CD Information Center
General information source with links and a few articles about the CD and DVD industry. Includes an extensive CD bibliography.

CD Media World
News and many technology articles related to writable CDs. Includes a comprehensive list of CD-R dye types and manufacturers, and an extensive reference list of CD-writing software.

CD Media Resource Center
A guide to audio and data CD media technology. Includes a discussion of the influence of laser wavelength on track geometry, and also covers encoding (EFM, parity, subcode channels), capacity analysis and data structures.

How Stuff Works: Compact Disc
Detailed descriptions and animations explain the technology used in a compact disc.

EE498 Audio Compact Disk - An Introduction
Illustrated class lecture notes that cover manufacturing of stamped CDs and details of laser pickup tracking. This is equally relevant to data CDs.

EE498 Audio Compact Disk - Writing and Reading the Data
Illustrated class lecture notes that cover frame-level data encoding (IEC908/Red Book) including interleaving, Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation (EFM), P and Q parity, subcode blocks, and uses of the p- and q-subcode channels.

EE498 CD-ROM - An Extension of the CD Audio Standard
Illustrated class lecture notes explain ISO/IEC 10149 (Yellow Book) data structures including sector layout and q-subcode extensions. These form the basis for all data CDs.

Recording to CD: More than Meets the Ear
This article includes an extensive description of the physical structure and encoding of data on CDs. It covers the frame and block levels including EFM, interleaving and subcode channels.

Dvdplusrw.org
Dedicated to the DVD+RW recordable DVD format.

Disctronics' DVD Technology Pages
A series of pages with DVD specifications and history, including DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RAM and other standards. Also covers DVD manufacturing and mastering.

Ultimate Recordable DVD Resource Site
Concise descriptions of the major recordable DVD standards: DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW and DVD+RW, plus links. There are also some news and product listings.

OSTA - Optical Storage Technology Association
OSTA is an industry group promoting use of writable optical storage technology. This is the home of the Universal Disc Format (UDF) specification and other technology references.

Toshiba DVD-RAM White Paper
An introduction to DVD-RAM technology. Includes brief comparison with DVD-R and DVD-RW.

Jim Taylor's DVD FAQ
The official FAQ of the Internet DVD newsgroups. Its primary emphasis is on video, but there is a section on data DVDs that describes each format.

Video Buyer's Guide DVD Section
Multiple articles are offered here, including "DVD - An Introduction" (with brief descriptions of all formats), and "DVD-RAM" (deals with format compatibility issues).

How Stuff Works: DVDs
An illustrated explanation of the technology behind DVD media and players. It includes some animations.

DVD Association
DVDA is a trade group promoting development of non-entertainment DVD applications. Their site includes conference information, news and directories of suppliers.

DVD Forum
This is the primary industry association for DVD. Site resources include technology briefs, conference schedules and news archives.

Resources CD-R
This resource is intended to be parts of a primer on recordable Compact Disc formats.

CD Page
Information about CD technology, duplication, replication, media types. Offers news, tutorials and reviews.

PC Tech Guide: CD-R/CD-RW
The technology behind the recordable CD.

3D Volume Holographic Optical Data Storage
Technical paper on a patented optical storage technology.

Rm.com
Safety advice for CD ROM drives that develop small cracks.

CDRlabs.com
Website that offers news and reviews on CD-R and DVD drives, mainly focused on hardware.

CD Freaks.com
Website that offers daily news and background information on CD-R and DVD related subjects, both software and hardware. Has hardware reviews and forum.

How Stuff Works: CD-RW drive
Explantion of the technology of CD-RW drives, contains interactive flash animations.

Burn-Proof
This site explains the buffer underrun technology Burn-Proof, developed by Sanyo. Explains similair technologies developed by other companies, such as SeamLess Link, FlextraLink and SmartBurn.

CD Speed
Has essential tools for CD/DVD drive and media quality control and a good explantion of CAV, CLV, Z-CLV and P-CAV technology.

Andy McFadden's CD-Recordable FAQ
The standard FAQ for CD-R and CD-RW. Besides general questions and answers, its major sections cover encoding, media, hardware, software and common problems. Updated monthly.

Philips Standards and Licensing - Standards
The source for obtaining many definitive CD specifications, including the Red Book (CD-DA), Yellow Book (CD-ROM), and Orange Book (CD-R/CD-RW).

CDR-Info.com
Website that contains news and announcements of new products, reviews and articles.

Primer on CD-R
Site describing technologies, possible problems and solutions

DVD Writers
Covering the latest news on DVD writers and authoring.

DVD Audio Conference Coverage and FAQ
Article on DVD Audio that dispels many myths about the DVD-A multi-channel audio format.

High Density format
This document gives basic information on the High Density (HD) format developed by Sanyo.

Master DVD
This site provides a series of articles containing news, tutorials, and information related to recordable DVD. Covers both computer-based and TV-based DVD recorders.

LP to CDR Tips
Page of notes describing the author's experience of transferring LPs to CDR over the last few years, with particular emphasis on the restoration of WAV files on hard disk.

Orange Forum
Home of the industry group promoting CD-R and CD-RW. Their site includes a basic tutorial illustrated with many cartoons.

DVD Recordable.org
Has new on DVD related subjects. Provides articles, reports and guides on DVD recording, ripping, authoring and backup.

An index of the ECMA standards
Lists all documents regarding the ECMA standards, including optical storage and data compression.

General CD-R archives
Archive of lots of questions and answers regarding CD-R and related technologies, both hardware and software.

DVDR Digest
Website that offers articles and software about DVD recording.

The Coaster Factory
Has information about offsets and the real size of CD-Rs.

Video Help
Contains information on how to make VideoCDs, SVCDs or DVDs that can be played on your standalone DVD Player from video sources like DVD, Video, TV, Cam or downloaded movie clips like DivX, MOV, RM, WMV and ASF. Has also a list of standalone DVD Players with compatibility information such as CD-R/W, DVD±R/W, VCD, SVCD, and MP3.

Writable DVD: A Guide for the Perplexed
This article contrasts DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, DVD+RW, and includes questions and answers.

DVD-R Authoring Vs. General Media: What's the difference
Document that explains the differences between DVD-R authoring and General DVD media.