Since the late 1970s, several Compact Disc formats were developed to serve different purposes and uses. Starting with the CD-DA format in 1980, as a way to distribute high quality music in a compact and convenient format, the first compact disc standard was formulated. The idea of storing computer data on the same media, in 1983, lead to a new format: CD-ROM. Since then, the desire to store a new generation of multimedia content (audio, video, games, pictures, etc.) led to new formats: CD-I, CD-XA, Photo CD, Video CD, CD+, and others.

DiscJuggler supports most of today's Compact Disc formats.

• CD-DA (Red Book):
  
  In 1979, Philips and Sony defined an architecture that became known as the Compact Disc Digital Audio or Audio CD format. It is the original and oldest Compact Disc standard and the foundation for all other standards. CD-DA is an audio-only format used on every Audio CD. The audio on these discs is usually referred to as Red Book audio or CD-quality audio. The specifications were published in a book with a red cover, starting the tradition of naming compact disc specifications by color. Index points and variable gaps between tracks are implemented via P-Q sub-codes.
   

• CD+G (Karaoke):
  
  This is an audio format augmented by graphics contained in the R-W sub-codes. The R-W sub-codes encoding specifications are part of the Red Book standard.
   

• CD-ROM (Yellow Book):
  
  In 1980, Philips and Sony defined the architecture that became known as Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory. The introduction of this architecture allowed Compact Discs to be used as an archival medium for computer data. The Yellow Book defines more error correction than defined by the Red Book as a small error while playing back audio is significantly less damaging than an error in retrieving data files.
   

• CD-I (Green Book):
  
  Released in 1986 to extend the definition of the Yellow Book. The architecture defined in the Green Book helped to improve the synchronization of data retrieval and audio information and established the Compact Disc Interactive format. With the introduction of CD-I, sounds could be better synchronized with graphics than in the standards provided in Mode 2 Yellow Book.
   

• CD-XA & CD-I Bridge (Extended Architecture):
  
  Developed in 1991 by Microsoft, Philips, and Sony as a hybrid of the Yellow Book and the Green Book, the CD-ROM XA standards provide synchronized data and audio, as well as a method for the compression of audio information. These added features improved the usefulness of discs for multimedia purposes. Playback of these discs required drives that could un-compress the audio. These CD-ROM drives are designated as "XA-compatible".
   

• CD-R/RW (Orange Book):
  
  Defined in 1990, the major contribution of the Orange book to CD-ROM is its foundation for CD-R technology. In addition, this architecture allows multiple sessions to be recorded on a single disc. Prior to the release of these standards, only one session could be created on each disc. The unused disc space could never be recovered.
   

• Photo CD:
  
  Released in 1990 by Eastman Kodak to provide a standard for storing high-quality images. This proprietary standard is based on CD-ROM XA. It includes multi-session capabilities. Kodak Photo CD discs can be read only by drives that support the CD-ROM XA architecture.
   

• Video CD (White Book):
  
  Released in 1994 by JVC, Matsushita, Philips, and Sony as a means to store movies and high-quality video presentations. This standard is based on CD-ROM XA. It uses MPEG-1 to compress audio and video.
   

• Super Video CD:
  
  Released in 1999 by Philips as an evolution of the Video CD, using high-quality Variable Bit-Rate (VBR) MPEG-2 compression instead of MPEG-1 featured in Video CD.
   

• Enhanced CD/CD+ (Blue Book):
  
  A multi-session format composed by a first session in CD-DA format and a second session in CD-XA format. The first session contains a regular selection of audio tracks, while the second session contains computer data and/or video clips. Discs using this standard can be played in a normal CD player as standard audio discs and in a computer CD-ROM player as multimedia discs.