1.What is the difference between CDR and CD-RW media? 

CDR (CD-Recordable) media can only be written to once, CD-RW media is rewritable. 

2.When do you use CD-ROM's versus using CD-R's? 

First, CD-ROM's and CD-R's function exactly the same in a drive. In general you utilize CD-ROM's any time you need roughly 500 or more copies of a CD. If you need less than 500 copies, you should consider CD-R's which MAY be more cost effective depending on the quantity needed. For example, from a total cash outlay standpoint, the dollars spent for 100 CD-R's is considerably less than you would have to pay for a minimum order run of 1,000 CD-ROM's. 

3.What is the difference between CD Replication and CD-R Duplication? 

Replication usually refers to the process of making CD or DVD from a glass stamper (or mold). When melted polycarbonate is injected under high pressure onto the glass stamper, the bits of information are formed. A reflective layers is then coated on the disc so the laser beam inside the CD player or DVD player can see the data.

Duplication, on the other hand, refers to making CD or DVD by burning data onto recordable media. For that reason duplication is usually limited to short-run smaller or urgent jobs. For large volume production, replication is the most cost effective and the discs produced are of higher quality. 

Replication can only be done under highly temperature and dust controlled environment. Duplication can be done in any normal environment such as in the office or at home. A replicated CD or DVD (so called pressed CD or DVD ) usually has artwork printed on the disc using silkscreen or offset printing process. For duplicated CD or DVD, you can either print a batch of recordable media using silkscreen or offset or you can apply a paper label on the disc. Some recordable media have inkjet printable surface on the disc allowing you to print the artwork directly onto the disc with special inkjet printers.

4.How much music or data can I put on CD orders? 

The discs we use have a maximum capacity of 700MB or about 80 minutes of music. Some of this space is used up with space between audio tracks on audio CDs or indexing information on data CDs.

To add up the total time of your audio tracks, add the time of all the individual tacks together and then add 2 seconds at the beginning of the disc and 2 seconds between each track, if you choose to do so, to your total.

For data CDs, a general rule of thumb is to allow about 10 to 15 MB of space for indexing. So the maximum total size for files on our data discs is about 685 MB. In the event that the source files you submit to us do not fit on a disc, we will contact you

5.What is a "One-Off", "Master CD", or "Gold Master"? 

All of these terms mean the same thing. It is just a difference in the terminology an individual prefers to use. They all are nothing more than a CD-Recordable which contains the final version of the information to be replicated. This is what we start the replication process from. 

6.What does the term "Glass Mastering" mean? 

Glass Mastering is the first part of the process needed to actually make the "metal stamper" that is actually put into the injection molding machine to produce the CD-ROM's. The first part of the process is to convert the data into the actual highs and lows. These are actually done on a piece of glass. From that point the process continues and eventually the metal stamper is made. The glass master is destroyed during the production of the nickel stamper.

7.What does the term "Authoring" mean? 

Authoring is the word used for taking the data and getting it into a format which is readable when you put the CD into the drive. In other words, there are programs and formats which the person who creates the CD uses to make the data actually usable. 

For example, if you want to be able to search for something on the CD, someone, the "author" has to include the software to perform the search as well as the data itself. CDVD Turnkey does not provide this service. It is normally provided by the customer from his internal resources or he hires an individual to put it together for him. We require a finished product on a CD-R ready for replication. One example is that we are often asked to take a video clip and put it on a CD. The video must be put into an MPEG-2 format by an "Author". As was mentioned before, CDVD Turnkey does not provide that service.

8.What is the difference between a standard DVD and a Dual Layer DVD? 

A dual layer DVD looks and feels just like a standard DVD. However, dual layer DVD’s allow the user to record two separate layers of data onto the same disc, meaning that it can store almost twice as much data as a typical DVD.

 A standard recordable DVD has a storage capacity of around 4.7GB, while a Duel Layer DVD will allow for around 8.5GB.

9.What Region code are DVDs that you replicate? 

Region codes are optional and you can specify which code or to    have no region code.  If there is no region code on the disc it will play on any player regardless of the part of the world.