system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5 how does burning a cd/dvd work?


So I know that sounds like I’m gen z and just don’t know what I’m doing but no I’ve done it before I just don’t understand how it works like how does the content get on to the disk and how is that played?
gpt
Music is stored digitally, meaning it is represented as long sequence of 0's and 1's. 

DVD has shiny surface, and a laser literally burns non-shiny dots onto it, in very specific spots. Dot is 1, spot without a dot is 0 (or maybe it's the other way around). 

For playback, a a single-pixel camera reads 0's and 1's, then software turns them into music. camera needs light, and that comes from a weaker laser. 

Dots are arranged in circles around the disk, and disk spins while camera stays still. Or rather camera moves between the center of the disk and its edge, so it can read different circles. This requires a very high precision, but computers are good at it.