Optical Disc Drives and Optical Discs - Types and Compatibility Chart

What is an optical disc drive (ODD)?

An optical disc drive (ODD) lets you play CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays on a computer. Most drives let you burn music, video, or backup discs.

Your Dell desktop or laptop might come with several types of optical disc drives. Optical disc drives come in two variants, determined by the disc loading mechanisms that they use:

1. Tray Load drive - In a tray-loading mechanism, the disc is placed onto a motorized tray, which moves in and out of the computer.
2. Slot Load drive - In a slot-loading mechanism, the disc is slid into a slot and the motorized rollers inside the drive are used to move the disc in and out.

Integrated optical drive on an Inspiron 3562

External USB optical drive

Types of Optical disc and drives

CD-ROM

Compact disc - Read-Only Memory drives were among the first disc-based drives for modern personal computers. These are like regular CDs but contain read-only media such as music, data files, or software. CD-ROM drives read-only CD-DA (audio) discs, CD-ROM (data) discs, and (usually) CD-R/CD-RW writable discs. The maximum storage capacity of a typical CD-ROM is around 700MB.

CD-R or CD-RW

CD-R/RW drives, also known as CD burners can read standard CDs and write to both write-once and rewritable discs.

DVD-ROM

Digital Versatile disc-Read Only Memory drives are the direct evolution from CD-ROM drives. DVDs had greater capacity and performance. DVD-ROM drives can read CD-DA, CD-ROM, and CD-R/RW discs, but they also read DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, and (sometimes) DVD-Audio discs.

DVD+/-RW

DVD writers typically do it all, they both read and write both CDs and DVDs. All current DVD writers can write DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, and DVD-RW discs interchangeably. Most drives can write dual-layer DVDs, storing 8.5 GB instead of the standard 4.7 GB.

Blu-ray

Blu-ray drives are the latest optical drives available. Blu-ray drives are typically reserved for devices with high-definition display capabilities, including high-end computers and the PlayStation 3 video game console. Blu-ray drives and discs can process extremely large amounts of data: Blu-ray discs have a standard capacity of 25 GB but can store more than 50 GB of data on a Blu-ray Dual Layer disc.

Optical drive and optical disc compatibility chart

Depending on the type of optical disc drive installed on your Dell computer, there are different disc options available for storing data. The chart below shows the compatibility matrix between different types of optical disc drives and discs.

For help with CD, DVD, or Blu-ray drive issues, see the Dell knowledge base article How to Troubleshoot CD, DVD, or Blu-Ray Drive Problems. Check out our steps to resolve unable to read or recognize a disc, unable to write or burn data to a disk, unable to eject the disc, or optical drive is not recognized in Windows.

Helpful information to avoid playback or recording issues.

• Avoid leaving the disc tray open when it is not in use.
• Avoid cleaning with a wet or damp cloth. Use disc cleaning kits that are made to clean optical drives which are available commercially.
• Avoid loading a smaller sized disc into a slot-load optical drive drive, use standard sized discs. The slot-load optical drive may not be able to hold the smaller disc and could damage the internals of the drive and the disc.
• Avoid touching the lens of the optical drive.
• Hold discs by their edges, never let the disc slide across any surface as this may cause scratches.
• Never leave them out in the open, especially in direct sunlight.
• Extreme temperature could cause the discs to bend slightly which may cause loud noise inside the disc drive or even cause damage within the drive.
• Re-Writable (RW) discs can be written many times and many devices cannot read the data. Re-Writable (RW) disc should ideally be used only on one computer.
• Try R (Recordable) or RW (Rewritable) discs from different manufacturers if it fails.
• Try recording at a slower speed to resolve issues with recording/writing to a disc.
• Ensure that the type of disc you purchase matches the drive type (DVD+R discs should be used with DVD+R drives, DVD-R discs should be used with DVD-R drives. DVD+R, DVD-R, or DVD+RW (Single/Dual Layer) can be used on computers with DVD+/-RW DL (Dual Layer) drive).