Sony CRX0811, CRX140E manual Troubleshooting, Chapter, A few words about CD-ROMs

Troubleshooting Chapter 4

This Chapter discusses the basics of troubleshooting the CD-RW Recorder Drive.

A few words about CD-ROMs

The laser in a CD reads the difference in reflectivity from one spot to the next. This difference in reflectivity is simply created from a difference in the depth of pits either burned or stamped into the CD-ROM Media.

Large production runs of CDs are stamped to create the pits. The Sony CD-RW Recorder Drive burns recordable CD media, or alters the state of the substance within CD-RW media to change its reflectivity by means of a finely controlled laser beam

The pits that the laser of the CD reader senses are either the one or the zero bits that are interpreted as data, music, or photographs depending on the format with which the disc is recorded. The CD is covered in a transparent shield that the laser can read through or burn through. Scratches, smudges, or particles on the bottom read/write surface can impede the functioning of your CD-RW, CD-R or CD-ROM device.

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