This chapter is from the book
CD and DVD Drives
Computer or data CDs and DVDs look just like the compact discs and movie DVDs you play on your home audio/video system. Data is encoded in microscopic pits below the disc’s surface and is read from the disc via a drive that uses a consumer-grade laser. The laser beam follows the tracks of the disc and reads the pits, translating the data into a form your computer can understand.