Editing Optical disc drive (section)

== Drive types ==
Some drives can only read data where as others can both read data and write data to writable discs. Drives which can read but not write data are "-ROM" (read-only memory) drives, even if they can read from writable formats such as "-R" and "-RW". Some drives have mixed read and write capabilities, such as the [[Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology|TSST]] TS-LB23, which can only read Blu-ray discs but read and write CDs and DVDs.

{{As of|2021}}, most of the optical disc drives on the market are DVD and Blu-ray drives which read from and record to those formats, along with having [[backward compatibility]] with [[audio CD]], [[CD-R]]/[[CD-RW|-RW]], and [[CD-ROM]] discs.

Compact disc drives are no longer manufactured outside of audio devices. Read-only DVD and Blu-ray drives are also manufactured, but are less commonly found in the consumer market and mainly limited to media devices such as [[game console]]s and disc media players. [[Laptop computer]]s used to come with built-in optical drives. Some laptop computers used modular systems (see Lenovo UltraBay). Throughout the 2010s, they ceased to come with built-in optical disc drives in order to reduce costs and make them lighter, requiring consumers to purchase external optical drives.

{{anchor|Appliances}}

=== Appliances and functionality ===
[[File:Wii-gamecube-compatibility.jpg|thumb|The 12 centimetre slot-loading optical drive of the [[Nintendo Wii]] game console is compatible with 8 centimetre diameter discs to support [[GameCube]] discs (RVL-001 model only), the predecessor game console, allowing for [[backward compatibility]]. ]]

[[File:QPxTool DVD error rate graph.png|thumb|Some optical drives support measuring the error rate in the [[error correction code]]. An individual error does not cause data loss yet, but a higher rate means the error correction mechanism is more strained, which can predict a possible age-related future data loss. The depicted rate is well within a healthy range. ]]

Optical disc drives are an integral part of standalone appliances such as [[CD player]]s, [[DVD player]]s, Blu-ray Disc players, [[DVD recorder]]s, and video game consoles. As of 2017, the [[PlayStation]] and [[Xbox]] consoles are the only home video game consoles that are currently using optical discs as its primary storage format, as the [[Wii U]]'s successor, the [[Nintendo Switch]], began using [[Nintendo Game Card|game cartridges]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Frank |first=Allegra |date=October 20, 2016 |title=Nintendo Switch Will Use Cartridges |url=http://www.polygon.com/2016/10/20/13344618/nintendo-switch-nx-games-cartridges |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020142412/http://www.polygon.com/2016/10/20/13344618/nintendo-switch-nx-games-cartridges |archive-date=October 20, 2016 |access-date=October 25, 2017 |website=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]] |publisher=[[Vox Media]] |location=[[Washington DC]]}}</ref> while the [[PlayStation Portable]] is the only handheld console to use optical discs, using Sony's proprietary [[Universal Media Disc|UMD]] format. They are also very commonly used in computers to read software and media distributed on disc and to record discs for archival and data exchange purposes. [[Floppy disk drive]]s, with capacity of 1.44&nbsp;MB, have been made obsolete: optical media are cheap and have vastly higher capacity to handle the large files used since the days of floppy disks, and the vast majority of computers and much consumer entertainment hardware have optical writers. [[USB flash drive]]s, high-capacity, small, and inexpensive, are suitable where read/write capability is required.

Disc recording is restricted to storing files playable on consumer appliances ([[film]]s, music, etc.), relatively small volumes of data (e.g. a standard [[DVD]] holds 4.7&nbsp;[[gigabyte]]s, however, higher-capacity formats such as multi-layer [[Blu-ray|Blu-ray Disc]]s exist) for local use, and data for distribution, but only on a small scale; mass-producing large numbers of identical discs by pressing (replication) is cheaper and faster than individual recording (duplication).

To support 8 centimetre diameter discs, drives with mechanical tray loading (desktop computer drives) have an indentation in the tray. It can however only be used in horizontal operation. 
Slot loading drives, frequently used in game consoles and car radios, might be able to accept 8 centimetre discs and center the disc automatically.

Optical discs are used to [[backup|back up]] relatively small volumes of data, but backing up of entire hard drives, which {{As of|2015|lc=on}} typically contain many hundreds of gigabytes or even multiple terabytes, is less practical. Large backups are often instead made on external hard drives, as their price has dropped to a level making this viable; in professional environments magnetic [[tape drive]]s are also used.

Some optical drives also allow [[Optical disc#Surface error scanning|predictively scanning the surface of discs]] for errors and detecting poor recording quality.<ref name=qpx>{{Cite web|url=https://qpxtool.sourceforge.io/faq.html|title=QPxTool - check the quality|website=qpxtool.sourceforge.io}}</ref><ref name=QPx-Supported>[https://qpxtool.sourceforge.io/supported.html QPxTool - check the quality] List of supported devices by dosc quality scanning software ''QPxTool']</ref>

The drive reduces the rotation speed of discs when encountering damage, since a lower reading speed improves readability of damaged media.<ref><code>badblocks /dev/sr0</code> on a damaged disc. Device name may vary depending on system and the number of connected drives.</ref>

With an option in the [[optical disc authoring]] software, optical disc writers are able to [[Optical disc recording technologies#Simulated writing|simulate the writing process]] on [[CD-R]], [[CD-RW]], [[DVD-R]] and [[DVD-RW]], which allows for testing such as observing the writing speeds and patterns (e.g. [[constant angular velocity]], [[constant linear velocity]] and [[P-CAV]] and [[Z-CLV]] variants) with different writing speed settings and testing the highest capacity of an individual disc that would be achievable using [[overburning]], without writing any data to the disc.<ref>{{cite web |title=Überbrennen von CD-Rs: Informationen |url=http://www.kautz-lucas.de/ueberbrennen.php |website=www.kautz-lucas.de |access-date=13 August 2020 |language=de}}</ref>

Few optical drives allow simulating a [[FAT32]] [[flash drive]] from optical discs containing [[ISO9660]]/[[Joliet (file system)|Joliet]] and [[Universal Disc Format|UDF]] [[file system]]s or [[audio CD|audio tracks]] (simulated as [[.wav|<code>.wav</code> files]]),<ref name=S084-AV>Video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioPYcywO7Xg "''Samsung ODD SE-S084D AV Connectivity"''] (published on September 14th 2010)</ref> for compatibility with most [[USB]] [[multimedia]] appliances.<ref name=AV-manual>[http://www.owl.homeip.net/manuals/hardware/samsung/se-208ab/Use_AV.html TSSTcorp SE-208AB portable external DVD drive — User manual: Using ''"AV"'' mode (FAT32 file system simulation)] (2011)</ref>