CD-ROM drives that are over 16x have max written next to it. When max is written next to the speed or on the drive, this indicates that the CD-ROM uses CAV, or Constant Angular VELOCITY, to access its data. Originally, CD-ROM drives utilized CLV, or Constant Linear Velocity, which accessed data slower or faster by changing the speed of the motor to transfer the data at a steady flow.

With CAV, the CD rotates at a constant speed, which means a 32X speed CD-ROM, for EXAMPLE, will be able to access the data 32x on the outside layer. HOWEVER, when approaching the middle of the CD-ROM drive, the access speed can decrease CLOSE to 20x.

CD-ROM drives that are over 16x have max written next to it. When max is written next to the speed or on the drive, this indicates that the CD-ROM uses CAV, or Constant Angular Velocity, to access its data. Originally, CD-ROM drives utilized CLV, or Constant Linear Velocity, which accessed data slower or faster by changing the speed of the motor to transfer the data at a steady flow.

With CAV, the CD rotates at a constant speed, which means a 32x speed CD-ROM, for example, will be able to access the data 32x on the outside layer. However, when approaching the middle of the CD-ROM drive, the access speed can decrease close to 20x.