What Does a CD-ROM Look Like Under a Microscope?

The CD-ROM might be an obsolete storage medium for many users, but we can't deny that each of these discs is a small marvel of miniaturization. We know that data is stored on the surface as grooves interpreted as ones and zeros, but the only way to see that pattern is with a microscope. The wonderful YouTube channel The Microscopic Channel did the work for us, using an old copy of SimSafari as its sacrifice.

With a maximum of 900 megabytes or 99 minutes in its extended version, the traditional CD-ROM can't meet today's storage demands. Although the maximum reading speed wasn't particularly terrible (more than 10 megabytes per second with a compatible drive), the natural recording process, the challenges of rewriting data (using special discs that not all readers could write), and even its physical dimensions prevent it from competing today with solid-state drives or portable hard drives, and its role is more limited than ever to music distribution.

A CD-ROM under the microscope

However, classic storage media never completely disappear, and we can always learn something from them. The CD-ROM is no exception, and with that said, I ask you: have you ever seen one under a microscope?

As its name suggests, the YouTube channel The Microscopic Channel is dedicated to placing things under a microscope, from pencils to processors, including flies, guitar strings, and paper. Unfortunately, it isn't possible to place an entire CD-ROM under the microscope, so the solution was to cut a piece from the SimSafari disc, a classic of the Sim family that dates back to 1998.

At first, the damage on the surface forms very interesting patterns with the help of light filtering through the cracks, but at greater depth appears the 'dots and dashes' that represent the stored data. If we consider that each dot measures about 800 nanometers, what we see here is a true festival of precision.

The Microscopic Channel