CIASA Member CD OR DVD? One question we get asked often is the difference between CDs and DVDs. The quick guide will hopefully answer your questions. CD Also known as a Compact Disc, has the ability to store approximately 750 Megabytes of data, which is about 80 minutes of music. They are a read-only media, meaning that you can view the files on the disc, but you cannot put files on the disc. CD-R Stands for Compact Disc - Recordable. Once your files have been copied to the CD-R, it becomes a normal read-only CD. CD-RW Stands for Compact Disc - ReWritable. Once your files have been burnt to the CD-RW, it becomes a normal read-only CD. However, you can erase the disc and burn a new lot of files to the disc. This can be done 1000s of times to the same disc! DVD Also known as Digital Versatile Disc. can store up to 4.7 Gigabytes; Over 6 times the amount of a CD. DVD+R & DVD-R Both discs work in a similar principle to a CD-R, where after burning they become a read-only disc. The +R and -R are two different types, originally they could only be used in a specific + or - drive, but now they can both be easily used in today's multiformat DVD burners.

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