The Use of Lasers in Compact Disk Players for Audio and Computer Applications - Report Example

? The Use of Lasers in Compact Disk Players for Audio (CD) and Computer Applications (DVD) Introduction For years, humans have tried to come up with the most appropriate ways of storing maximum amount of information by using minimal space, and in various ways they have succeeded to cope with the problem. Decades ago, data and information were stored in scrolls and other written materials, such as books, which took a lot of space and energy to organize. However, today things have changed, and a micro chip can store billions of data and information which can be shared around the world in seconds. Ways of storing data is not the only thing that has improved over the years but also means of ensuring that information reaches the destination safely has improved from data taking days to be delivered to today where it can only take seconds to send and receive the same. Various digital methods have been improved with earliest development of laser optical being seen in the 70’s where they used light to capture any activity that took place on the surfaces of the compact disks. The laser could only capture the audio parts, but with various improvements, the compact discs can clearly capture the video segment and duplicate them in various copies. Technology is still expanding and being developed and so are the compact disks that it will come a time that most of the things we are using right will all be operating on digital basis. Principles of Operation of These Systems The laser light has the ability to be pure and coherent which makes it well suited for complicated applications for devices such as compact disc (CD) players (Rafiquzzaman, 2005). The light is focused with tremendous accuracy, which allows it to perceive the infinitesimal pits that appear at the surface of a music CD. Then there are the electronic circuits that single out the torrent of dark and bright patterns that the light identifies then decodes them into high quality music. CDs and DVDs are optical are visual storage mediums that have digital data recorded on top of them (Rushbrook & Roderick, 2002). These two devices uses compact disc player devises that are capable of reading the recorded data using optical beams, which accurately duplicates the original data such as pictures and music. There is a detector that is also referred to photodiode that receives rapid light waves being reflected on top of the CD. The photodiode is very sensitive to the laser light which makes it extremely significant in altering it to electric signals and other important signals used by digital devices. The compact disc player is created in a way that it reads the information by optical means making the tearing and wearing of the discs almost impossible. The technology that has been used for decades with CDs and DVDs is practically the same with only very minimal changes being made to the same (Clements, 1994). Whether the discs have been designed for video, audio or computer applications the basic operations are essentially the same. The laser operations work the same with all the compact devises that are required to store digital information for a period of time. Compared to the light from the bulbs, the laser lights contained a single pure color and all the lights effects are in sync which allows it to move in precise beams that do not extend out. These properties have been important for compact discs since the music information is divided into tracks of about one thousandth of a millimeter thick. This requires lens that focuses the laser light to a miniature spot that can locate these tracks (Rushbrook & Roderick, 2002). Their Historical Development The first video disc player to be made was manufactured in 1970 which actually used laser to pick information. The disc worked like today CDs by picking encoded information on the surface of a revolving optical disc and turning it into important information such as music (Clements, 1994). There were two main gases that were very important for laser disc player, this includes neon and helium gases that were contained it a tube to produce laser light for the disc to function effectively. Later on the two bulky and very expensive gases were replaced by the most practical laser diodes that were reliably small which were developed by experts who wanted to make the laser disks more efficient and effective for short and long term purposes (Rushbrook & Roderick, 2002). The new less expensive laser diodes made big impression by creating new applications like video, as well as the music players possible (Clements, 1994). During the same period, there were other technological advancements that took place such improvement of digital electronics and large scale integration which really helped in sustaining the future of the laser discs. Many manufacturers were exploring ways of storing audio signals in digital method and do away with analog. Optical disc with the capability of storing up to a billion bits of data in a very minimal area were created for various applications and from this companies started looking for methods of recording and storing data in a small area (Wuttig & Raoux, 2008). Various experiments with laser devises were done some failed, but most of them were successful like LSI techniques which proved that massive amount of data stored on the disc could be processed faster and make continuous music. Future Trends of Lasers in Compact Discs The laser technology for CDs and DVDs has come a long way in the last decades, and there are new applications for the same that are being realized on daily basis. The market has already introduced a few of the CD technology like CD-videos, CD-ROMs and CD-interactive which are being used around the world (Reynold, Reynolds & Stair, 2009). Everyday, there is a new feature being launched like the latest product that has attracted millions of people, which is the Kodak’s Photo-CD with the capability of displaying photographs on computer screens as well as the television (Mathur, 2004). The application has the features of editing the pictures by cropping, rotating and enlarging the images depending on the user’s request. With the audio CD systems, there are promising features that will be produced in the coming years like the remote control functions for the media player are on the advanced development stages. There are some CDs that can record music and to be able to accomplish this people need to have recordable CD referred to as CD-RW or CD-R where a user can either use laser diode of modest power to play the music. But for this to be successful, the diode must be very powerful and capable of heating tiny parts in the CD’s objects and recording the music information permanently into the discs (Clements, 1994). The CD players have also had a security measure of storage or housing referred to top cover or the bonnet and a front control panel where the compact disc is allowed to rest before loading as it slides in and out of the CD player. The current and other functions that are still on development stage will allow the user to demonstrate information on the remote control unit itself, like the artist’s songs, songs titles artists name and the actual lyrics of the songs. Other compact discs that are being worked on include cassette tapes that are capable of both recording and playing back music (Henderson, 2009). With the evolving technology, it will be possible for the compact discs to have gigantic storage capabilities which will make them most common way of data exchange for all video, audio and other computer applications. This will allow it to lend itself to various broad-based multimedia applications in computer technology. The CD’s tracks also have tiny points referred to as pits that are responsible in ensuring that music is recorded on digital data to as small units as nanometers. The laser lights are supposed to pass through the pits as the CD spins in the compact recorder (Clements, 1994). The light is changed into binary form, which sends data from the disc to a detector at a rate of over four million bits per second. The faster the laser lights are reflected the more data the pits can handle a minute. Conclusion Culture, politics, infrastructure have all improved and changed over the years and so has computer technology with various scientist introducing multiple ways of storing information. CD technology has come a long way to where it is right now and so much has changed to ensure that the best compact devises are being sold on the market. In the next decade, the CD’s and DVD’s that are currently on use will have massive changes as technology is going digital. Laser lights have been useful for a long time in trying to record music on CD’s and DVD’s, but other effective ways have been introduced to make the compacts discs store more information possible and that the data recorded will be useful in years to come. Today there are technologies that allow us to watch movies from the compact discs, listen to music and even store pictures in the same. References Clements, K. (1994). Understanding and Servicing Cd Players. London: Newnes. Henderson, H. (2009). Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology. Ney York: Infobase Publishing. Mathur, R. (2004). Computers Ahead Cbse Class Ix. Chicago: Orient Blackswan. Rafiquzzaman, M. (2005). Fundamentals of Digital Logic and Microcomputer Design. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Reynold, G. W., Reynolds, G., & Stair, R. (2009). Principles of Information Systems. California: Cengage Learning. Rushbrook, G., & Roderick, T. (2002). ICT for GCSE. California: Oxford University Press. Wuttig, M., & Raoux, S. (2008). Phase Change Materials: Science and Applications. Chicago: Springer. Read More