We sometimes get asked by our customers questions like “What is the biggest size CD-R you can get?” or “What is the largest DVD out there?” Other times they just want to know how they can store more on their discs.

Well, it all depends on what you mean by “large”. As far as the actual physical dimensions of the discs go, there are two standard sizes for CD, DVD and Blu-Ray media- full-size (12cm) discs and “mini” (8cm) discs. See our other blog article for more detail on this.

If you wanted to know how you can store more data on your discs, read on.

If you have a choice of media, then even the lowest-capacity recordable Blu-Ray disc beats any DVD; and even the lowliest DVD can store more data than any recordable CD. However, for each type of media, what is the most we can store?

Recordable CD

Strictly speaking, the original specification for the CD format only allows a maximum of 74 minutes of audio or 650MB of data. Fortunately, all but some incredibly old CD players will support 80 minute / 700MB discs, so you can consider that “standard”.

Overburning (82 to 83 minutes)

It’s often possible to record a bit more data to a 650MB or 700MB CD by overburning. This writes to some of the “unused” lead-out space (originally intended to give CD players some leeway when seeking). However, your burning software must support this, and some drives are limited as to how much they can overburn by- it’s not guaranteed. Often you can squeeze an extra two or three minutes out of a disc.

There are claims that overburning beyond certain drives’ capacity can damage them, though this appears to be rare- if not nonexistent- in practice.

90 and 99 Minute CD-Rs

If getting an extra couple of minutes out of an 80 minute / 700MB disc isn’t enough, you can actually buy 90 minute or even 99 minute discs. These are way beyond the standard CD spec, and not all drives can read and/or write them. Because they’re over the “standard” 80 minutes, you normally have to use your software’s overburning option to get the extra capacity. Both 90 and 99 minute discs are really pushing your luck to be honest. (99 minutes is the absolute maximum because the CD spec only supports 2 digits for the capacity).

If you really have to use CDs, these tricks may be worth trying. If you simply want to store more data on a disc, we’d recommend using DVD or recordable Blu-Ray instead.

Theoretical Maximum: 80 minutes (standard), 82-83 minutes (overburning, not guaranteed), 90-99 minutes (using special CDs, some compatibility issues)

Recordable DVD

It’s theoretically possible to overburn a DVD as well (see CD overburning above). However, typical values are in the region of 12MB or so on top of the standard 4.7GB (approx. 4700MB), which barely makes it worth the inconvenience in most cases. If you want to try though, some software including Nero 6 does give you the option of having a go.

Fortunately, dual layer DVDs which offer 8.4GB instead of 4.7GB are available. So if you’re having problems squeezing your video or data onto a single layer disc, use a dual layer one instead.

Theoretical maximum: 8.4GB (everyday use of dual layer media)

Other Options

The above let you squeeze more data onto a disc. However, bear in mind that you can (e.g.) squeeze more video or audio into the same amount of space by increasing the compression. Because DVD video (MPEG) and MP3 files use “lossy” compression which throws away the less important data, increasing the compression can result in a slight reduction in quality- but often this is minor.