Difference Between CDROM and DVD

CDROM vs DVD

DVDs and CDROMs are both optical storage devices that have a lot of use; the most prominent of which is the distribution of content like movies, music, software, and such. The biggest difference between a CDROM and a DVD is their capacity. A CDROM typically holds 700MB of data per disc while a DVD can hold 4.7GB on a single layer. Dual layer and double-sided DVD discs push this to a maximum of 17GB. This is also the main reason why the CDROM was superseded by the DVD.

Another advantage of a DVD is its much faster data transfer speeds. The CDROM base speed of 1x translates to a data throughput of 1.23Mbit/s with typical CDROM drives reaching speeds of 56x and transfer speeds of around 68.8Mbit/s. In comparison, the 1x speed of a DVD has a higher transfer rate of 10.80Mbit/s. Although the current maximum of commonly available DVD drives is still at around 20x, it still translates to a significantly higher 216Mbit/s. Speed is hardly noticeable between a CDROM and a DVD when writing full discs due to the higher capacity of DVDs.

The higher data capacity and faster throughput of a DVD proves to be very advantageous in one of its many uses; movies. A movie is typically contained in at least two CDROMs, and viewers are forced to stop in the middle of the movie to swap discs. This is no longer a problem with a DVD. It can even accommodate freebies like; behind the scenes, interviews, outtakes, and even deleted scenes which many movie makers routinely include in the DVD release. This gives viewers a secondary reason to purchase the DVD even if they have already watched the movie in the cinema. The advantage is even more apparent when it comes to games. Some games on CDROMs often span anywhere between 2 to 6 discs. With a DVD, this is reduced to a more manageable 1-2 disc set.

Even though a DVD has a lot of advantages over a CDROM, it still manages to maintain backwards compatibility. So if you have a DVD drive or DVD player, you would still be able to read your old CDROMs on it. Because the DVD is a newer technology, it already goes without saying that you won’t be able to access DVDs on your old CDROM drives and players.

Summary:

1.DVDs hold much more data than a CDROM.
2.DVDs have faster data speeds than CDROMs.
3.DVDs can accommodate a full movie in one disc while CDROMs can’t.
4.DVD readers/writers work with CDROMs but not the other way around.

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