Table of Contents * Previous Chapter * Next Chapter
A CD-DA contains up to 99 audio tracks as specified in the Red Book in 16 bit wide - 44.1kHz - stereo format.
A CD-ROM (defined in the Yellow Book) consists of a single data track written in Mode 1 which stores 2048 bytes of user data per block and 338 bytes of error correction.
A Mixed Mode Disc consists of a single data track and multiple audio tracks. The data track is the first one and written in Mode 1. The maximum track count including the data track is 99.
XA (defined in an extension of the Yellow Book) allows data and Adaptive Pulse Code Modulation (ADPCM) audio data to be put on the same track. Both are written in Mode 2 which sacrifices the error correction of Mode 1 in order to store 2386 bytes of user data per block. This mode is usually used for video and Photo-CDs where an error is less important than in a computer program.
CDDesigner cannot create CD-ROM XA currently, but it may be able to copy single session CDs of this formats if either the reader's and the writer's driver support Mode 2. As rarely used CDDesigner will not support the writing of audio data in XA format.
A Photo-CD stores pictures on CDs which can then be viewed with any Photo-CD player, CD-I player, CD-ROM XA player and 3DO player. Photo-CDs are based on the CD-ROM XA specifications and may make usage of multiple sessions in order to add pictures in several steps.
Currently CDDesigner is not able to read or write Photo-CDs, but they may be supported in future releases.
A standard governed by the Green Book. It enables full screen/full motion video, sound and data to be supported on one disc. It was developed by Phillips for use with their CD-I console system - an appropriate card with ADPCM decoding is required for use with a PC.
As CD-Is contain special data for Phillips' console system, it is not supported by CDDesigner. Special software for creating CD-Is is available for Windows and MacOS.
The CD-Bridge Disc specification defines a way to put additional information in a CD-ROM XA track in order to allow the track to be played on a CD-I player.
As CD-Bridge Discs contain special data for Phillips' console system, it is not supported by CDDesigner. Special software for creating CD-Bridge Discs is available for Windows and MacOS.
Published material is mastered at one time - the directory of the disc is therefore in one place only. Discs of this kind are known as single session. The ability to master and duplicate titles in-house and applications such as Photo-CD, means, that subsequent recording sessions are available on CD-ROM. This is known as multisession - such discs will contain more than one directory of information and data.
As not all CD-ROM drives have the firmware to locate sessions other than the first one, CDDesigner does not support multisession CDs. In future releases CDDesigner may make usage of this capability to read and write Photo-CDs and to reuse mediums that have been damaged by a buffer underrun.
As defined in the Red Book, each block of a CD contains additional informations in its subcode channel. Some of them are used for synchronization and the others may define the audio track channel count, a copy permission flag, the International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) and information about the way the track was recorded.
Each session is introduced by a lead-in and closes with a lead-out area. They are written automatically when closing a session or fixating a CD.
The table of contents is located in the lead-in area and holds information (like start sector and mode) about each track. This has nothing to do with the directory tree of a data track, these informations are included in the data track itself. CD-ROM devices or drivers, which cannot handle with multiple TOCs, will always show the first session.
Table of Contents * Previous Chapter * Next Chapter