What is PCM-1630? What is PMCD?
PCM-1630 is a modulation format designed to be recorded to 3/4″ videotape. It was, for many years, the only way one could deliver a digital program and the ancillary PQ information to the factory for pressing. The PCM-1630 format is still widely used for CD production. But PCM-1630 is now certainly an obsolete system, as there are many new formats that are superior to it in every way. One of the most popular formats for pressing now is PMCD (Pre-Master Compact Disc). This format, developed by Sonic Solutions, allows for CD pressing masters to be written out to CD-R’s that can be sent to the factory directly. These CD-R’s contain a PQ burst written into the lead-out of the discs. Some plants have gone a step further and now accept regular CD-R’s, Exabyte tapes, or even DAT’s for pressing. The danger here is that some users may think that they can prepare their own masters without the slightest understanding of what the technical specifications are.
