FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What's CD-R? CD-RW?
CD-R is short for "CD-Recordable". Recordable CDs are WORM (Write Once, Read Multiple) media that work just like standard CDs. The advantage of CD-R over other types of optical media is that you can use the discs with a standard CD player. The disadvantage is that you can't reuse a disc.

A related technology called CD-Rewritable (CD-RW) allows you to erase discs and reuse them, but the CD-RW media doesn't work in all players. CD-Rewritable drives are able to write both CD-R and CD-RW discs. All CD recorders can read CDs and CD-ROMs, just like a standard CD-ROM drive.

The CDs you buy in a store are pressed from a mold. CD-Rs are burned with a laser. They may look different (often green, gold, or blue instead of silver), they're less tolerant of extreme temperatures and sunlight, and they're more susceptible to physical damage. Whether CD-Rs or pressed CDs last longer is difficult to answer. While they're not physically identical, they work just the same. Some CD players and CD-ROM drives aren't as good at reading CD-R and CD-RW discs as they are at reading pressed CDs, but by and large they work just fine.

By the way, you can't record on pressed discs, so you might as well throw out all those AOL CD-ROMs you've been accumulating. Buying a bunch of old CDs in the hopes of writing new stuff onto them is a bad idea. You have to buy blank CD-R or CD-RW media.

Who manufactures CD-R media?
Taiyo Yuden made the first "green" CDs. They are now manufactured by TDK, Ricoh, Kodak, and probably several others as well.

Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals (MTC) made the first "gold" CDs. They are now manufactured by Kodak and possibly others as well.

Verbatim made the first "silver/blue" CDs.

Rolling R Productions uses only Tayio Yuden CDR ‘s. We believe quality is the cornerstone of customer service. Tayio Yuden creates less loss for the end user.

Why do my DVD-Rs only play on some DVD players and not others?
While the DVD Movie and Game discs you buy or rent in the stores appear to be "silver" or "gold", they are usually made from aluminum coatings, over a clear layer that has been mechanically pressed with pits or holes to encode the data that the lasers in the DVD players decode into music and video signals. DVD Video discs that are made this way do not require the light sensitive dye layer used in DVD-R discs, and so they appear clear on the bottom, or nearly so. They never have to be "burned".

By contrast, the recordable DVD-R discs use a dark dye layer to absorb the higher powered laser in DVD burners to create the tiny pits or holes that encode the disc's data. This dye layer causes problems for some cheaper and older DVD players, but it is none-the-less required to "burn" the DVD-R. Most of today's DVD Players now are able to read both the clear bottomed DVD movie and game discs, and also the colored dye bottomed DVD-R discs. Unfortunately on small DVD orders where it is more financially prudent to use DVD-R technology, we cannot offer a guarantee that your DVD’s will play on all machines. No one can, so if they do, remember the old adage “buyer beware.”

What’s New?
The latest information is that the manufacturers of DVD burners are developing a new burner that will reduce the incompatibility issues tremendously. By changing the color of the laser, developers are hoping to increase the home usage of this equipment. Rolling R Productions will keep you informed as these changes take place.