The Introduction To Optical Driver

Overview Optical Driver

An optical drive is a device that uses lasers to read or write information on compact discs, including CDS, DVDs and Blu-ray discs. It used to be a common part of desktop and laptop computers, and can also exist on its own such as an external optical drive. With the application of multimedia more and more widely, the optical drive has become a standard configuration in many computer accessories.

An optical drive is a combination of optical, mechanical and electronic technology.  A laser diode in the optical drive produces a beam of light that is processed and precisely controlled to hit the optical disk, which is then reflected back through the optical detector to capture the signal.

Classification of Optical Driver

1. CD-ROM drive: CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, only support disc reading
2. Combo drive: Some manufacturers have called it “Kangbao” CD drive, with CD reading, DVD and CD writing functions.  There is a single laser head type reading and writing CD and DVD respectively, and there is a dual laser head type using different laser heads to read and write CD and DVD respectively.  
3. Read/write CD drive: CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD±RW(DVD-Dual), DVD-RAM, DVD-Super Multi  
4. Video game drive: PlayStation 2, GAMECUBE, DreamCast, XBOX  

Advantages and Disadvantages of Optical Driver

Advantages of Optical Driver

Optical Driver can easily read and write CD. If it is a burn CD drive, it can also burn their own want to save the video or photos. 

Disadvantages of Optical Driver

1. An optical driver is larger and occupies more space, affecting other configurations and upgrades of the computer.  
2. It will generate heat when running, increasing the overall heat of the computer, which is not conducive to heat dissipation.  
3. An optical drive in the absence of an optical disc is redundant. Now, most notebooks have eliminated optical drives because a flash drive can fix everything.    
4. An optical drive will increase the overall price of the notebook, or reduce the overall configuration.  
5. CDs that work with optical drivers can only store about 700 MB of data, while DVDs can only store about 4.7 GB at most.
6. Using a CD burner to write an optical disk needs Some technical knowledge.

Maintenance of Optical Driver

Keep Optical Drive Clean  

Every time the optical disk is used, it will bring some dust. If the dust falls on the laser head, it will cause the optical drive to read data difficulty, affecting the quality and life of the laser head to read a disk. So the optical disk and optical drive must be kept clean and reduce dust.  

Using Legal Optical Disk

Illegal optical discs (especially VCD disks) are of poor quality, the optical path on the disc is biased, and the optical drive is frequently corrected when reading the disc, which will accelerate the mechanical wear inside the optical drive.  The use of illegal optical discs for a long time will also reduce the service life of the drive.  

Removing Optical Discs

The drive detects at regular intervals.  So the disc in the drive for a long time, especially the CD burner, continuous detection will produce high heat, which will accelerate wear and aging. So remember to take the disc out when you’re not using it. You are advised to copy the data to the hard disk first or use the virtual CD-ROM drive to create a virtual CD-ROM.  

Conclusion

In this article, we know about the optical drive that used to be the standard part of a computer. As an important product in the history of technology, optical drives and optical discs play an important role in the contribution of technology. Although it is true that the demand for optical drives will decrease, but they will not be eliminated for the time being due to the low price of the optical discs that work with them.