Shape CD
A Shape CD (also Shape Disc , ShapeCD or professionally shaped CD ) is a CD whose contours differ from the usual circular shape.
Like a normal CD, a Shape Disc can contain audio, video or other files , but the amount of data is usually very limited as a large part of the CD's writable area is cut out.
The term Shape-CD is a name protected by the company of the same name in Germany for the shape disks, technically known as shape- cut CDs . The shape-cut CD is or was also produced and sold under different names by other manufacturers, in particular CD pressing plants, such as Fun-CD, Cool-Disc and others.
technology
The shape of a shape CD / DVD should be as balanced, symmetrical as possible and with the center of gravity in the middle. This avoids imbalance when running. Every shape CD / DVD needs a contour master that shows which contour the design must have in order to be able to run in the common CD / DVD players. Due to the special shape of the CD / DVD, the Shape CDs cannot be used in all drives. The main reason for this is the imbalance caused by the non-round shape of asymmetrical shape CDs. They can damage the drive at higher speeds . This damage can be prevented by an adapter, which is also necessary for slot-in drives, for example. For this reason, most Shape Discs have a label that warns against using the data carrier in car radios or CD changers.
Manifestations
Of all the shape CDs, the so-called business card CDs have achieved a certain significance, also because they are not unbalanced like other shape discs. This special type of advertising was mainly used by companies in the computer and IT industry to draw attention to a specific product, but mostly to the company itself. These CDs contain, for example, songs , presentations , advertising texts or films , address data or pictures.
Are also available
- normal music CDs with a few titles, for example by Shania Twain , Jon Bon Jovi , Die Toten Hosen , the Sugababes and the Backstreet Boys .
- Shape DVDs that work like Shape CDs but can hold a larger amount of data,
- Ticket CDs that can be used as admission tickets, for example, are sold for music concerts and contain a title by the artist (this was used, among other things, at a concert by DJ BoBo , but this CD did not contain music, but a voice message from DJ BoBo) ,
- Shape CDs that are combined with a magnetic strip, a barcode or a chip card
- as well as writable, transparent or scented shape discs (so-called aroma CDs).
All of the named manifestations usually have a symmetrical shape. The asymmetrical shape CDs, which were popular until around 1998, are no longer regularly available as new, because the unbalance is too strong here .
