CD-R Introduction
The extremely low cost per megabyte, small size, and convenient handling of CD-ROM and CD Recordable (CD-R) discs has resulted in the explosive growth of their use as a data storage and distribution medium. With disc capacities around 680 MB, the user has a significant investment in the data on each disc, and wants assurance that the data will be retrievable in the future. Exceptional data life was a design criteria from the beginning of the project which resulted in the development of the Writable CD R. It drove the choice of all materials used in the fabrication of the disc, in particular, the recording layer.

Compact Disc (CD-R Media) that contains data accessible by a computer. While the Compact Disc format was originally designed for music storage and playback,CD R blank media, DVD blank media, the format was later adapted to hold any form of binary data. CD-ROMs (including CD-R and CD-RW) are popularly used to distribute computer software, games, multimedia content, MP3, and much more, though any data can be stored (up to the capacity limit of a disc). Some CDs hold both computer data and audio with the latter capable of being played on a CD player, while the data (such as software or digital video) is only usable on a computer (with CD-ROM or DVD drive). These are called Enhanced CDs. Prerecorded CD-ROM discs are identical in appearance to audio CDs, and data is stored and retrieved in a very similar manner (only differing from audio CDs in the standards used to store the data). Discs are made from a 1.2 mm thick disc of polycarbonate plastic, with a thin layer of aluminum to make a reflective surface. The most common size of CD-ROM disc is 120 mm in diameter, though the smaller Mini CD standard with an 80 mm diameter, as well as numerous non-standard sizes and shapes are also available. Recordable formats, such as CD-R and CD-RW allow a computer to record directly on the CD. Another variation on the CD is the DVD, and is the most popular optical disc storage media format for movies. Its main uses are video and data storage. Most DVD Blank Media are of the same dimensions as compact discs (CDs) but store more than 6 times as much data. Variations of the term DVD often describe the way data is stored on the discs: DVD-ROM has data which can only be read and not written, DVD-R (DVD-R and DVD+R) can be written once and then functions as a DVD-ROM, and DVD-RW (DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, or DVD+RW) holds data that can be erased and thus re-written multiple times. Other types of DVD discs, printable dvd blank media including those with video content, may be referred to as DVD-Data discs. The term "DVD" is commonly misused to refer to high definition optical disc formats in general, such as Blu-ray DVD and HD DVD. CD-R & DVD-R are made by a number of manufacturers, including: Taiyo yuden, Ridata / Ritec , Rodisc, Philips, JVC, Kodak, Prodisc, Maxell, Memorex.