Compatibility
Most optical drives are backwards compatible with their ancestors up to CD, although this is not required by standards.
Compared to a CD's 1.2 mm layer of polycarbonate, a DVD's laser beam only has to penetrate 0.6 mm in order to reach the recording surface. This allows a DVD drive to focus the beam on a smaller spot size and to read smaller pits. DVD lens supports a different focus for CD or DVD media with same laser. With the newer Blu-ray disc drives, the laser only has to penetrate 0.1 mm of material. Thus the optical assembly would normally have to have an even greater focus range. In practice, the Blu-ray optical system is separate from the DVD/CD system.
| Pressed CD | CD-R | CD-RW | Pressed DVD | DVD-R | DVD+R | DVD-RW | DVD+RW | DVD+R DL | Pressed CAT BD | BD-R | BD-RE | BD-R DL | BD-RE DL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audio CD player | Read | Read 1 | Read 2 | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None |
| CD-ROM drive | Read | Read 1 | Read 2 | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None |
| CD-R recorder | Read | Write | Read | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None |
| CD-RW recorder | Read | Write | Write | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None | None |
| DVD-ROM drive | Read | Read 3 | Read 3 | Read | Read 4 | Read 4 | Read 4 | Read 4 | Read 5 | None | None | None | None | None |
| DVD-R recorder | Read | Write | Write | Read | Write | Read 6 | Read | Read 6 | Read 5 | None | None | None | None | None |
| DVD-RW recorder | Read | Write | Write | Read | Write | Read 7 | Write 8 | Read 6 | Read 5 | None | None | None | None | None |
| DVD+RW recorder | Read | Write | Write | Read | Read 6 | Read 9 | Read 6 | Write | Read 5 | None | None | None | None | None |
| DVD+R recorder | Read | Write | Write | Read | Read 6 | Write | Read 6 | Write | Read 5 | None | None | None | None | None |
| DVD±RW recorder | Read | Write | Write | Read | Write | Write | Write | Write | Read 5 | None | None | None | None | None |
| DVD±RW/DVD+R DL recorder | Read | Write | Write | Read | Write 10 | Write | Write 10 | Write | Write | None | None | None | None | None |
| BD-ROM | Read | Read | Read | Read | Read | Read | Read | Read | Read | Read | Read | Read | Read | Read |
| BD-R recorder | Read 11 | Write 11 | Write 11 | Read | Write | Write | Write | Write | Write | Read | Write | Read | Read | Read |
| BD-RE recorder | Read 11 | Write 11 | Write 11 | Read | Write | Write | Write | Write | Write | Read | Write | Write | Read | Read |
| BD-R DL recorder | Read 11 | Write 11 | Write 11 | Read | Write | Write | Write | Write | Write | Read | Write | Read | Write | Read |
| BD-RE DL recorder | Read 11 | Write 11 | Write 11 | Read | Write | Write | Write | Write | Write | Read | Write | Write | Write | Write |
- ^1 Some types of CD-R media with less-reflective dyes may cause problems.
- ^2 May not work in non MultiRead-compliant drives.
- ^3 May not work in some early-model DVD-ROM drives. CD-R would not work in any drive that did not have a 780 nm laser. CD-RW compatibility varied.
- ^4 DVD+RW discs did not work in early video players that played DVD-RW discs. This was not due to any incompatibility with the format but was a deliberate feature built into the firmware by one drive manufacturer.
- ^5 Read compatibility with existing DVD drives may vary greatly with the brand of DVD+R DL media used. Also drives that predated the media did not have the book code for DVD+R DL media in their firmware (this was not an issue for DVD-R DL though some drives could only read the first layer).
- ^6 Early DVD+RW and DVD+R recorders could not write to DVD-R(W) media (and vice versa).
- ^7 Will work in all drives that read DVD-R as compatibility ID byte is the same.
- ^8 Recorder firmware may blacklist or otherwise refuse to record to some brands of DVD-RW media.
- ^9 DVD+RW format was released before DVD+R. All DVD+RW only drives could be upgraded to write DVD+R discs by a firmware upgrade.
- ^10 As of April 2005, all DVD+R DL recorders on the market are Super Multi-capable.
- ^11 As of October 2006, recently released BD drives are able to read and write CD media.
Read more about this topic: Optical Disc Drive