There is a difference between CD duplication and replication. Most people use the terms interchangeably; however, they are distinct. When looking to make copies of a CD or DVD, one should ask the question as to which process is best. Knowing the differences between CD duplication and replication will help to clarify what one needs.

There are two methods to choose from when copying CD or DVD's. They are CD duplication and CD replication. In essence, they are both processes which involve copying data onto CDs and both are efficient ways in which to copy the data. The difference comes in when referring to the number of copies being made. While they are both fairly efficient, duplication is meant to handle fewer copies at a time. Replication is on a high speed manufacturing level, where thousands of CD replicates are produced in a short amount of time.

CD duplication is also known as "burning." The process involves the copying of contents from one CD or DVD to another disc using a drive with write capabilities. CD duplication is most commonly used at home, since most computers have a CD burner. This method is best for duplicating less than 1000 copies. Many companies burn their CD duplicates using in-house CD duplication towers, which consist of up to 11 target drives, a hard disk on which to maintain the original source CD image, and the software to control it all. Some CD Duplicators even include robotic arms and disc spindles that can hold 50, 100, or 500 discs, so that the whole burn operation can be done unattended.

On the other hand, there is CD replication. This is a manufacturing process which essentially replicates or clones the original master. A glass master is made, then a set of stamps are made from the glass master. The stamps are then mounted into an injection-mold machine, where a replica of the CD is created. The disc is then coated with a layer of aluminum that is very thin and reflective. Finally a protective lacquer is spun onto the disc and hardened using ultraviolet light. It's typically considered for runs larger than 1000.

As many people know, data capabilities range from about 700MB on a CD to about 4.3GB on a DVD. This can be increased by new technologies that use a second recordable layer ('dual layer') - which can extend a DVDs capacity to 8.5GB. Blu-ray DVD offers up to 50GB data storage capacity. It is easy to see that accurate and fast data transfer and copying methods becomes important.