Optical recording techniques

Using laser technology, optical disk cartridges access optical disk drives to seek, read, write, and delete data on optical disks through the means of two optical media recording processes:

Write-Once, Read-Many (WORM) media
- Reads from and writes to 5.25-inch, 12-inch, single-, double-, quad-, and 8x-density WORM optical disk media.
Magneto-Optic (MO) rewritable media
- Reads from and writes to 5.25-inch, single-, double-, quad-, and 8x-density, rewritable optical disk media.

Note:

The term "rewritable" is used within this document to depict this type of optical disk media. Also, continuous composite WORM (CCW) media is included wherever the terminology double-, quad-, and 8x-density WORM media is used, unless otherwise stated.
The 3995-SW3 optical disk drive (in all the C3A, C1x, and C3x libraries) is not capable of writing to any 3995 single-density (WORM or rewritable) media. It is capable of reading this type of media, as well as reading from and writing to 3995 double- or quad-density WORM, rewritable, or CCW optical disk media type.
The 3995-SW4 optical disk drive (in all the C3A, C1x, and C3x libraries) is not capable of writing to any 3995 single-, or double-density (WORM or rewritable) media. It is capable of reading this type of media, as well as reading from and writing to any 3995 quad- or 8x-density WORM, rewritable, or CCW optical disk media type.