Overview - ISO/IEC 13481:1993 (130 mm optical disk cartridge, 1 GB)
ISO/IEC 13481:1993 defines the physical, optical and logical characteristics for 130 mm optical disk cartridges with a capacity of 1 gigabyte per cartridge. The standard specifies two cartridge types:
- Type R/W - rewritable (write, read and erase many times) using thermo‑magnetic and magneto‑optical effects.
- Type WO - write‑once, read‑many (WORM) functionality across both disk surfaces.
The document covers conformance testing and the reference drive, operating/storage/transportation environments, mechanical and dimensional case/disk requirements, the on‑disk format (embossed and user‑written), magneto‑optical layer characteristics, and minimum quality metrics for user‑written data.
Keywords: ISO/IEC 13481:1993, 130 mm optical disk cartridge, 1 gigabyte, magneto‑optical, write once read many, rewritable.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Conformance and roles: Requirements for ODC (optical disk cartridge) manufacturers, generating systems and receiving systems to claim conformance for a specified Type.
- Mechanical & physical specs: Case and cartridge dimensions, hub and clamp interfaces, shutter and sensor features to ensure mechanical interchangeability.
- Environmental requirements: Defined testing, operating, storage and transportation conditions (including temperature shock and air cleanliness considerations).
- Reference drive and read/write channels: Optical beam, tracking, rotation and channel characteristics required for interoperability.
- Disk format and layout: Track geometry (ZCAV), sectors, sector marks, address marks, VFO, data fields, CRC and ECC structures.
- Error control & coding: CRC, Reed‑Solomon ECC, interleaving and resynchronization strategies to tolerate burst and random errors.
- Defect management: Media initialization (with/without certification), Primary/Secondary Defect Lists (PDL/SDL), Zone Structure Table (ZST) and guidelines for sector retirement.
- Recording layer & embossed information: Magneto‑optical properties, baseline reflectance, Kerr rotation behavior, pre‑recorded groove/mark characteristics and test conditions.
- Annexes: Practical guidance including SCSI logical block to physical sector mapping, environmental models, and interchange requirements.
Practical applications and users
Who uses ISO/IEC 13481:1993:
- Optical disk drive manufacturers - to design drives that mechanically and logically interchange media.
- Media (cartridge) manufacturers - to produce compliant 130 mm cartridges (R/W and WO).
- System integrators and IT archivists - for backup, archival WORM storage and cross‑platform data interchange.
- Standards and compliance teams - for conformance testing, environmental qualification and defect management procedures.
Typical applications:
- Removable backup and archival storage (WORM and rewritable media)
- Data interchange between heterogeneous information systems
- Long‑term preservation where defined mechanical and error‑control behavior is required
Related standards and notes
- Originated from ECMA‑183 and adopted by ISO/IEC JTC 1.
- Normative references include ISO 683‑13 and IEC 950 (safety).
- Patent notice: patents relevant to the standard were identified (MAXOPTIX Corporation); licensing terms may apply.