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Sony and Philips agreed on a 74-minute audio disc format to hold full classic musical performances. The figure is taken from Philips History, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

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The storage capacity of the Compact Disc was set at 74 minutes

Sony and Philips agreed on a 74-minute audio disc format to hold full classic musical performances

When Sony and Philips standardized the Compact Disc digital audio format in 1980, executive Norio Ohga insisted that a single disc must store Beethoven's Ninth Symphony without interruption. The standard maximum recording time was set at 74 minutes, requiring a disc diameter of 12 centimetres. Optical lasers read microscopic pits etched into the reflective aluminium layer.

Compact-disc in de handel, Bestanddeelnr 932-5170 — Marcel Antonisse / Anefo · CC0 · licence · source

Where this comes from

Philips History

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Tags: audio, cd, optical-storage

The storage capacity of the Compact Disc was set at 74 minutes: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Sony and Philips agreed on a 74-minute audio disc format to hold full classic musical performances. The figure is taken from Philips History, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a technology fact?: Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.