Path: chuka.playstation.co.uk!news
From: Toby Hutton <thutton@cybec.com.au>
Newsgroups: scee.yaroze.freetalk.english
Subject: Re: Playstation 2 details
Date: 29 Sep 1998 11:17:13 +1000
Organization: PlayStation Net Yaroze (SCEE)
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tjs@cs.monash.edu.au (Toby Sargeant) writes:
> >Toby Sargeant <tjs@cs.monash.edu.au> wrote:
> The thing I _don't_ know, though, is whether reading is done magnetically or
> optically. I know that writing is done magnetically, using a laser to heat
> the recording media up to allow the polarisation of the individual particles,
> but I don't know whhether this causes a magnetic or an optical change in
> the media.

Apparently it's both.  By changing the magnetic polarity of the
material it's reflective properties change also, so reading is all
optical.
-- 
Toby.