Depending on premastering one CD can hold multiple types of data. Gordon Angus,Thornton, (1996, Feb) list the following standard formats;
| Format | Description |
| CD-Audio (Red Book) |
Oldest format for compact disks. Almost all CD-Rom drives can play audio CDs. Maximum 74 minutes (Legend has it that this was so Beethoven's Ninth Symphony could fit on one CD!) |
| CD-Interactive,
CD-I, (Green Book) |
Philip's proprietary standard for its home entertainment players. |
| CD-ROM XA (Mode 2) |
Combines compressed audio and data, like mixed mode, but
interleaves them for smooth playback. This format is best suited for multimedia playback. Allows you to incrementally add data (to new or existing folders) |
| CD+, or CD-Enhanced | Similar to mixed mode, but audio tracks are laid down first, a method that prevents an audio CD player from attempting to read data tracks and possibly damaging the speakers. |
| Hierarchical file structure (HFS) | Macintosh native file format, PCs cannot read HFS disks, but Macs can read ISO disks. |
| Hybrid disks | Contain more than one format and directory structure. All DOS and Windows CD-Roms are based on this format. |
| CD-ROM ISO 9660 (Yellow book) |
Standard CD-ROM format and directory structure. All DOS and Windows CD-Roms are based on this format. |
| Mixed mode | Combine Red Book audio and CD-Rom data. The first track must be data but may be followed by CD-Audio tracks. |
| PhotoCD, (Beige Book) | Proprietary multisession format developed by Kodak for distributing high quality photo images. It requires a CD-I or CD-Rom /XA unit for playback. |
| Video CD (White Book) | Embeds Mpeg-1 video and audio to play movies. It requires a CD-Rom /XA CD-I or Karaoke CD player. |
| CD-RW (Read/Write) | Capable of 1000 write/erase cycles. Format readable in DVD Drives. |