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Media (CD/DVD/Tape) |
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| Media (CD/DVD/Tape) Subcategories |
CD Media, DVD Media, Tape MediaCD-ROM (which stands for "Compact Disc read-only memory") is a Compact Disc
(CD Media) that contains data accessible by a computer. While the Compact Disc
format was originally designed for music storage and playback, 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 (e.g. business card-sized
media) 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 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. DVD-Video and DVD-Audio discs respectively
refer to properly formatted and structured video and audio content. Other types
of DVD discs, 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 and HD DVD. CDs & DVDs are made
by a number of manufacturers, including:
Philips (Hotan),
Imation,
JVC,
Maxell,
Memorex,
A
floppy disk (or floppy diskette) is an older data storage medium, that has
been around since the 1970s, that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible
("floppy") magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic
shell. Floppy disks are read and written by a
floppy disk drive or FDD, the initials of which should not be confused with
"fixed disk drive", which is another term for a hard disk drive. Invented by
IBM, floppy disks first were introduced in 8" size, then 5.25" became popular
with the Atari, Commodore, and PC, and the successor
3.5" formats enjoyed many years as a popular and ubiquitous form of data
storage and exchange, from the late 1980s to the late 1990s. However, they have
now been largely superseded by flash and optical storage devices while e-mail
has become the preferred method of exchanging small to medium size digital
files.
Storage of floppies was always one of the greater challenges of using this
media.
Tape Media is mostly used now just for backup purposes, and generally on
network servers, and is not so different from a
video cassette. The
DAT tape format is the most popular now, but in the past almost every
conceivable tape format was introduced. Digital Data Storage (DDS) is a format
for storing and backing up computer data on magnetic tape that evolved from
Digital Audio Tape (DAT) technology, which was originally created for CD-quality
audio recording. In 1989,
Sony and
Hewlett Packard defined the DDS format for data storage using DAT tape
cartridges.
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