4/0 Print – Four color print on one side (front) and no print on other side (back)

4/1 or 4/K – Four color print on one side (front) and one color, black print on back

4/4 – Full color or four-color process on both sides

4 Color Process or CMYK – Process of combining CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) to simulate many colors on a disc. Can be used with both multimedia printing and collateral materials (paper printing).

A-Time – Absolute time. The CD encoding system includes a clock, which constantly monitors and reports the time from beginning to end of the recorded program.

Aqueous Coating – A water-based protective coating used in the printing process for collateral materials.

A/D – Analog to Digital.

ADPCM – Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation. An audio compression scheme used for CD-I and CD-ROM X/A formats in order to increase the time of audio or to interleave it with other data on the disc. Using this scheme, up to 16 hours of AM-radio broadcast quality audio can be recorded on one disc.

rt Work – Pattern materials required for the label on the CD. For screen-printing, label artwork should be delivered to the manufacturer on positive film, emulsion side up, one film for each color on the label with register marks on all four sides and center. Other specifications apply for offset printing and the manufacturer should be consulted as to the requirements.

ASCII – American Standard Code for Information Interchange pronounced “askee.” A binary code for data that is used in communications, most minicomputers and all personal computers.

Birefringence – Double refraction (of light). Plastic materials, such as a CD substrate, demonstrate this double refractive ability due to residual stresses remaining in the plastic from the molding process. High birefringence can interfere with the laser beam of the reader and cause reading errors.

BLER – Block error rate. A measure of the integrity of the data retrieved from a compact disc. The block error rate can be measured over a given period of time. It is usually reported in two or three ways by analyzers, i.e.: Average block error rate over the entire part of the disc that has been read, peak BLER, etc. Average BLER of 220 is considered a marketable disc according to Red Book and Yellow Book standards.

Block – A segment of data. On CD’s, data are arranged in Blocks which contain header and sync, user data, error detection, and control information. Same as a Sector.

Bulk Pack – Method of ordering discs with no packaging. Product is “bulk” wrapped on spindles with shrink-wrap.

Capacity – (Data Capacity) The amount of data which can be recorded and replicated on a CD. Normal capacity of a disc is 654.7 Megabytes (Mb), which is 335250 2k Sectors. This is equivalent to 74 minutes 30 seconds. The amount of data on a disc is controlled by several factors: track pitch, speed or rotation. It is possible to record and replicate somewhat more data on the disc than the “normal” capacity and still remain within Yellow Book specifications, but some drives have trouble reading data from these discs.

CAV – Constant Angular Velocity. Refers to the speed of the information track with relation to the reading head (laser). Video discs and most magnetic discs rotate at constant angular velocity, i.e. RPM is constant, so that the tracks on the outside radii move past the reading head much faster than the tracks on the inside radii. See CLV.

CD-DA – Compact Disc Digital Audio. Commonly called a CD, this is an audio disc that contains up to 72 minutes of hi-fi stereo sound. A CD, 4 ¾” in diameter, is like a miniature phonograph record, except that only one side of the disc contains recorded material. A CD is a direct access device, and the individual selections can be played back in any sequence. Unlike phonograph records in which the disc platter contains “carved sound” the CD is recorded in digital form as a series of tiny pits that are covered with a clear, protective plastic layer. Instead of a needle vibrating in the grooves, a laser in the CD player shines light onto the pits and picks up the reflections as binary code. Sound is converted into digital code by sampling the sound waves 44.1 Mh per second and converting each sample into a 16 bit number. It requires almost a million and a half

bits of storage for each second of stereo hi-fi sound. The reason digital sound is so clear that the numbers are turned into sound electronically. Other forms of CDs (CD-ROM, CD ROM X/A CD-I AND DVI) all stem from the audio CD. Introduced in the U.S. in 1983, sales of CDs and CD players exceeded sales of LP’s and turntables in 1986. The standard specification for CD is known as the Red Book.

CD-ROM – Compact Disc Read Only Memory. A compact disc format that is used to hold text, graphics and hi-fi stereo sound. The disc is almost the same as the music CD, but uses different tracks for data. The music CD player cannot play CD-ROM discs, but CD ROM players may be able to CD discs and have jacks for connection to an amplifier and/or earphones. A CD ROM player is cabled to and controlled by a card that is plugged into one of the computer’s expansion slots. CD ROMS hold in excess of 600 Mb of data, which is equivalent to about 250,000 pages of text or 20,000 medium-resolution images. CD-ROMs will be the basis of the new “multimedia” computers, which will combine voice, data and video into one system and put it on the desktop.

CD-ROM Drive – The machine (hardware) used to read data from a CD ROM disc. See CD ROM Player.

CD ROM Expo – A conference/convention of CD ROM users, makers and publishers held each year in October somewhere in the eastern part of the US (Boston in 1992)

CD ROM Extensions – MS-DOS CD-ROM Extensions. Software from Microsoft which extends the normal MS-DOS (operating system) for PCs to allow CD-ROM to be used with PCs.

CD ROM Mode 2 – Has 2 layers of error detection and correction, for audio or

compressed audio/video. This leaves more room for data.

CD ROM Mode 1 – Has 3 layers of error detection and correction for computer data.

CD ROM Player – Same as CD-ROM Drive.

CD ROM/XA – CD ROM Extended Architecture. A version of CD-ROM which uses both Mode 1 and Mode 2 (X/A). It allows for the inclusion of various grades of medium to low-fidelity audio to be played concurrently while viewing data. Announced by Philips, Sony and Microsoft in August 1988, CD ROM X/A allows for data (test and pictures to be viewed and narrated at the same time. It also functions as a bridge between CD-ROM and CD-I, since CD ROM X/A discs will play on a CD-I player. CD ROM X/A uses a standard CD ROM Player, but requires a CD ROM X/A controller card in the personal computer.

CD+G – A CD which uses the SUBCODES for graphics, lyrics, etc.

CD-Bridge Disc – A version of CD ROM X/A which allows it to be played on a CD-I player, as well as a CD ROM X/A player.

CD-I – Compact Disc-Interactive. A compact disc format that holds data, audio, still video pictures and animated graphics. It will soon include full motion video as well. CD-I provides up to 144 minutes of CD-quality stereo sound, up to 9.5 hours of AM-radio-quality stereo or up to 19 hours of single channel (mono) audio. Developed by Philips and Sony, CD-I is designed for home and business use with CD-I players connected to TVs and personal computers starting in the early 1990’s. CD-I discs feature interactive games and education as well as reference works. CD-I includes an operating system standard as well as proprietary hardware methods for compressing the data further in order to display video images. CD-I discs require a CD-I player and will not play on a CD ROM player. The standards for CD-I are known as the Green Book.

CD-I Ready – Refers to a standard audio disc with some additional features, which can be accessed when the disc is played in a CD-I player. This information is included in the pre-gap of track # 1 and will be ignored by a standard CD player. A CD-I player, however, will read this information and display on a video screen such information as lyrics, graphics, discography, etc.

CDTV – Commodore Dynamic Total Vision. A special kind of CD-ROM designed by and for Commodore computers.

CDV – Compact Disc Video. A version of CD which contains up to 5 minutes of full motion video plus up to 20 minutes of CD Audio. CDV requires a special CDV player to access video.

CD WO – Compact Disc Write Once. A CD ROM version of the WORM (Write Once Read Many) technology. For companies wishing to do in house preparation through premastering, this format is useful for creating test discs (One Offs) before sending data from mastering and replication. CD-WO discs conform to ISO 9660 standards and can be played in CD ROM drives.

CLV – Constant Linear Velocity. Refers to the speed of the information track with

relation to the reading head (laser). CD tracks pass the laser head at a constant linear velocity (1.2 to 1.4 meters per second), meaning that the speed of disc rotation when reading the inner radii must be faster than when reading the outer radii. See CAV.

Color Separations – Process of separating artwork into the colors that it was designed in for approval by the client.

Compression – Reducing the representation of the information, but not the information itself. Reducing the bandwidth or bits necessary to encode information. Compression saves transmission time or capacity. It also saves storage space on storage devices such as hard disks, tape drives and floppy disks. Data Decompression is used to restore the data to their normal form.

DAT – Digital Audio Tape (same as R-DAT). System for recording/reading digital data using a special tape cassette. A 4mm DAT drive holds over one gigabyte of data and is used as a high capacity backup medium for computers and as a master source medium for sending data to a CD manufacturer.

Data Conversion – Converting data from one format to another. Conversion typically falls into three basic categories. 1. To convert to a form usable by the equipment you have, e.g. you convert some data from tape to disk (because you don’t have a tape drive). 2. Or you may convert from one method of encoding data to another, say from EBCDIC to ASCII, because you don’t have software, which can understand IBM’s EBCDIC method of coding. 3. Or you may convert from one format to another, e.g. from the dBASE method of encoding databases to the Paradox method, or from WordStar to WordPerfect. There are many service bureaus whose job is to convert computer data from one form to another and there are now many programs out to do the conversion. The term also used by disc manufacturers in premastering e.g. to FORMAT data into ISO 9660 or HFS.

Data Transfer Rate – The speed with which data can be read from a CD-ROM at a rate of 150 kilobytes per second in the standard reader (drive). In 1992 drives began to become available which will read at 2X the standard rate, or more.

Digital Audio – The storage and processing of audio signals digitally. It usually requires at least 16 bits of linear coding to represent each digital sample.

Digital Data – Data in digital form. All data that is entered into the computer is in digital form.

Digitize – Converting an analog or continuous signal into a series of ones and zeros, i.e. into a digital format. To convert an image or signal into digital code for input into the computer. It includes scanning an image, tracing a picture on a graphics tablet or converting camera images into the computer. 3-D objects can be digitized by a device, which uses a mechanical arm that is moved on and around the object. Sound, temperature and movement are also said to be digitized when they are converted into digital code.

DOS – Disk Operating System. DOS is the software that organizes how a computer reads, writes and reacts with its disks – floppy or hard – and talks to its various input/output devices, including keyboards, screens, serial and parallel ports, printers, modems, etc. The most popular operating system for PCs is MS-DOS from Microsoft.

DPI – Dots per Inch. Scale used for saving and outputting art files. Please do not save at a resolution lower than 300 dpi.

DRAW – Direct Read After Write. Refers to a recordable optical disc. See WO (Write Once).

DSR – Direct to Stamper Recorder Mastering System. Uses a nickel shell coated with photoresist to create a stamper used in replication. Process takes approx. 1 hour to produce a stamper, where glass mastering takes 6-8 hours.

DTA – Digital Tape Analyzer, or the read-out therefrom, used to test the integrity of the Sony 1630 recording medium.

Duplication – Process used to “Burn” or duplicate CD-R or DVD-R pre manufactured media with client supplied master. Used for short run projects.

DVI – Digital Video Interactive. DVI is a compression/decompression algorithm for full motion video and is available as an add-on board to be installed in an IBM compatible personal computer.

DVD – High capacity optical disc format. Can be manufactured in 4 capacity sizes (5,9,10, and18). Manufactured using the replication process. Interactive capabilities.

ECC – Error Correction Code. In computers, rules of code construction that facilitate reconstruction of part or all of a message received with errors.

EDC – Error Detection Code.

Electroforming – A means of creating a metal master (father) disc by electroplating nickel onto the glass master until a sheet of nickel has been built up to a usable thickness. The father can then be used in the same system to create a mother, and from the mother, stampers can be made.

Exabyte – System for recording/reading digital data using 8mm video cassettes. A preferred medium for sending data to CD manufacturers.

Father – The first electroformed part made from a Glass Master. See Metal Master.

Film – Generated from the client’s art files after approval. Used to burn screens for the silk screen printing process or to make plates for the commercial printing process for collateral materials.

Format – The layout or organization of data. Also the Medium on which the data is recorded, i.e. 8mm Exabyte, 9-track tape, etc.

Frame – In video, the information (or time) required for one complete picture, i.e. 1/30 of a second for NTSC. In CD 1/75 of a second. Often confused, the frames of CD and the frames of video are not related.

Gang Run – Used in the commercial printing process for collateral materials. Process of combining more than one job on the same press at one time.

Glass Master – The medium on which manufactures record data as the first step leading to the replication process. Consists of a glass disc larger than replicated discs, coated with photosensitive material in which the data are recorded by a laser beam recorder (laser light).

Halftone – Process of using different gradiations of one color to print on a disc. The artwork has a varying degree of ink intensity

High Sierra – The draft version of ISO 9660 file structure.

Image – In CD-ROM, the data assembled in the exact form wanted on the replicated CDs, i.e., completely premastered.

Index – Searchable points within a track. Up to 99 indices can be encoded within on track.

Injection Molding – A process for replication of CDs wherein molten plastic is injected into the cavity of a mold under pressure, cooled and removed as a solid clear plastic disc. The data information is transferred to the plastic in this process from the “stamper”.

ISO 9660 – The international standard which describes the file structure for putting computer files on compact disc. The draft version of this standard is known as High Sierra.

Jewel Case – Common packaging component for CDs. Can also hold front and back liners, be shrink wrapped and have a bar code spine label.

Label – In CD manufacturing, the printed label on the disc itself. This is printed either by screen-printing, pad printing or offset printing. In the music business a “Label” is the music company or division thereof which releases the music into the market place (RCA, Concord Jazz, BMG, etc.).

Lacquer – Clear protective coating on the disc to keep the metalization from oxidizing and protect the disc from scratches.

Lead In – On a CD, the area at the beginning of a disc in which is recorded the Table of Contents. (TOC) The TOC contains a listing of where the tracks start. On a master tape, the area at the beginning of the tape which is recorded with Os (digital silence/video black) as a precursor to the user information to be recorded on the disc.

Lead Out Area – A buffer area after the last track on a disc, in case the player reads past the last track. When the player reads the lead out code, it either goes back to the beginning of track # 1 or it stops playing, depending on how the player has been programmed or set.

LPI – Lines per Inch. Used in determining screen mesh in silk screen printing process.

Master – (verb) In disc manufacturing, the recording of the original media (glass0 in preparation for making replicates (copies). (noun) In audio, the final finished recording (usually tape) to be used as a source for mastering. In CD-ROM, the final recording of the desired CD-ROM Image to be used as a source for mastering. It may be on tape, magnetic disk, optical disc (M-O or W-O), etc.

Mastering – In CD-ROM, recording the data of a CD onto light sensitive surfaces on large glass discs. The premastered image on the source medium is the data source. Sometimes confused with (see) Premastering.

Match Print – Color Proof that can be supplied to a client upon request. Used for CDs or printed materials

Metal Master – The first electroformed part from a Glass Master. See Father.

Metalizing – A process by which a thin metal coat (usually aluminum) is deposited on the clear plastic disc after it has been injection molded. The usual process is by sputtering, although vacuum vapor deposition or wet silvering can be used.

MIDI – Musical Instrument Digital Interface. CD-ROM can be used to store music

sample which can then be accessed via MIDI and used to compose/record musical programs.

Mixed Mode – A CD which contains more than one type of track, i.e. computer data in track # 1 and audio data in track # 2.

M-O – Magneto-Optical. Rewritable (erasable) optical discs. Can be recorded on,

erased and written on again.

Mother – A metal part electroformed on the father, used for making stampers.

Multimedia – Term used to describe the use of more than one medium in a program or system. For example, use of audio, video, graphics, animation, computer data, etc., together. Historically, video (TV) has been considered separate from audio only (CDs, records, tapes) and computers separate from video and audio. Multimedia means the joining of any two or more of these. Multi-media computers produce high quality sound and video as well as text and conventional graphics. Multi-media itself combines multiple forms of media in the communication of information between users and machines. Communication formats vary, but they usually include voice communications (vocoding, speech recognition, speaker verification and text-to-speech), audio processing (music synthesis, CD ROMS).

NTSC – National Television Systems Committee. The color television standard to the United States, Japan, Canada and Mexico, Taiwan and others. European and South American countries have generally used another standard known as PAL.

Nine-Track Tape (9 Track) – Half inch computer tape on reels. Used as a medium for sending data to CD manufacturers. Often being replaced today by 8mm Exybyte, DAT or One-Off discs, because of easier logistics and lower costs.

One-Off – Recordable CD. Used for testing programs in the actual CD environment. They are made one at a time by recording on a blank recordable CD made especially for this purpose.

Orange Book Standard – The standards for the recordable compact disc. The

standards have two parts, one for M-O (rewritable) and one for W-O (write once).

OS-9 – A real time operating system used in CD-I.

PAL – Phase Alternation Line. The television standard used in several countries Europe (except France) and South America. See NTSC.

PCM – Pulse Code Modulation. A standard method for encoding audio in a digital format. See ADPCM.

Pit (Pits) – Information spots on a CD (or optical disc). Pits are formed in photo sensitive layer on Glass master by exposure to laser light and developing. Exposed material washes away to form a pit. A succession of pits comprises the Track. On CD the track is spiral beginning at the inside of the disc and spiraling outward.

PMS/Spot Colors – Color chart other than CMYK used in printing and art design. Pantone Matching System (PMS) is an industry standard color chart.

Post Gap – An area or time after the ending of a track (2 seconds in CD-ROM). To meet the Yellow Book standard, this gap must be two seconds.

Pre Gap – An area or time before the beginning.

Premastering – Preparing the digital data to send manufacturer for mastering and replication. The data is assembled the way they are wanted on the CD-ROM including the file structure (such as ISO 9660), so that it is an image of the CD-ROM. The manufacturer usually has hardware and software to do premastering for its customers, for an additional price over and above mastering and replication.

Program Area – The are on the disc where the user information (program) is stored.

Proof Disc – A CD for testing. Usually refers to a One Off disc, but can also refer to one or more discs from a replicated group submitted for testing. Can be used as input for disc manufacturing.

Protective Coating – A coating of lacquer or polymer deposited over the metal coating on a CD to protect and seal the metal layer. The most common method is spin-coating of a UV curable polymer over the surface of the metalized disc and then passing it under ultra-violet light to polymerize it.

R-DAT – Same as DAT.

Red Book Standard – see CDA. CD Audio. As the CD standards were set by Philips, Sony and others, they were published in a book with a red cover, which became known as the Red Book for audio.

Replication – Process used to manufacture CDs, DVDs, and custom shaped CDs. See Injection Moulding.

RIFF – Resource Interchange File Format. A multimedia format specification which allows graphics, audio, animation and other information to be stored in a common, platform-independent fashion.

ROM – Read Only Memory. Computer memory which can only be read. New data cannot be entered and the existing data are non-volatile. This means they stay there even when power is turned off. A ROM is a memory device which is programmed at the factory and whose contents thereafter cannot be altered.

RTOS – Real Time Operating System. See OS-9.

Screens – Used in the silk screen printing process to lay ink onto the disc. Created from the film. Created from mesh ranging from 85 to 133 lpi. Industry standard screens are 85-100 lpi.

SCSI – Small Computer Systems Interface. Pronounced “Scuzzy”. An inter system for connecting peripheral equipment to computers through a buss (scsi buss).

SMPTE Time Code – A time-code scheme of the Society of Motion Picture Television Engineers, used to mark the hours, minutes and frames of a program recorded on video tape thus: 00:59:22:06 would be 0 hours 59 minutes 22 seconds and 6 frames. In NTSC video there are 30 frames per second, so one frame each 1/30 th second. This time code is recorded on audio track 2 for CD master tapes the Sony 1630 format.

Stamper – A metal part electroformed from the mother. The stamper is inserted into the mold cavity to become one side of the cavity. “Stamper” is a misnomer inherited from the phonograph record industry. CDs are not stamped, but are molded.

Subcodes – Codes used in the CD format, labeled P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W. The codes are used for the Table of Contents information. Exclusive uses of the R through W codes are not specifically defined but can be and have been used to encode graphics information (CD+G) which can be displayed on a video monitor. A special player must be used to access this information, such as a CD-I player.

Substrate – The main physical body of a disc, on which other coatings or layers may be added. Compact discs are made of polycarbonate plastic, coated with metal, then coated with a UV curable polymer, then a label is printed on that. Polycarbonate is the substrate.

TAR – (TAR format) – Tape Archive and Retrieval. A file scheme to produce on one system which are readable on other systems. For example, UNIX and XENIX systems can read tapes produced by an MS-DOS TAR program.

TIFF – Tagged Image File Format. A popular format used to capture graphic images. TIFF stores images in a bit-mapped (raster graphics) format.

TOC – Table of Contents. This is information located in the lead-in area. The TOC contains a listing of where tracks start on the disc, as well as indications to the player as to what kind of disc it is, ROM, audio, etc.

Track – In audio each recorded “song” is referred to as a track. In CD-ROM, which contains computer data only, there is only one track. If the CD-ROM is Mixed Mode, it can contain a track of computer data and also other tracks audio. The CD format provides for up to 99 tracks. “Track” also sometimes refers to the line of information on a CD, as in “Track Pitch”. See PIT.

Track Pitch – The physical distance between two rows of information pits, center to center. In CD the specification of track pitch is 1.5 to 1.7 microns. Most discs are recorded with a track pitch of 1.6 microns.

Turnaround Time – The time required for CDs to be mastered, made and shipped, measured from the time premastered data, artwork and other materials are in the hands of the manufacturer.

Users Data – All the data on the CD-ROM available to the end user. Not included are Sync, Header, EDC and ECC, etc.

Volume – In CD-ROM a single reel of master tape, especially when 9-Track tape is used as a master source medium.

Volume Descriptor – An area at the beginning of a CD-ROM reserved for the recording of information about the origination, originator, copyright, etc.

W-O – Write Once. Recordable optical disc. Can be recorded on, but not erased. See WORM.

Yellow Book Standard – When the standards were set by Philips and Sony for CD-ROM, they were published in a book with a yellow cover.