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| - An optical disc is
- An optical disc is a flat, usually circular disc which encodes binary data in the form of pits and lands on a special material on one of its flat surfaces.
- Optical Discs refer to the medium for game storage on the Nintendo GameCube, Wii, and Wii U. Nintendo uses a series of proprietary formats of optical discs created by Panasonic. In previous years, Nintendo stored its games on Game Paks as did their competitors, but after the success of the Sony PlayStation over the Nintendo 64 demonstrated the technological superiority of optical discs over ROM cartridges, Nintendo decided to switch to optical discs. Unlike competing consoles, which use industry-standard formats, Nintendo optical discs are proprietary, as industry standards are copyrighted and consequently require licensing fees for each sold product that utilizes them, and proprietary formats are more resistant to piracy.
- In computing and optical disc recording technologies, an optical disc (OD) is a flat, usually circular disc which encodes binary data (bits) in the form of pits (binary value of 0 or off, due to lack of reflection when read) and lands (binary value of 1 or on, due to a reflection when read) on a special material (often aluminium[citation needed] ) on one of its flat surfaces. The encoding material sits atop a thicker substrate (usually polycarbonate) which makes up the bulk of the disc and forms a dust defocusing layer. The encoding pattern follows a continuous, spiral path covering the entire disc surface and extending from the innermost track to the outermost track. The data is stored on the disc with a laser or stamping machine, and can be accessed when the data path is illuminated with
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| abstract
| - Optical Discs refer to the medium for game storage on the Nintendo GameCube, Wii, and Wii U. Nintendo uses a series of proprietary formats of optical discs created by Panasonic. In previous years, Nintendo stored its games on Game Paks as did their competitors, but after the success of the Sony PlayStation over the Nintendo 64 demonstrated the technological superiority of optical discs over ROM cartridges, Nintendo decided to switch to optical discs. Unlike competing consoles, which use industry-standard formats, Nintendo optical discs are proprietary, as industry standards are copyrighted and consequently require licensing fees for each sold product that utilizes them, and proprietary formats are more resistant to piracy. Like most optical discs, Nintendo's are circular, with one side being labeled and the other being exposed so that it can be read by a laser. Nintendo optical discs also feature a burst-cutting area, a barcode imprinted on the inner ring of the disc as a form of anti-piracy. Each format of disc has its own serial code: GameCube discs are labelled "DOL-006", Wii discs are labelled "RVL-006", and Wii U discs are labelled "WUP-006". The three-letter prefix for each of these codes refers to the in-house codename of each console (Dolphin, Revolution, and Wii U Project, respectively), while the index number "006" indicates that it is an optical disc. GameCube discs are 8 cm miniDVD-based discs read at a constant angular velocity that are capable of holding 1.5 GB, making them significantly larger than N64 game paks and the SEGA Dreamcast's GD-ROMs but smaller than the DVDs used by the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. As a result, GameCube ports of PS2 or Xbox games often had to be compressed or split across multiple discs. However, the discs' smaller sizes in comparison to the competition allowed for faster loading times, a feature that has been consistently appreciated by fans and critics. The GameCube's discs are compatible with both the GameCube and the first model of the Wii. Wii discs are 12 cm DVD-based discs capable of holding either 4.7 GB (for single-layer discs) or 8.54 GB (for double-layer discs). Because of their larger size and the fact that a Wii's motherboard is constructed from GameCube hardware, Wii discs are able to carry the same benefits of GameCube discs with the addition of having a significantly greater storage capacity (identical to that of a double-layer DVD-ROM). Until the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, all Wii games were released on single-layer discs; from Brawl-onwards, some Wii games were published on double-layer discs. Double-layer discs, while greater in capacity, come with the downside of being harder to read should the optical drive's laser lens be dirty or scratched; in response, Nintendo issued a public admission of this fault and began repairing Wiis that suffered from tainted lenses before releasing an official cleaning kit. The Wii's discs are compatible with the Wii and the Wii U. Wii U discs are 12 cm discs capable of holding 25 GB of data, identical to that of a single-layer Blu-Ray. Unlike previous discs, the ones used for the Wii U have soft, rounded edges and an anti-scratch coating on the bottom. It is unclear whether or not the Wii U's discs are based on the Blu-Ray format, though they are often believed to be so due to their features and the fact that Panasonic (the company responsible for creating the Wii U's discs) is a major patent holder in Blu-Ray technology. Like previous Nintendo optical discs, the Wii U's feature faster loading times than the industry standard, but are lower-capacity than the competition. The Wii U's discs are only compatible with the Wii U.
- An optical disc is
- An optical disc is a flat, usually circular disc which encodes binary data in the form of pits and lands on a special material on one of its flat surfaces.
- In computing and optical disc recording technologies, an optical disc (OD) is a flat, usually circular disc which encodes binary data (bits) in the form of pits (binary value of 0 or off, due to lack of reflection when read) and lands (binary value of 1 or on, due to a reflection when read) on a special material (often aluminium[citation needed] ) on one of its flat surfaces. The encoding material sits atop a thicker substrate (usually polycarbonate) which makes up the bulk of the disc and forms a dust defocusing layer. The encoding pattern follows a continuous, spiral path covering the entire disc surface and extending from the innermost track to the outermost track. The data is stored on the disc with a laser or stamping machine, and can be accessed when the data path is illuminated with a laser diode in an optical disc drive which spins the disc at speeds of about 200 to 4000 RPM or more, depending on the drive type, disc format, and the distance of the read head from the center of the disc (inner tracks are read at a faster disc speed). The pits or bumps distort the reflected laser light, hence most optical discs (except the black discs of the original PlayStation video game console) characteristically have an iridescent appearance created by the grooves of the reflective layer. The reverse side of an optical disc usually has a printed label, sometimes made of paper but often printed or stamped onto the disc itself. This side of the disc contains the actual data and is typically coated with a transparent material, usually lacquer. Unlike the 3½-inch floppy disk, most optical discs do not have an integrated protective casing and are therefore susceptible to data transfer problems due to scratches, fingerprints, and other environmental problems. Optical discs are usually between 7.6 and 30 cm (3 to 12 in) in diameter, with 12 cm (4.75 in) being the most common size. A typical disc is about 1.2 mm (0.05 in) thick, while the track pitch (distance from the center of one track to the center of the next) is typically 1.6 µm. An optical disc is designed to support one of three recording types: read-only (e.g.: CD and CD-ROM), recordable (write-once, e.g. CD-R), or re-recordable (rewritable, e.g. CD-RW). Write-once optical discs commonly have an organic dye recording layer between the substrate and the reflective layer. Rewritable discs typically contain an alloy recording layer composed of a phase change material, most often AgInSbTe, an alloy of silver, indium, antimony, and tellurium. Optical discs are most commonly used for storing music (e.g. for use in a CD player), video (e.g. for use in a Blu-ray player), or data and programs for personal computers (PC). The Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) promotes standardized optical storage formats. Although optical discs are more durable than earlier audio-visual and data storage formats, they are susceptible to environmental and daily-use damage. Libraries and archives enact optical media preservation procedures to ensure continued usability in the computer's optical disc drive or corresponding disc player. For computer data backup and physical data transfer, optical discs such as CDs and DVDs are gradually being replaced with faster, smaller, and more reliable solid-state devices, especially the USB flash drive. This trend is expected to continue as USB flash drives continue to increase in capacity and drop in price. Similarly, personal portable CD players have been supplanted by portable solid-state digital audio player (MP3 players), and MP3 music purchased or shared over the Internet has significantly reduced the number of audio CDs sold annually.
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