http://www.cdrfaq.org/

Last-modified: 2005/05/20 Version: 2.59

[2] CD Encoding

[2-1] How is the information physically stored?
[2-2] What is XA? CDPLUS? CD-i? MODE1 vs MODE2? Red/yellow/blue book?
[2-3] How do I know what format a disc is in?
[2-4] How does copy protection work?

[2-4-1] ...on a data CD-ROM?
[2-4-2] ...on an audio CD?
[2-4-3] ...on an audio CD (Macrovision - SafeAudio)
[2-4-4] ...on an audio CD (SunnComm - MediaCloQ and MediaMax CD3)
[2-4-5] ...on an audio CD (Midbar Tech - Cactus Data Shield)
[2-4-6] ...on an audio CD (Key2Audio / Sony DADC)
[2-4-7] ...on an audio CD (BayView Systems - Duolizer)
[2-4-8] ...on an audio CD (Sanyo)
[2-4-9] How does the Doc-Witness OpSecure CD-ROM work?

[2-5] What's a multisession disc?
[2-6] What are subcode channels?
[2-7] Are the CD Identifier fields widely used?
[2-8] How long does it take to burn a CD-R?
[2-9] What's the difference between disc-at-once and track-at-once?
[2-10] Differences between recording from an image and on-the-fly?
[2-11] How does an audio CD player know to skip data tracks?
[2-12] How does CD-RW compare to CD-R?
[2-13] Can DVD players read CD-Rs?
[2-14] Should I buy a DVD recorder instead?
[2-15] What are "jitter" and "jitter correction"?
[2-16] Where can I learn more about the history of CD and CD-R?
[2-17] Why don't audio CDs use error correction?
[2-18] How does CD-R compare to MiniDisc?
[2-19] What does finalizing (and closing and fixating) do?
[2-20] How are WAV/AIFF files converted into Red Book CD audio?
[2-21] What does MultiRead mean? MultiPlay?
[2-22] If recording fails, is the disc usable?
[2-23] Why do recorders insert "00" bytes at the start of audio tracks?
[2-24] How many tracks can I have? How many files?
[2-25] Will SCMS prevent me from making copies?
[2-26] Is a serial number placed on the disc by the recorder?
[2-27] What's a TOC? How does it differ from a directory?
[2-28] What's an ISO? A CIF? BIN and CUE? .DAT?
[2-29] Why was 74 minutes chosen as the standard length?
[2-30] Why is there a visibly unwritten strip near the CD-R hub?
[2-31] What is "BURN-Proof"? "JustLink"? "Waste-Proof"?
[2-32] Can playing CD-Rs in a DVD player hurt the discs?
[2-33] Who *really* made this CD-R blank?
[2-34] Can I make copies of DTS-encoded CDs?
[2-35] Why 44.1KHz? Why not 48KHz?
[2-36] What format are .CDA files in?
[2-37] What are DD-R and DD-RW?
[2-38] What's an ATIP?
[2-39] What are "ML" discs and devices?
[2-40] What's CD-MRW? Mount Rainier? EasyWrite?
[2-41] What's Audio Master Quality (AMQ) recording?
[2-42] Can I draw pictures on a disc with the recording laser?
[2-43] What are the gory details about how are 1s and 0s encoded?

[2-43-1] How does the laser read or write a disc?
[2-43-2] How do pits and lands turn into 1s and 0s? What's EFM?
[2-43-3] What's a frame? CIRC encoding? How does ECC work?
[2-43-4] What's in a sector?
[2-43-5] What's in a subcode channel?
[2-43-6] I want even more details

[2-44] Digital is better than analog, right?

[2-44-1] What is "digital" and "digitization", anyway?
[2-44-2] How does this relate to CD-DA?

[2-45] What's a CDR-ROM? CD-PROM?
[2-46] What's HD-BURN? GigaRec?
[2-47] What are C2 errors? What do they say about disc quality?
[2-48] What are CD+R and CD+RW?
[2-49] What's HighMAT?
[2-50] What's VariRec?
[2-51] Will my CDs work on players in other countries?
[2-52] Do CD-Rs have deeper pits? Are "shallow burns" bad?
[2-53] What's a stacking ring?