base of CD readers (in excess of 800 million at present). CD-R, unlike any other optical storage technology, has enjoyed the unique “market pull” of this immense installed base. Quite obviously, to capitalize on this advantage, interchange compatibility became the primary value proposition for CD-R. As with any removable storage technology (for those old enough to remember, floppy disks were no different) occasional compatibility problems did arise in the early days of CD-R. Today such complaints are a rarity, due to persistent, strenuous efforts by the licensors and the CD-R media manufacturers, and the growth of the industry is testimony to their efforts. 2.0 What is OSTA and Why the Study? The Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) is an international trade association dedicated to popularizing optical storage technology through promotion, industry initiatives, education, and technical collaboration. The current membership constitutes more than 80% of the optical storage market. One of the OSTA committees is focused on writable CD/DVD technology, and within it resides the Physical Compatibility Subcommittee, whose charter includes “to identify and resolve real or perceived obstacles to the broad scale adoption and acceptance of CD-Recordable technology.” In 1995 this committee undertook perhaps the most ambitious CD-R compatibility study ever. This was envisioned to be an ongoing project that would seek to (i) provide a snapshot of current CD-R compatibility, (ii) identify and aid in the resolution of any compatibility problems that arise or are identified and (iii) serve as an authoritative, visible forum for the discussion and study of compatibility issues. Why specifically did we target CD-R compatibility? What prompted the original compatibility concerns? Why do they tend to surface every now and then? The Orange Book specification governing CD-R technology evolved over a period of time and was only finalized at the beginning of 1994 (version 2.0). By that time, however, there were numerous CD-R writer and media offerings. Some of these, unfortunately, were designed and built to operate outside what became the final specification. For example, many of © OSTA – Optical Storage Technology Association 1
CD-R Compatibility Study – Phase 2 the older 1X recorders tended to write discs at considerably higher powers than were ultimately mandated by the Orange Book. Furthermore, these writers lacked the active write power control that was recommended in the final specification. This often showed up as excessively high values of symmetry (or beta) reported by CD testers. Some of the original CD-R media offerings were tolerant of this overpowering and, in fact, required it for best results. Newer Orange Book Part II (version 2.0) compliant media were designed to function optimally in the strict, designated write power range and encountered understandable performance degradation when written in overpowered, non-standard conditions. All newer writers, including 2X, 4X, and 6X offerings, have sophisticated write power selection and control capabilities and generate considerably higher quality discs than do the older 1X devices. This result has been extensively corroborated by a number of other comprehensive studies. When the Orange Book was finalized, most, if not all, of the original manufacturers of non-standard writers modified their devices to conform to the final requirements. However, there still is a remnant installed population, albeit minuscule, of the older, nonstandard writers in use. Some of these can be upgraded to be in compliance with the Orange Book (usually by the manufacturer for a moderate price) but this information is not always widely publicized or known. It is quite possible that no problems are encountered when reading with these devices, but when using newer, multi-speed capable media types, users may encounter what appear to be “compatibility” problems due to the violation of Orange Book writing guidelines. The current release of the Orange Book (Part II: CD-R, Version 3.0, December 1997) continues to refine the relationship between CD-R media and CD recorder writing functions. The defined recording speeds now include 1X, 2X and 4X nominal CD speed. Improved definitions have been established for CD-R media to implement optimum writing power controls between the recorder and the media. Likewise special information can be coded into blank CD-R media to identify its disc type and the starting or indicative optimum writing power. Future improvements to CD-R media and recording systems can be expected due to the ongoing work of Philips and Sony as they further refine Orange Book specifications. Likewise the Orange Forum (formerly known as OSJ, the Orange Book Study Group of Japan) continues its work to support Philips and Sony by addressing CD-R market introduction issues. Today, concerns regarding compatibility are greatly diminished due to major advances in the quality and robustness of writers, media, and readers. Like all recordable technologies, some problems are still encountered with CD-R. However, in almost all instances, these can be attributed to systems conflicts, software deficiencies, or the occasional malfunctioning writer or reader. 2 © OSTA – Optical Storage Technology Association
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