Additional Information
MD Disc Types
There are two types of MDs: Premastered (prerecorded) and Recordable (blank).
Premastered MDs
Premastered MDs, which have been recorded at music studio, can be played back like regular CDs. On an MD of this type, data is recorded as the presence or absence of tiny pits. A laser beam focuses on the pits on the surface of the MD and reflects the detection back to the lens in the MD recorder. The MD recorder then decodes the signals and plays them back as music. This type of MD is called an “optical disc.”
Recordable MDs
Recordable MDs, which use
ATRAC (Adaptive TRansform Acoustic Coding)/ATRAC3 ( 
)
The MD provides 80 minute recording and playback time, much more than an audio CD, but in a diameter of only 64 mm. This ability to store such a large amount of data is the result of ATRAC, an audio compression technique developed for MD. This technology cuts out faint sounds that would not be heard by the human beings. This technology, based on human sensitivity to sounds, reduces recorded data volume up to about
Furthermore, this unit takes advantage of the latest ATRAC3 techniques, which can reduce the amount of data to record to
UTOC (User Table Of Contents)
Found only on recordable MDs, this area contains
UTOC enables us to search tracks quickly and edit tracks on the MD.
3:12
4:15
6:05
Sound Skip Guard Memory
The biggest weakness of discs is their susceptibility to vibration. The “Sound Skip Guard Memory” has been developed to cope with this weakness.
With this function, a few seconds of signals read by the optical read head from the MD are first stored in memory before being reproduced as audio signals. Thus, even when vibration or shock interrupts signals being read, these stored signals can continue to reproduce sounds for the few seconds. Thus, the user will enjoy uninterrupted music.
Normally.... | When “vibrated”.... |
– 47 –