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CD Replication

A Compact Disc (also known as a CD) is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store sound recordings exclusively, but later it also allowed the preservation of other types of data. The compact disc is a spin-off of the Laserdisc technology . 

Standard CDs have a diameter of 120mm and can hold up to 74 minutes of uncompressed audio (650MB of data). The Mini CD has a smaller diameter of 80mm; they are sometimes used for CD singles or device drivers, storing up to 22 minutes of audio. We can use different details to classify most of CDs into 4 different categories: Audio CD, CD-ROM, Video CD and CD-Extra .

ACD / CD-DA (Audio Compact Disc / Compact Disc Digital Audio)

Audio CD is an umbrella term that refers to many standards of means of playing back audio on a CD or a DVD player. Red Book is the standard for audio CDs (Compact Disc Digital Audio system, or CDDA). It is named after one of a set of color-bound books that contain the technical specifications for all CD and CD-ROM formats. The first edition of the Red Book was released in 1980 by Philips and Sony.

CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory)

CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and digital music (mp3) playback, the 1985 Yellow Book standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data. It is widely used for computer to distribute computer software, including games and multimedia applications.
CD-ROMs are popularly used to distribute computer software, including games and multimedia applications, though any data can be stored (up to the capacity limit of a disc).

VCD (Video Compact Disc)

Video CD is a standard digital format for storing video on a Compact Disc. VCDs are playable in dedicated VCD players, most modern DVD-Video players, personal computers, and some video game consoles. The VCD standard was created in 1993 by Sony, Philips, Matsushita, and JVC and is referred to as the White Book standard. It is purely used for video.

CD Extra (Compact Disc Extra)

CD Extra, also known as Enhanced CD and CD Plus, is a mixed mode CD-ROM, containing first an audio session, with one or several audio tracks, then a second session (data track). The first session is the only one seen by the audio CD players, the second one is only seen by a computer.
The primary data formats for enhanced CD discs are mixed mode (Yellow Book/Red Book), CD-i, hidden track, and multisession (Blue Book). The technology was popular in the late 1990s with the increase of computer usage. CD Extra used for music albums often included music videos, wallpapers, and other various content.

CD Replication Specifications

Disc Shapes

Standard CD size - Standard CD size
8cm CD - Mini CD
Fan Cut CD - A standard CD, but with silver only to 80 mm diameter, the remaining is clear
Rectangular CD - Business card shaped CD
Hockey Rink CD - Similar to a rectangular CD but with two sides rounded

Printing

Offset Printing - Process CMYK
Silkscreen Printing - PMS or DIC Spot Colors
6 Color Printing - White Base + Offset CMYK + 1 Spot Color by
Silkscreen
Vinyl Record Look Printing
Additional Gloss or Matte Varnish

Silver

Regular Silver
Full Silver to Center
Special Silver - Fan Cut
Gold - Use gold or copper alloys on the reflection layer

Special CDs

See Though CD

The disc is made to be semi-transparent and you can see through it. 

Fan Cut CD

A standard CD, but with silver only to 80mm diameter, the remaining is clear. 

Black CD

No fooling, it is a normal and workable CD in black appearance .

Color CD

CDs made with dyed plastics. Various colors are available. 

CD Comparison Table

ACD

CD-ROM

VCD