MINIDISC MANUAL V3.0E Table of Contents Introduction . 1 1. The MiniDisc System 1.1. The Features . 2 1.2. What it is and How it Works . 3 1.3. Serial Copy Management System . 8 1.4. Additional Features of the Premastered MD . 8 2. The production process of the premastered MD 2.1. MD Production . 9 2.2. MD Components . 10 3. Input components specification 3.1. Sound Carrier Specifications . 12 3.2. Additional TOC Data / Character Information . 17 3.3. Label-, Artwork- and Print Films . 19 3.4. MiniDisc Logo . 23 4. Sony DADC Austria AG 4.1. The Company . 25 5. Appendix Form Sheets Introduction T he quick random access of Compact Disc players has become a necessity for music lovers. The high quality of digital sound is now the norm. The future of personal audio must meet the above criteria and more. That’s why Sony has created the MiniDisc, a revolutionary evolution in the field of digital audio based on an advanced miniature optical disc. The MD offers consumers the quick random access, durability and high sound quality of optical media, as well as superb compactness, shock- resistant portability and recordability. In short, the MD format has been created to meet the needs of personal music entertainment in the future. Based on a dazzling array of new technologies, the MiniDisc offers a new lifestyle in personal audio enjoyment. The Features 1. The MiniDisc System 1.1. The Features With the MiniDisc, Sony has created a revolutionary optical disc. It offers all the features that music fans have been waiting for. Quick Random Access The MiniDisc offers quick random access to the music selection or phrase of your choice; something only a disc is capable of. Total Durability The MiniDisc can never stretch, break or tangle like cassette tapes. Since the free floating optical pick-up never touches the surface, scratches are impossible. Superb Compactness The MiniDisc itself is only approximately 64 mm in diameter, and the cartridge is 72 x 68 x 5 mm. And because the MiniDisc is smaller, so is the MiniDisc player. Shock-Resistant Portability The MiniDisc is resistant against shocks and vibrations. New technology, using an advanced semiconductor memory, provides almost total shock resistance so there is no skipping and jitter even while jogging or driving. Easy to Handle The disc is protected in a cartridge. It is easy to handle and the ideal sound carrier for mobile use. Unsurpassed Digital Sound The MiniDisc is based on the same noiseless and distortion-free digital recording technology as the compact disc. So whether you are recording your own or listening to prerecorded music, you have the optimum in audio quality wherever you go. Recordable Disc 4 Track Recording: “A disc which records” is every music fan’s dream come true. The MiniDisc offers about 74 minutes digital recording on one tiny disc. 2 DADC AUSTRIA What it is and How it works 1.2. What it is and How it Works is special. Prerecorded music packages require a label, featuring the artist’s picture or other infor- mation – for it is the artwork that most often Two Kinds of MiniDiscs are Available: captures the buyer’s eye. Therefore the top face Premastered MiniDiscs for of the cartridge is left completely free for the Music Software label. A window for the laser beam to read the disc is only necessary on the bottom face. Premastered MiniDiscs are used most commonly for music and are sold in record stores just the Recordable MiniDiscs same as compact cassettes and CDs are. Magneto-optical (MO) technology forms the heart MiniDiscs, just like CDs, are manufactured in of the recordable MiniDisc technology. Not only large volumes by high-speed injection molders, are MO discs durable enough to withstand being and the music signals are recorded during repli- rerecorded about 1 million times, they also have a cation in the form of pits. life expectancy approaching that of CDs. Forget the times when you would worry about When recording the MO discs, a laser beam must cassette tapes becoming worn out or wrinkled. be focused onto the magnetic layer from behind Moreover, the discs are encased in a cartridge, so while a magnetic field is applied to the front. For there is no worry about their being scratched. this reason, the cartridges for recordable MiniDiscs The design of the premastered MiniDisc cartridges have a read/write window on both sides. MiniDisc Pick-up Technology Optical Pick-up of MD Player: MD 0 1 0 1 Recording track Objective Lens Polarized beam splitter High intensity Low intensity Photo Detector A + MO signal - Cross sectional view + of recording track + Pit signal Laser Laser Laser Beam Recordable disc Premastered disc Photo Detector B The optical pick-up developed for the MD system is focused onto the magnetic layer. The magnetic has the remarkable ability to read both recorda- signal on the disc affects the polarization of the ble and premastered MiniDiscs. For recordable reflected beam. The direction of polarization is discs, the pick-up detects the magnetic structure converted into light intensity by the MO signal along the track. For premastered optical discs, it readout analyzer. Depending on the direction of detects the geometric structure along the track. polarization one of the two photodiodes will The MD system is based on the design of the detect more light. The electrical signals from the standard CD pick-up with the addition of a MO photodiodes are subtracted and depending on signal readout analyzer and two photodiodes. whether the difference is positive or negative, a During playback of recordable discs a 0.5mW laser “1” or “0” signal is read. DADC 3 AUSTRIA What it is and How it Works The same 0.5mW laser is used for the playback of layer in the disc is heated by the laser to a tem- premastered optical discs. The amount of light perature above the Curie point (approximately reflected depends on whether or not a pit exists 200° C), it temporarily looses its coercive force. on the surface of the disc. If there is no pit, a As the disc rotates and the irradiated domain high proportion of the light is reflected back returns to normal temperature, its magnetic ori- through the beam splitter and analyzer into the entation is determined by an externally applied photodiodes. If a pit does exist, some of the light magnetic field. Polarities of “N” and “S” can is diffracted and less light reaches the photodi- thus be recorded, corresponding to digital data odes. The electrical signals from the photodiodes “1” and “0”. are added up in this case and depending on the sum, a “1” or “0” is read. Unlike conventional MO rewrite mechanisms, the ”Sony MD overwrite system” positions a magne- Overwrite Technology tic head directly accross from the laser source on In order to meet the requirements of a compact, the opposite side of the disc. A magnetic field lightweight, recordable audio system for perso- corresponding to the input signal is generated nal use, the MD system employs a newly develo- over the laser spot. The rotation of the disc then ped Sony magneto-optical (MO) disc that utilizes displaces the area to be recorded, allowing the magnetic field modulation with direct “overwri- temperature at the spot to drop back below the te” capability. With MO disc technology, the Curie point. At that point, the domain takes on recording of data requires the use of a laser and the polarity of the applied magnetic field regard- a polarizing magnetic field. When the magnetic less of the polarity that previously existed. Head Drive signal 1 Overwrite Mechanism 0 Recording Head Magnetic field of Recording Head Cross section of MO-Layer with magnetic pattern Move direction of Disc Laser Beam New Old N S N S S N S N Top view of one Track Frozen magnetic pattern Heated area by Laser after cooling below above Curie Point Curie Point (erased magnetic pattern) 4 DADC AUSTRIA What it is and How it Works Quick Random Access Reprogramming the 1. Ordinary Method: Order of Music A: Before Rearranging Music Data and Order are Recorded Time-Wise Inner Edge A B C D E F G H Outer Edge Disc Signal Lead in 1 2 3 4 Lead out B: After Rearranging Lead in 1 2 3 Lead out Rearranged Area 2. MiniDisc: A: Before Rearranging Music Data and Order are Recorded Area-Wise Disc Signal Lead in UTOC Only Music Data is Recorded Lead out UTOC Data TNO START STOP 1 A B 2 C D 3 E F 4 G H B: After Rearranging (No Change of Music Data) Connecting two Tracks: Rearranged Area Lead in UTOC Only Music Data is Recorded Lead out UTOC Data TNO START STOP 1 A D 2 E F 3 G H Additional Reprogramming the Order: TNO START STOP 1 A D 2 G H 3 E F The ease of quick random access was made possi- stable and quick random access, as well as a variety ble by the development of the Compact Disc (CD). of optional features, including programming of The CD instantaneously provides random access to the playback sequence e.g.: rearranging the the beginning of any desired music selection. After sequence of the titles recorded on the MD without using a CD player, the time to reach the music sel- rerecording of the music information in a matter of ection of your choice with cassette tape players seconds. seems extremely cumbersome. This is possible because of the “User TOC Area”, The MiniDisc provides the same high-speed random located around the inner edge of the microgroove, access for recordable discs as well as for premaste- which only contains the order of the music.