Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
UDF reader program must be installed in some cases.
A newer standard called Mount Rainier (Mt. Rainier) adds even more capability to packet writing.
With Mount Rainier, packet writing can become an official part of the operating system (OS) and the
drives can support the defect management necessary to make them usable as removable storage in the
real world. For more information, see the section “
Mount Rainier
”
later in this chapter.
Note
As part of Service Pack 1, Microsoft released updates for Windows XP that add native support
for the Mount Rainier standard, which supports full drag-and-drop packet writing through CD-
MRW drives as well as DVD+MRW drives. Microsoft Windows 8, 7, and Vista include
native support of Mount Rainier.
Photo CD
First announced back in 1990 but not available until 1992, Photo CD was a standard that used CD-R
discs and drives to store photos. Although Kodak originally sold Photo CD “players” that were
connected to TVs, most Photo CD users used computer-based optical drives along with software to
decode and display the photos.
Perhaps the main benefit Photo CD brought to the table is that it was the first CD format to use the
Orange Book Part II (CD-R) specification with multisession recordings. Additionally, the data is
recorded in CD-ROM XA Mode 2, Form 2 sectors; therefore, more photo information could be
stored on the disc.
Kodak's own PhotoYCC encoding format was used to store up to six resolutions for each image, as
shown in
Table 11.20
.
The x64 resolution was supported only by the Pro Photo CD master version of
the service.
Table 11.20. Photo CD Resolutions
At a time when photo-editing software was in its infancy, the ability to select different sizes
optimized for different purposes was quite useful. However, with the rise of high-speed PCs running
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, and other photo-editing programs, along with high-
speed, low-cost recordable and rewritable optical drives, the Photo CD format became obsolete.
Kodak discontinued development in the early twenty-first century, and third-party labs that offered the
service discontinued it in 2004. Kodak still offers drivers, software, and firmware for Pro Photo CD
Picture CD
