Total HD – “Super Disc” An update on the battle between Blu-ray and HD-DVD

Alright, we’ve all been following the heated battle between the new Blu-ray and HD-DVD technologies. If you’d like a little refresher on what’s conspired so far, please refer to my article titled “New CD and DVD Technology – Blu-Ray and HD-DVD”. This will run you through how each disc type functions, why they’re better than normal DVD media, and the differences between the two types. But I digress, this article is about the industry’s newest solution to the problem of having two new, very similar products, and how they plan on solving this conflict. The solution presented is in the form of an amalgamated DVD disc type named Total HD, which holds both Blu-ray and HD-DVD information. 

Total HD – What is it? 

The main difference between Blu-ray and HD-DVD is the distance of the data layer from the surface of the disc. Both disc types use a blue laser to read the disc’s contents. The Blu-ray discs’ is located 0.1mm from the disk’s surface, whereas the HD DVD data layer resides 0.6mm deep from the disk’s surface. The solution that the Total HD disc offers is a mirror-like top layer containing the Blu-ray information that a Blu-ray player can read. But the surface also allows light to reflect through to a second layer containing the HD-DVD information, so an HD-DVD player can read and play that information as well. They are also working on a double sided disc that contains standard DVD information on the reverse side, which would cover all 3 of the different formats. This super DVD would allow movie producers to offer their films in all formats on one disc. Consumers would be more apt to purchase a movie offered in all three formats instead of having to buy one disc in each format. This has been the main concern of all film production companies since the beginning of this format war. In the end, the only thing that matters is marketability. 

What does this mean to the consumer? 

It seems that it all really comes down to the DVD players that are offered to the consumer. LG Electronics has announced that it has a combo player in the works, and better yet, the device will premier very soon. As a consumer, this pretty much solves the problem. You’ll have HD-DVD, Blu-ray, and standard DVD all on one disc that you can play in one standard player. So, there will really be no problem on the consumer’s end as soon as the battle is over and standardized. Picture that now, crystal clear, hi-definition movies played off of a home DVD player. Soon enough it will all be in our grasp. 

Jason Cole and DiskFaktory offer great tips and information regarding CD Duplication. Get info about DVD Duplication as well by visiting http://www.diskfaktory.com/tips/CD-duplication-tutorials.asp

CD Burning – The Differences Between Track-at-once and Disc-at-once

All of us who own a personal computer have burned at least a CD or two in our days. Being able to download music and create your own mix CDs has been one of my favorite features since the beginning. Software such as iTunes and Nero has made this task even easier, pretty much doing all the work for us. All you need to do is insert your CD-R into your CD burner, pop open either one of those programs, drag in your audio files, and hit the burn button. In a couple minutes your CD is ready to go. But wait a second, what about these options like burn speed, and should I choose disc-at-once or track-at-once? Well, today we’ll be attempting to get to the bottom of one of these confusing options. We’ll be discussing what the differences are between these two CD burn modes; track-at-once and disc-at-once, and to decide which one is the right option to choose for your project.

Track-At-Once

This is the first option that was introduced when CD duplication software was first created. With this mode, each time a track is finished burning, the laser recording the information stops. When it stops, two run-out blocks of data are written. After that, one link block and four run-in blocks are written when the next track begins to record. With track-at-once, you may burn both data and audio on the same disc. These blocks in between tracks are not a problem when data is being read, but you may hear a click on some CD players when playing back audio. This is something that may cause you problems if you are having your disc mastered and duplicated or replicated at a professional facility. In that regard, track-at-once is best suited for CDs for personal enjoyment.

Disc-At-Once

This burn mode takes all of your data, be it audio data or regular data, and burns it all to disc in one big block. No gaps are added between tracks, the laser never stops burning the data to disc. This is a newer feature, which should be an option in most modern CD burning software. One option you have with disc-at-once mode, which is kind of interesting, is that you can place allows any amount of audio data (or no data at all) to be written in the “pre-gaps” between tracks. With this option, you can place track introductions between each song. This is cool, because you can create “hidden tracks” on the CD in the pre-gap areas, that are only accessible by rewinding backwards into the pre-gap area. This is the ideal choice for CD masters that will be going to a CD duplication or replication house.

I hope that this fully explains these two different CD burning modes for you, or at least explains it enough for you to successfully create your next CD mix or master. I was going to leave out explaining burn speed for another article, but it really is simple enough to explain at the tail end of this article. Basically, your burn speed should be15-30% of the drive’s maximum capacity. I.e. For a 52x burner, the optimal burn speed would be from 12-16x. It’s as simple as that. Thanks for reading this article, and best wishes on your next project!

Jason Cole and DiskFaktory offer great tips and information regarding CD Duplication. Get info about DVD Duplication as well by visiting http://www.diskfaktory.com/tips/CD-duplication-tutorials.asp