MiniDisc
Magneto-optical storage medium, mainly used for audio / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about MiniDisc?
Summarize this article for a 10 years old
MiniDisc (MD) is an erasable magneto-optical disc-based data storage format offering a capacity of 60, 74, and later, 80 minutes of digitized audio.
| |
 MiniDisc by TDK, with AA battery for scale | |
| Media type | Magneto-optical disc |
|---|---|
| Encoding | ATRAC |
| Capacity | 60, 74, and 80 minutes |
| Read mechanism | 780 nm semiconductor laser diode |
| Write mechanism | Magnetic field modulation |
| Developed by | Sony |
| Usage | Audio storage |
| Extended from | Compact Cassette, Compact disc |
| Extended to | MD Data, Hi-MD |
| Released | November 1992; 30 years ago (1992-11)[1] |
Sony announced the MiniDisc in September 1992 and released it in November[2] of that year for sale in Japan and in December in Europe, North America, and other countries.[3] The music format was based on ATRAC audio data compression, Sony's own proprietary compression code. Its successor, Hi-MD, would later introduce the option of linear PCM digital recording to meet audio quality comparable to that of a compact disc. MiniDiscs were very popular in Japan and found moderate success in Europe;[4] although it was designed to be the successor of the cassette tape, it did not manage to mass replace it globally.[5]
By March 2011 Sony had sold 22 million MD players.[6] Sony has ceased development of MD devices, with the last of the players sold by March 2013.[7]