In today’s technology-driven society, it can be difficult to keep up with the ever changing options available to consumers. This is especially true in the USB peripheral market, which has seen many iterations of change in technology as it has matured.
Take, for example, the concept of external USB connected Compact Disc (CD) and Digital Video Disc (DVD) drives. Not long ago, USB connected external Compact Disc drives were considered state of the art, and the popularity of these devices exploded as the market demand for them increased. As the requirements for data storage have increased, the demand for something with larger capacity than CD drives also exploded.
Therefore, the manufacturers of computer equipment started making external Digital Video Disc drives. Much like the CD drives of the past, these devices also connect through the computer’s USB port, and act much like the older CD technology in terms of functionality.
But one area in which DVDs outshine the CD drive is in storage capacity. Although a DVD holds nearly thirty times the information that a CD can hold, the DVD is still the same physical size as a CD. In fact, most DVD players can also play CDs. This is accomplished by the fact that the technology used to read both is essentially the same thing – a laser picking up on the small pits in the DVD or CD. These small pits represent the information stored on the disc.
Another area in which the DVD drives generally outperform USB CD drives is in transfer speed of the data on the disc. Since both devices are connected via USB cables, one could assume that the transfer rate to or from the disc of each technology are roughly the same. This would be true, except USB DVD drives typically utilize the newer versions of USB. The 2.0 specification of USB utilized by most DVD players transmits data at a rate of 480 million bits per second, as opposed to the older standard that transmits at 12 million bits per second. This equates to 40 times faster transfer rates for information on the DVD.
As the world of technology continues to evolve into new areas, it can be assumed that USB DVD drives will continue to evolve and enhance user’s experiences. An example of this is the USB 3.0 specification that is a valid specification as of the time of this writing. The 3.0 specification can transfer at rates up to 4800 million bits per second, which is obviously another step forward in this fascinating technology.
Therefore, it is no wonder that manufacturers and consumers alike are choosing the Digital Video Disc over older technologies such as the USB CD drive.
