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Andy Benedek looks at the advantages and disadvantages of CDs and DVDs
What are the differences between CDs and DVDs?
The essential difference is that of capacity, but there are others. CDs and DVDs have different formats, which are mutually incompatible. Audio CD players cannot play DVDs, but DVD players can play audio CDs.
What CD formats are there?
There is a wide range of CD formats that can be applied to both write-once CDs (CD-R) and to re-writable CDs (CD-RW). CDs can be classified according to content in that data CDs contain files and folders, audio CDs have audio content and video CDs contain video files for viewing on video CD players - more popular in Asia than Europe. Data CDs can be Mac-specific, PC-specific or compatible with both. CDs to be readable on any platform should be formatted according to ISO 9660. There are also 'hybrid' discs, which show only the content relevant to the platform on which they are being read. CDs can be 'multisession', which means files can be added to the disc on successive occasions until it is full. Video CDs can be either VCD or SVCD, and played on most recent DVD players.
What DVD types/formats are there? Are they interchangeable?
There is a multiplicity of DVD formats, all incompatible with each other. Fortunately, multiformat DVD writers are readily available...