Meaning – The term minidisc, refers to a direct access storage device or a logical subdivision of a direct access storage device that has its own virtual device number, consecutive virtual cylinders (starting with virtual cylinder 0), and a volume table of contents (VTOC) or disk label identifier.
The disc is permanently housed in a cartridge (68×72×5 mm) with a sliding door, similar to the casing of a 3.5″ floppy disk. This shutter is opened automatically by a mechanism upon insertion. The audio discs can either be recordable (blank) or remastered. Recordable MiniDiscs use a magneto-optical system to record data.
A laser heats one side of the disc to its Curie point, making the material in the disc susceptible to a magnetic field. A magnetic head on the other side of the disc alters the polarity of the heated area, recording the digital data onto the disk. Playback is accomplished with the laser alone
Example of usage – “Sony announced the MiniDisc in September 1992 and released it in November of that year for sale in Japan and in December in Europe, Canada, the US, and other countries.”
