burn

burn definition - computer

To write a write-once optical medium such as a CD-R, DVD-R or BD-R disc. Such a disc is considered "burned," because once recorded, it cannot be erased and rewritten. The term is also erroneously used for rewritable disks, such as CD-RWs and DVD-RWs, but rewritable media are not "burned;" they are "written." Burn means "once and done." See CD-R, DVD-R and DVD+R. See also burn in.


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A Burned Disc

You can see the "burned" part of this CD-R disc by noticing the slight change in reflectivity on the recording side. In this example, the arrow points to the end of the small recorded area, which is less than 6% of the 700MB capacity of the disc.






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