Optical storage

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

Optical storage is a term from engineering referring to the storage of data on an optically readable medium. Data is recorded by making marks in a pattern that can be read back with the aid of light, usually a beam of laser light precisely focused on a spinning disc. An older example, that does not require the use of computers, is microform. There are other means of optically storing data and new methods are in development. Optical storage differs from other data storage techniques that make use of other technologies such as magnetism or semiconductors.

Optical storage can range from a single drive reading a single CD-ROM to multiple drives reading multiple discs such as an optical jukebox. Single compact discs can hold around 700MB (megabytes)and optical jukeboxes can hold much more^[1].

The term optical drive usually refers to a device in a computer that can read CD-ROMs or other optical discs.

See also

• Data storage device - the broader topic of all devices that store data.
• Optical Media board disc - modern optical discs such as CD-ROMs and related formats.
• Optical Jukebox
• Optical disc drive
• Optical tape - more capacity than magnetic tape but not as cost effective
• Magneto-optical drive - combines Optical and Magnetic technologies to store data.
• Laser turntable - a device that optically reads mechanical data storage media.
• Holographic Data Storage Systems - potential new optical storage technology.
• 3D optical data storage - potential new optical storage technology.
• Optical Storage Technology Association - industry trade association

References

v · d · eOptical storage media CD (1982): CD-R (1988) · CD-RW (1997) DVD (1995): DVD-RW (1999) · DVD+RW (2001) · DVD+R (2002) · DVD+R DL (2004) · DVD-R DL (2005) Other: Microform (1870) · Optical tape (20th century) · Optical disc (20th century) · Laserdisc (1978) · UDO (2003) · ProData (2003) · UMD (2004) · HD DVD (2006) · Blu-ray Disc (2006) Magneto-optic Kerr effect (1877): MO disc (1980s) · MiniDisc (1992) · Hi-MD (2004) Optical Assist: Laser turntable (1986) · Floptical (1991) · Super DLT (1998)

This computer storage-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · d · e