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15.2.4 Orange Book
Most CDs are of the Read Only type (can only be read, and not
written to). The Orange Book Standard describes various processes
for writing data onto a CD, which in the case of the CD-Recordable
is also known as burning. The Orange Book also originated with
Philips and Sony and was first published in 1991. The standard is
divided into three main sections:
Part I describes the Compact Disc - Magneto Optical (CD-MO), also
known as the Hybrid-CD. The CD-MO contains an internal recording
area which is produced similar to the typical CD. Externally, there is
an area which can be read magneto-optically, and which can be
written to more than once. However, this area cannot be read by a
normal CD scanner.
Part II describes the Compact Disc - Recordable or Compact Disc -
Write Once (CD-R, CD-WO). This CD may also have an internal
area which is produced in the typical manner. Contrary to the CD-
MO, however, the external area is created in such a manner that it
may be played back by any CD reading device. Generally, a CD-R
possesses only this external area.
A CD-R may be written either as a whole or partially in several
separate procedures which are known as sessions. One-time writing
is described as a single session, while more than one writing is
known as a multi-session. There are now also traditional CDs
(silver) which are structured as multi-session CDs.
Part III is still in the standardization phase and describes the CD-
ReWritable (CD-RW, formerly CD-Erasable). In contrast to the CD-
R, this CD is not limited to just one writing, but may be erased and
re-written as often as desired. Nonetheless, the CD-RW cannot be
read by every traditional CD reader, but rather only by those which
are specially designed for CD-RW (known as CD-RW enabled CD
players). It will be interesting to watch the future development of this
technology.
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