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The Inner Workings of CD/DVD Drives

The Inner Workings of CD/DVD Drives

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This podcast is drawn from the “Virtual Lab” of WeCanFigureThisOut.org. This Virtual Lab uses 3D virtual reality animations to explain electronics, microelectronics and nanotechnology. This podcast explains the miniaturized optical and mechanical components that make CD and DVD drive work. This includes a description of the clever systems that automaticaly focus and center the laser on the data tracks of the disk.

Recent Episodes

  • Let's take apart a CD/DVD drive, layer by layer

    55 years ago

  • A motor pulls the tray in and out

    55 years ago

  • Move to the side to see how the rotation motor is lifted

    55 years ago

  • A rail and gear push a cam that lifts the motor, driving its spindle through the disk

    55 years ago

  • And then there is the mechanism that moves the optical read/write head . . .

    55 years ago

  • The optical head is the heart of the CD/DVD drive.

    55 years ago

  • Here are its basic components.

    55 years ago

  • The laser passes through a splitter and lens, bouncing off the disk to the detector.

    55 years ago

  • This is the path followed by photons of beam.

    55 years ago

  • The disk's pattern of pits is translated into an optical signal.

    55 years ago