Is CD-R compatible with DVD-ROM?
Sometimes. The problem is that CD-Rs (Orange Book Part II) are “invisible” to DVD laser wavelength because the dye used in CD-Rs doesn’t reflect the beam. Some first-generation DVD-ROM drives and many DVD players can’t read CD-Rs. The common solution is to use two lasers at different wavelengths: one for reading DVDs and the other for reading CDs and CD-Rs. Variatons on the theme include Sony’s “dual discrete optical pickup” with switchable pickup assemblies with separate optics, Samsung’s “annular masked objective lens” with a shared optical path, Toshiba’s similar shared optical path using an objective lens masked with a coating that’s transparent only to 650-nm light, Hitachi’s switchable objective lens assembly, and Matsushita’s holographic dual-focus lens. Look for drives with the MultiRead label, which guarantees compatibility with CD-R and CD-RW media. An effort to develop CD-R “Type II” media compatible with both CD and DVD wavelengths has been abandoned.
Sometimes. The problem is that CD-Rs (Orange Book Part II) are “invisible” to DVD laser wavelength because the dye used in CD-Rs doesn’t reflect the beam. Some first-generation DVD-ROM drives and many DVD players can’t read CD-Rs. The common solution is to use two lasers at different wavelengths: one for reading DVDs and the other for reading CDs and CD-Rs. Variatons on the theme include Sony’s “dual discrete optical pickup” with switchable pickup assemblies with separate optics, Sony’s dual-wavelength laser (to be initially deployed on Playstation 2), Samsung’s “annular masked objective lens” with a shared optical path, Toshiba’s similar shared optical path using an objective lens masked with a coating that’s transparent only to 650-nm light, Hitachi’s switchable objective lens assembly, and Matsushita’s holographic dual-focus lens. Look for drives with the MultiRead label, which guarantees compatibility with CD-R and CD-RW media.
Sometimes. The problem is that CD-Rs (Orange Book Part II) are “invisible” to DVD laser wavelength because the dye used in CD-Rs doesn’t reflect the beam. Some first-generation DVD-ROM drives and many DVD players can’t read CD-Rs. The common solution is to use two lasers at different wavelengths: one for reading DVDs and the other for reading CDs and CD-Rs. Variatons on the theme include Sony’s “dual discrete optical pickup” with switchable pickup assmblies with separate optics, Samsung’s “annular masked objective lens” with a shared optical path, Toshiba’s similar shared optical path using an objective lens masked with a coating that’s transparent only to 650-nm light, Hitachi’s switchable objective lens assembly, and Matsushita’s holographic dual-focus lens. Look for drives with the MultiRead label, which guarantees compatibility with CD-R and CD-RW media. An effort to develop CD-R “Type II” media compatible with both CD and DVD wavelengths has been abandoned.
Maybe. The problem is that CD-Rs (Orange Book Part II) are “invisible” to the wavelength of laser required by DVD, because the dye used in CD-Rs doesn’t reflect the laser beam. Supposedly there will be new CD-R2 blanks that will work with CD-ROM and DVD. A better solution, announced by Sony, is a twin-laser pickup in which one laser is used for reading DVDs and the other for reading CDs and CD-Rs. This provides complete backwards compatibility with millions of CD-R discs. Philips has also stated that its DVD-ROM drives will read CD-Rs.
Maybe. The problem is that CD-Rs (Orange Book Part II) are “invisible” to DVD laser wavelength because the dye used in CD-Rs doesn’t reflect the beam. This problem is being addressed in many ways. Sony has developed a twin-laser pickup in which one laser is used for reading DVDs and the other for reading CDs and CD-Rs. Samsung has also announced dual-laser using a holographic annular masked lens. These solutions provide complete backwards compatibility with millions of CD-R discs. Philips has also stated that its DVD-ROM drives will read CD-Rs. In addition, new CD-R Type II blanks that will work with CD-ROM and DVD are supposedly in development. In the meantime, some first-generation DVD-ROM drives and many first-generation DVD-Video players will not read CD-R media.
