SCEN103 Class 34

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The Compact Disk

How does a CD work?

Storage capacity of a CD
-- 650 Mb (megabytes)
Playing time of an audio CD?
Slideshow: CD Optics and "Scratch Resistance"
Live demonstration of scratch resistance of CD
(gradual destruction of CD by intentional scratching)
Discussion of laser pickup
-- focusing mechanism
-- focusing alignment
-- tracking alignment
Clarification of 8-to-14 encoding
Slideshow: Manufacturing of CDs

References:
CD-ROM Handbook, ed. Chris Sherman (McGraw-Hill, 1994).
The CD-ROM Drive, A Brief System Description, Soring G. Stan (Kluwer Academic, 1998).
The physics of the compact disk, John A. Cope, Phys. Educ 28, 15 (1993).

Comments, suggestions, or requests to ghw@udel.edu.
"http://www.physics.udel.edu/~watson/scen103/99s/clas0514.html"
Last updated May 17, 1999.
Copyright George Watson, Univ. of Delaware, 1999.