Currently there are two types of optical disc formats that are widely available for consumer use. This section will better explain the purpose of these formats and their place in history.

• Compact Discs

Digital Audio Compact Discs (CD-DA) were first introduced to the consumer audio market in 1980 by Philips and Sony as an alternative to vinyl records and magnetic tape cassettes. In 1984, Philips and Sony extended the technology to include data storage and retrieval and introduced a new format: the Data Compact Disc (CD-ROM).

Since then, the Compact Disc has dramatically changed the way that we listen music and handle electronic information. With a capacity of up to 700 megabytes of computer data or 80 minutes of high quality audio, the Compact Disc has revolutionized the distribution of every kind of electronic information.

In 1990, Philips and Sony extended the technology again and the Compact Disc became recordable (CD-R). Before the introduction of the CD-R technology, compact discs were produced in commercial replication plants by stamping the media with a pre-recorded master. Today, discs are produced in replication plants where large quantities are required. For small production volumes (up to 500 copies or more, depending on your location and manufacturers in your market), it can be significantly less expensive to master your own discs using commercially available Compact Disc writing drives.

DiscJuggler is designed to facilitate this task, making the in-house production of small quantities of Compact Discs as simple and convenient as possible.

Whether a Compact Disc was stamped at a replication facility or "burned" using a compact disc recorder, it can theoretically be read by any available CD-ROM drive. In reality, some inexpensive media and CD players do not work very well together. Only the physical composition of a commercially replicated disc and a CD-R disc are different. The former is coated with a reflective layer of aluminum resulting in a typical silver color. The latter is coated with a reflective layer behind a thin layer of dye (colors can range from blue, silver, green, and others).

• Digital Versatile Discs

In January of 1995, Sony was the first to showcase Digital Versatile Disc technology after having announced co-development six months earlier. Three weeks later, Pioneer, Time Warner, and Toshiba announced their own version of DVD, which had major differences from the format developed by Philips and Sony. Immediately disputes started over which format should be used, since each had their own advantages and disadvantages.

The disputes did not stop until May of 1995, when a major report was released by leading hardware and software manufacturers (Apple, Compaq, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, and Microsoft), stating that the two formats were not going to be supported by the industry when there were clear advantages in using one format. The result was a mix of the two formats and the formation of the DVD Forum by all companies involved in the two original formats (Matsushita, Mitsubishi, Pioneer, Philips, Hitachi, JVC, Sony, Thompson, Toshiba, and Time Warner).

In 1996, the specifications for DVD-ROM and DVD-Video were finalized and DVD players began to ship to market. One year later, the DVD Forum worked on the specifications for the first recordable (DVD-R) implementation of DVD. In November of 1997, Pioneer announced the first DVD-R drives, while Matsushita and Toshiba released the first DVD erasable (DVD-RAM) drives.

During 1998, a new coalition was formed to develop re-writable discs specifically for storage of data based on 25-year-old CD patents. This format was initially called DVD+RW and was not allowed to use the DVD logo after the DVD Forum ruled that it could not be used in the branch technology. While the technologies between the two formats are similar, licensing rules dictate differences, some of which can be witnessed in the logo branding of devices and media.

For a more detailed description of disc technology, see the Advanced Concepts section.