CD-R is a digital optical disc storage format. A CD-R disc is a compact disc that can only be written once and read arbitrarily many times.
Assorted CD-Rs
Isolated data layer of a CD-R
Photomicrograph of the groove in a CD-R disc
An example of a CD-R burned in 2000 showing dye degradation in 2008. Part of the data on it has been lost.
An optical disc is a flat, usually disc-shaped object that stores information in the form of physical variations on its surface that can be read with the aid of a beam of light. Optical discs can be reflective, where the light source and detector are on the same side of the disc, or transmissive, where light shines through the disc to be detected on the other side.
The optical lens of a compact disc drive.
LaserCard made by Drexler Technology Corporation.
Optical discs are not vulnerable to water.
An earlier analog optical disc recorded in 1935 for Lichttonorgel [de] (sampling organ)