| Title: | You get surface noise in real life too |
| Notice: | Let's be conformist |
| Moderator: | GOVT02::BARKER |
| Created: | Thu Jul 28 1988 |
| Last Modified: | Mon Jun 02 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 550 |
| Total number of notes: | 3847 |
Does anyone know if the laser in a CD player degrades with power-on
time. Certain CD readers used as computer peripherals have a 2 yearly
laser swap as part of their maintenance strategy.
The reason I ask is that I normally leave my player switched on if
I think I will be using it later in the day, that way it is already
'warmed up' and it avoids power on/off and thermal stress to the
components, but this may be shortening its life.
I wonder if the laser is on from power-on to power-off or only when
actually playing. I would imagine that if the laser 'broke' it would be
cheaper to buy a new unit after the warranty period expires.
So for reliability should I leave it on or is on-play-off better.
Colin
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 289.1 | CRATE::WATSON | Blood on the Rooftops | Fri Jul 05 1991 11:35 | 8 | |
Yes, the lasers used in CD players (The Phillips in particular I think)
to have a limited life. I can't remember the figure (10,000 Hours ?).
Some CD player only power the laser when reading the disk. Philips CD
players (and hence a lot of others) keep the laser powered up all the
time. I think that this is discussed by Walt Clark in the AUDIO or
AUDIO_ENG notes conferences.
Rik
| |||||
| 289.2 | Semicinductor lazers self destruct. | CYCLIC::TURNER | Fri Jul 05 1991 11:44 | 14 | |
From my days as a phisycs student I seem to recall that semiconductor lazers ( as used in CD players ) had an inherant flaw in that shifting the electrons within the semicondutor through the various enregy transitions needed to produce lazer light eventually causes the atomic structure of the semicondutor to degenerate until the semiconductor is no longer suitable for producing lazer light. ( in other words yes ! ) This was however a few years ago and semiconductor/lazer technology has doubtless moved on by now. Barrie. | |||||