Lands and pits dotting the surface of a compact disc are revealed in this confocal reflected light digital image. Each of the tiny "dots" in the disc is designed to deflect light from a laser to create the necessary binary code for deciphering the information encoded on the disc.

Compact Disc Specimen: Compact Disc Technique: Confocal Reflected Light

The compact disc is a small, plastic form of optical data storage, which is popular in both the music and computer technology industries because of its superior storage capacity. A single disc can hold about twice as much audio information (about 650 megabytes) as the LP, or long-playing record, and the range of sound that is created is about twice the dynamic range as that produced in a live performance. Even the most musically and technically unsophisticated consumer can appreciate the crisp, clear quality of the audio that the compact disc delivers.