8.1.5 Optical Disc Standards
8.1.5.1 Adherence to standards is the mechanism by which discs are writable or playable on different manufacturers’ machines. The manufacturers have the responsibility to make the disc in accordance with the particular standards. These standards, however, are not formulated with regard to longevity or reliability of the carrier, but only format interchange. Consequently, a disc recorded and playable on a particular machine may in fact be borderline, or even fail to meet the standard that applies. So, although the manufacturers are responsible for the formulation of a disc, the potential life of any information storage media will only be realised if end users take responsibility for producing a suitable digital copy that falls within the parameters set by those standards. Relying on the technology to meet the standards is not sufficient to ensure optimum disc life.
8.1.5.2 This requirement to ensure that the digital information stored on an optical disc is produced in accordance with the standards is exemplified by the issue of disc and burner compatibility. The standards apply to the recording media rather than the replay and recording technology. Philips warns manufacturers of disc burners that they “must implement a writing strategy giving acceptable results”. However, this can be interpreted in a number of ways, resulting in varying compliance. Philips/Sony attempted to address this issues with the MID (manufacturers identification code). The nature of the production of recordable media means, however, that the only information MID really records is the name of the manufacturer of the stampers that are used in the production of discs. Consequently, it has done little to resolve the issue of disc/burner interaction, which remains something of a problem.
8.1.5.3 The standards that apply to Recordable CD include Orange Book Part II: CD-R Volume 1 CD-WO (CD write once) also known as CD-R standard describing 1x, 2x and 4x nominal CD speed. Orange Book Part II: CD-R Volume 2: Multi-Speed CD-R (CD Recordable) describing the speeds up to 48x nominal CD speed. Orange Book Part III: CD-RW Volume 1 CD-RW (CD Rewritable) describing 1x, 2x and 4x nominal CD speed. Orange Book Part III: CD-RW Volume 2: High Speed CD-RW (CD Rewritable) describing 4x and 10x nominal CD speed. Orange Book Part III: CD-RW Volume 3: Ultra Speed CD-RW (CD Rewritable) describing 8x and 32x nominal CD speed. Green Book. Compact Disc Interactive Full Functional Specification and White Book Video-CD Specification. There are also standards for other proprietary CD formats.
8.1.5.4 The standards that apply to Recordable DVD include ISO/IEC 16824:1999 Information technology -- 120 mm DVD rewritable disk (DVDRAM). ISO/IEC 16825:1999 Information technology–Case for 120 mm DVD-RAM disks. ISO/IEC 17341:2004 Information technology -- 80 mm (1,46 Gbytes per side) and 120 mm (4,70 Gbytes per side) DVD re-recordable disk (DVD+RW ). ISO/IEC 17342:2004 Information technology -- 80 mm (1,46 Gbytes per side) and 120 mm (4,70 Gbytes per side) DVD re-recordable disk (DVD-RW). ISO/IEC 17592:2004 Information technology -- 120 mm (4,7 Gbytes per side) and 80 mm (1,46 Gbytes per side) DVD rewritable disk (DVD-RAM). ISO/ IEC 17594:2004 Information technology–Cases for 120 mm and 80 mm DVDRAM disks. ISO/IEC 20563:2001 Information technology -- 80 mm (1,23 Gbytes per side) and 120 mm (3,95 Gbytes per side) DVD-recordable disk (DVD-R). ISO/IEC 16969:1999 Information technology–Data interchange on 120 mm optical disk cartridges using +RW format–Capacity: 3,0 Gbytes and 6,0 Gbytes . ISO/IEC DTR 18002 – DVD File System Specifications. ISO/IEC 13346, Recordable/ Rewritable Volume and File Structure (ECMA-167) and DVD+R - Recordable Optical Disks, 4.7 GB, recording speed up to 4X (ECMA-349).
8.1.5.5 These standards are in addition to those specified in section 5.6.2 Standards.
