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1. The data transfer rate of a DVD drive is given in multiples of 1350 kB/s, which means that a drive with 16x speed designation allows a data transfer rate of 16 × 1350 = 21600 kB/s (21.09 MB/s). As CD drive speeds are given in multiples of 150 kB/s, one DVD "speed" equals nine CD "speeds", so an 8x DVD drive should have a data transfer rate similar to that of a 72x CD drive. In physical rotation terms (spins per second), one DVD "speed" equals three CD "speeds", so an 8x DVD drive has the same rotational speed as 24x CD drive.

2. A CD is read by focusing a 780 nm wavelength semiconductor laser through the bottom of the polycarbonate layer. The difference in height between pits and lands is a sixth of the wavelength of the laser light, leading to a third-wavelength phase difference between the light reflected from a pit and from its surrounding land. The sixth, 125 nm, (and not a quarter) of the wavelength was chosen to have a good trade-off between the push-pull radial tracking signal and the full-aperture read-out signal. The interference reduces the intensity of the reflected light compared to when the laser is reflected by just a land. By measuring this intensity with a photodiode, one is able to read the data from the disc. The pits and lands themselves do not represent the zeroes and ones of binary data. Instead a change from pit to land or land to pit indicates a one, while no change indicates a zero. This in turn is decoded by reversing the Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation used in mastering the disc, finally revealing the raw data stored on the disc.