Compact discs popularly known as CDs is a device that is used to store data, and a digital video disc is known as DVD they are also used to store data, but they accept high definition material, and you can hold more data in the drive. Both DVDs and CDs look alike in size and shape and are used for the same purpose. Just because they look identical and have the same usage, we cannot conclude that both CDs and DVDs are the same. The following are some of the differences between a CD and a DVD.
Video output:
Most of the DVD players will have an output from where you can connect the player to your television and also play the video or audio content on the disc. A CD player does not have any output for videos, and you can listen only to audio. So you cannot use play DVDs in a CD player.
Capacity:
One of the most significant differences between CDs and DVDs is its capacity. CDs can store digital data, and you can store about 700MB of data in a standard CD. With 700MB of data, you can listen to 80 minutes audio and 60 minutes of video. The Digital Versatile Disc can hold up to 4.7 GB of data. Thus you can use DVDs to store large files like movies and videos.
Dual Layer:
DVDs have a laser layer which equips the drive to read double-layer DVDs. There are two layers of data which are set on each other to make space for data to fit into the disc. There might be chances of losing audio and resolution quality in the process. Most of the films are produced in this format. We all must have bought a DVD video, and we often find two discs; this is because there should not be any loss of video or audio quality. Unlike DVD players, the CD players, are not designed to read information placed in multiple layers in a disc.
Playback:
DVD players can play DVDs and CDs, but a CD player cannot play DVDs. Thus if you have an album on a CD, you will not be able to play it in a DVD player. Compact discs were widely used to store music albums as it stores an entire record at a lower price. DVD is more often used to for storing videos as it can hold more data than a CD.
Multiple Formats:
The two formats in a disc are CD-RW and CD-R. The difference is that you can record on a CD-RW. Many DVD formats like DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD-RAM and DVD+RW have been created these years. If you happen to have old DVD players, then it might not accept all the new formats. The DVD players that produced in the recent years are designed to accept all DVD formats, and it also accepts all CD formats.
