The Role of Standards in Optical Recording Media
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The Role of Standards in Optical Recording Media Werner Glinka Abstract Recordable CDs and DVDs have become household items, and business depends on optical recording technologies for data interchange and archiving. This broad use of optical recording media has been enabled by the development of compatibility standards. Compliance with these standards enables data interchange between products from different manufacturers and between products of different vintages. This article will discuss what optical recording standards are and describe the standard development organizations that exist to create them. Further, it will provide an overview of the most common standards development process for removable optical recording media. The article will conclude with a discussion of how optical recording media standards enable asset protection and how new optical recording media standards meet the market demand for higher capacities. Keywords: optical, memory.
Introduction Our society has gone digital. On the consumer side, photos, music, and video have made the complete transition from analog to digital formats. Businesses as well have transitioned to digitally enabled processes to improve efficiency, conform to government legislation, and meet regulatory requirements. The adoption of optical recording media has mirrored these developments. Recordable CDs and DVDs have become household items, and business depends on optical recording technologies for data interchange and archiving. This broad use of optical recording media has been enabled by the development of technical interoperability standards. These standards play an important role in the use of information systems overall and in the use of removable optical recording media in particular. Optical methods can be used to store audio, video, or any other type of digitized data. Standards enable multisourcing, preservation of investment, and confidence in future technology roadmaps. They help enterprises develop information technology (IT) strategies and provide governments and other regulatory bodies with a technical base for legislation. New
MRS BULLETIN • VOLUME 31 • APRIL 2006
materials developments can create novel optical recording methods that require a new set of standards to ensure interchangeability of data. This article describes what standards are, how they are developed, and the organizations that develop them.
What is a Standard? Information systems require uniform technical rules and guidelines that assure interoperability among their various components. These rules and guidelines enable the reuse of existing products and the sharing of parts in multivendor environments and must therefore be documented in precise and mutually understood terms.1 A compatibility standard is a set of minimum requirements, not a product specification. It includes all the technical information needed to achieve data interchangeability but does not specify performance parameters. Removable optical recording media products conforming to an interchange standard are capable of exc
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