CHAPTER 13

750 Chapter 13 Optical Storage
Some drives and burning software are capable of overburning, whereby they write data partially into
the lead-out area and essentially extend the data track. This is definitely risky as far as compatibility is
concerned. Many drives, especially older ones, fail when reading near the end of an overburned disc.
It’s best to consider this form of overclocking CDs somewhat experimental. It might be useful for your
own purposes if it works with your drives and software, but interchangeability will be problematic.
CD-R Media Color
There’s been some controversy over the years about which colors of CD-R media provide the best performance.
Table 13.24 shows the most common color combinations, along with which brands use
them and some technical information.
Some brands are listed with more than one color combination, due to production changes or different
product lines. You should check color combinations whenever you purchase a new batch of CD-R
media if you’ve found that particular color combinations work better for you in your applications.
Table 13.24 CD-R Media Color and Its Effect on Recording
Media Color
(first color is
reflective layer;
second is die layer) Brands Technical Notes
Gold-gold Mitsui, Kodak, Maxell, Ricoh Phthalocyanine dye
Less tolerance for power variations
Might be less likely to work in a wide variety of
drives
Invented by Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals
Works best in drives that use a Long Write Strategy
(longer laser pulse) to mark media
Gold-green Imation (nee 3M), Memorex, Cyanine dye; more forgiving of disc-write and
Kodak, BASF, TDK disc-read variations
Has a rated life span of 10 years
Color combination developed by Taiyo Yuden
Used in the development of the original CD-R
standards
De facto standard for CD-R industry and was the
original color combination used during the
development of CD-R technology
Works best in drives that use a Short Write
Strategy (shorter laser pulse) to mark media
Silver-blue Verbatim, DataLifePlus,
HiVal, Maxell, TDK
Process developed by Verbatim
Azo dye
Similar performance to green media plus rated to
last up to 100 years
A good choice for long-term archiving
Ultimately, although the various color combinations have their advantages, the best way to choose a
media type is to try a major brand of media in your CD-R/CD-RW drive with both full-disc and