Blue Book (CD standard) Blue Book (CD standard) The Blue Book is a compact disc standard developed in 1995 by Philips and Sony. It defines the Enhanced Music CD format (E-CD, also known as CD-Extra, CD-Plus and CD+), which combines audio tracks and data tracks on the same disc. The format was created as a way to solve the problem of mixed mode CDs, which were not properly supported by many CD players. The standard is not freely available and must be licensed from Philips. E-CDs are created through the "stamped multisession" technology, which creates two sessions on a disc. The first session of
CD player 1983 Philips, at the US and European launch of the CD format, showcased the first top loading CD tray designs with their CD100 CD player. (Philips audio products were sold as Magnavox in the US at the time.) The design had a clamp on the lid which meant the user had to close this over the CD when it was placed inside the machine. Later, Meridian introduced their MCD "high end" CD player, with Meridian electronics in the Philips CD100 chassis. Top-loading was adopted on various equipment designs such as mini systems and portable CD players, but among stereo component