# What's the difference between CDs and DVDs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 15, 2004, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-cds-and-dvds/269438 "2004-10-15T19:47:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![arjee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@arjee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arjee)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-cds-and-dvds/269438/21 "2004-10-16T01:39:48Z")
Thanks, KP! I didn’t see your post before I submitted mine! ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-cds-and-dvds/269438/22 "2004-10-16T01:47:39Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > I read this three times, and saw “Toaster” instead of “Theater” and thought you were being snarky. Wouldn’t be the first time a post of mine was taken wrong. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-cds-and-dvds/269438/23 "2004-10-16T03:35:17Z")
> [@arjee](#): > > I’ve sure learned a lot in this thread - thanks! Now, another question - if I ever get myself a _real_ DVD disc (of, say a movie or something), will it play on my computer as well as on a standalone DVD player? Again, my computer has a DVD-Rom. Yes, assuming you have the correct DVD player software (which you likely do, assuming your computer isn’t a homebuilt and hasn’t had the operating system reinstalled). I also wanted to point out the other physical differences between a CD and a DVD: A CD is a single piece of polycarbonate with the actual data on the **label** side of the plastic, which means that if your label gets scratched, the CD is kaput. If you scratch the bottom, as long as it’s not too deep you can probably fix it. A DVD is a sandwich of two plastic discs (each approximately half the thickness of a CD), with the data in between. This is what allows DVDs to be double sided, although even single sided DVDs are a sandwich. So in theory, DVDs are less vulnerable to scratching than CDs, but realistically, due to the much smaller pits, it’s probably a wash. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-cds-and-dvds/269438/24 "2004-10-16T08:50:29Z")
> [@daffyduck](#): > > Well, since no one has addressed the mpg business, I’ll give it a go. > > Since the files on your disk are in the \*.mpg format, what you have is a data DVD. I don’t know of any standalone DVD players that will play it. They might exist, I just have never seen one. [VideoHelp.com](http://VideoHelp.com) lists 40 DVD players under $100 that will play MPG files from a CD or DVD. My Norcent DP300 will do it. > [@](#): > > One of the reasons this can be really confusing is that the word “format” is used to mean different things. For example, DVD movies are really mpg movies. Rip the .vob files from a commercial DVD and rename them to .mpg and most of the time they will play just fine without special software. The DVD movie format _is_ the mpg format (as opposed to the avi or wmv, etc. format). The VOB files on a DVD aren’t the same file type as MPG, even though most programs that play MPGs will also play VOBs. VOB is a container format that holds an MPEG video stream, various audio streams, subtitle images, and other DVD-specific stuff. AVI is another container that can hold different types of audio and video streams. Windows Media Video is usually distributed as an ASF file (renamed to .wmv), which is yet another container format designed for internet streaming. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-cds-and-dvds/269438.md?page=1)