Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Burnt Discs appear different?
- Thread starter Jschultz
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
CanadaRAM
macrumors G5
The truth is you can definitely see a difference in colour / refraction on the burned area of the disc (the underside of course, not the label side)
They aren't 'etches' per se, but they are microscopic spiral lines (working from the inside, out) where the dye inside the disk has been bubbled by the laser, creating the pits and lands that the laser reads as 0 s and 1 s. Angle the disk against the light and you can see the difference between Data and non burned areas (all data are ones and zeros, music, files, whatever). So, she's right.
Commercially pressed disks use a completely different method, no dye, no burning. The aluminium reflective layer is impressed with the data pits all at one go as the disk is assembled, so commercial disks look quite different on the underside.
Now: Listen up. View this as an opportunity. Admit you're wrong, aplogise for doubting her, praise her for being right, and let her make it up to you. I will leave you to work out the details 😉
They aren't 'etches' per se, but they are microscopic spiral lines (working from the inside, out) where the dye inside the disk has been bubbled by the laser, creating the pits and lands that the laser reads as 0 s and 1 s. Angle the disk against the light and you can see the difference between Data and non burned areas (all data are ones and zeros, music, files, whatever). So, she's right.
Commercially pressed disks use a completely different method, no dye, no burning. The aluminium reflective layer is impressed with the data pits all at one go as the disk is assembled, so commercial disks look quite different on the underside.
Now: Listen up. View this as an opportunity. Admit you're wrong, aplogise for doubting her, praise her for being right, and let her make it up to you. I will leave you to work out the details 😉
RedTomato
macrumors 601
Yes, I can easily tell how much space a half used disc has on it - it's quite obvious.
The burnt space starts from the centre out wards.
I remember reading about people who could visually identify by sight what tune was on a vinyl record disc by looking the patterns of lands and groves.
I've looked at a few CDs and sometimes you can see stripes in the burnt data, but I couldn't be bothered to try to work out what kind of data the stripes were.
The burnt space starts from the centre out wards.
I remember reading about people who could visually identify by sight what tune was on a vinyl record disc by looking the patterns of lands and groves.
I've looked at a few CDs and sometimes you can see stripes in the burnt data, but I couldn't be bothered to try to work out what kind of data the stripes were.
You go in a fight with her about that, wow.
Most disks you can tell but depending on the manufacturer of the disk it may not be as evident as some, but chances are you can still see it. I have also noticed that CD-Rs are much easier to identify this way compared to CD-RWs.
dukebound85
macrumors Core
you can easily tell. if theres data looks like a smaller darker circle in a lighter circle. i use this when i have unlabeled discs and want to know if i can burn stuff to them
Grakkle
macrumors 6502a
Tsk tsk.
Yes, it's quite noticeable. The burned portion shows up very clearly on DVD-RWs especially, because of the darker colour I suppose.
Westside guy
macrumors 604
While this does work for home-burnt disks, it often isn't possible for professionally mastered CDs or DVDs.