CD

noun (Science and Technology) Short for compact disc, a small disc on which audio recordings or other data are recorded digitally and which can be 'read' optically by the reflection of a laser beam from the surface. Etymology: The initial letters of Compact Disc. History and Usage: CD technology was invented by Philips for audio recording towards the end of the seventies as the most promising medium for the accurate new digital recordings. By 1980 Philips had pooled their resources with Sony and it was clear that the CD was to become the successor to the grooved audio disc. During the early eighties the optical disc (another name for the CD) was also vaunted as the medium of the future for other kinds of data, since the storage capacity was vastly greater than on floppy--or even hard--discs; a number of large reference works and commercial databases became available on CD ROM (compact disc with read-only memory), the form of CD used for data of this kind. The sound and data are recorded as a spiral pattern of pits and bumps underneath a smooth protective layer; inside the special CD player or CD reader needed to 'read' each of these kinds of disc, a laser beam is focused on this spiral. By 1990 the CD had become the established medium for high-quality audio recordings and new forms of CD were being tried: the photo-CD, for example, was suggested as a permanent storage medium for family photographs, the digitized images being 'read' by a CD player and viewed on a television screen. CD video (or CDV) applies the same technology to video. Multimedia CDs, including CDI (Compact Disc Interactive) and DVI (Digital Video Interactive) offer the possibility of combining text, sound, and images on a single disc. CDTV allows the viewer to interact with recorded television. Whatever you want--get it on CD Video from your record or Hi Fi dealer. Sky Magazine Apr. 1990, p. 14 The CDTV system involves a unit the same size as a video recorder which plugs into a standard television set. Daily Telegraph 13 Aug. 1990, p. 4 CDI...emphasises the fact that it is a world standard. This is a claim that can only be equalled by records, tapes and audio CDs...To achieve this Philips and Sony developed a new system and a new CD format for text, graphics, stills, and animation. Information World Review Sept. 1990, p. 20 The Kodak Photo CD system, jointly developed by Kodak and Philips of the Netherlands, digitally stores images from negatives or slides on compact discs. The pictures can then be shown on ordinary television or computer screens with a Photo CD player that also plays audio CDs. Chicago Tribune 19 Sept. 1990, section C, p. 4