Our Team of duplication experts specialize in helping you find the right Duplication solution for your needs: CD & DVD Duplicators, Disc Printers, or Complete Disc Publishing Solutions. We carry the full line of Primera, Rimage, Telex and Epson CD & DVD Duplicators and Printers. Thank you for shopping with us!

A CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable) is a thin (1.2 mm) disc made of polycarbonate with a 120 mm or 80 mm diameter that is mainly used to store music or data. However, unlike conventional CD media, a CD-R has a core of dye instead of metal.

A standard CD-R has a storage capacity of 74 minutes/650MB. Non-standard CD-Rs are available with capacities of 80 minutes/700MB, which they achieve by exceeding the tolerances specified in the Orange Book CD standards. Most CD-Rs on the market are of the latter capacity. A recordable CD, or CD-R, is far more complicated than a standard replicated CD. It contains 4 or 5 layers of material (the label coating is not found on all CD-R's):

• The Polycarbonate Layer is similar to that used in replicated CD's. A replicated CD, however, contains a series of pits and lands generated during the mastering process and based specifically on the data provided by the customer. The polycarbonate layer of a CD-R does not contain these pits and lands but instead contains a shallow groove (or pregroove) that is used for timing and tracking.
• The Dye Surface varies by manufacturer. There are currently three popular dyes used for CD-R's: Cyanine (including Metal-Stabilized Cyanine), Phthalocyanine, and Azo.
• The Reflective Layer is comprised of either gold or silver. Yes, this is REAL gold or REAL silver, but it exists in such small amounts that it would not be worth the effort to extract it!
• The Lacquer Layer protects the Reflective Layer.
• The Label Coating is present on some discs, and is also referred to by some manufacturers as the data shield. Most agree that this coatings primary benefit is that it will accept printing from inkjet printers. There are several competing formulas that are used to create this surface, each designed for a different print engine. The disc has a spiral track onto which the data is written. This is preformed during the manufacturing process. This ensures that the recorder follows the same spiral path as a conventional CD. CD-Rs are written from the center (the hub) of the disc outward. Instead of pressing a CD with indentations (like a CD-ROM), a CD-R writes data to a disc by using its lasers to physically "burn" pits into the organic dye. When heated beyond a certain temperature, the area that was "burned" becomes opaque and reflects less light than the areas that have not been "burned". A CD-Rs "burned" and "unburned" areas represent the pits and lands of a standard CD. This is why a recorded CD can be played in a regular CD player.

CD-R is a Write Once/Read Many (WORM) storage disc. However, you cannot erase what has been written to the disc. You may leave the session "open" (not recording on the entire CD) and go back and add more to it later. By doing this though, you run the risk of the disc not reading on all players.

For additional information on CD-R technology, visit http://www.cdrfaq.org