#CD-ROM Storage Capacity
6 messages in this thread
Hi there
Can anybody give me some information regarding the standards which are in place
regarding CD-ROM e.g. storage capacity etc.
Thanks
The storage capacity in general terms is 540 megabytes to a little below 700
megabytes. If you want the red book and yellow books which define the physical
standards of the disc you need to contact ANSI or Global Engineering Documents
in Irvine, CA. These documents are not cheap either. If you want the
filesystem you can purchase the ISO-9660 from Global Engineering documents as
well. The high sierra specification a predecessor to the ISO-9660
specification is public and can be downloaded from this forum. Also you can
look at the DEc 1992 Dr. Dobbs Journal has some information on the ISO-9660
filesystem and the recent March 1993 issue has a filesystem for ISO-9660 and
High Sierra written in C. You can get the source code in the Dr. Dobbs Journal
forum (GO DDJFOR).
Also you might want to download CDFAQ.TXT and CDROMF.ZIP which will give you
other addresses that might provide you with more information on what you seek.
Anthony:
In addition to the facts Albert has given you, you might want to check out the
CDFAQ.TXT file in Lib #1. Throughout its discussion there are references to
the relevant standards. The NEWBIB.TXT file in Lib #14 gives addresses for
ordering standards data.
Hope this helps!
Rich Bowers
Rich did I miss your file CDFAQ.TXT in my last message? Oops! <grin>
Albert:
No problem, I appreciate your input! I just come along and tidy a few loose
ends.<g>
Did you get in contact with the Intermedia folks yet?
Rich
I'll give it a shot, but I'm not completely sure about all this….
CD-ROM storage capacity is currently about 600MB on one side of the disc – same
as an audio CD. The "basic" cd-rom file format standard is called ISO 9660 and
is also known as "High Sierra" format, but ISO 9660 seems more prevalent.
Unfortunately, there are all sorts of extensions at this point including CD-I
(CD Interactive), CDROM-XA (Extended Architecture), and Photo-CD. I don't
think any of these affect the storage capacity, just the format of the data.
Sony has a small, portable CD-ROM-like reader (called ROM-man?) which I believe
reads small discs. I don't know what their story is.
Microsoft has a performance spec called MPC (multimedia PC) compliance.
Unfortunately, the specs are very lacks (e.g., 500ms access time). Don't think
you're getting any deal for buying MPC compliance.
Dave