What Is It?

New CD32 F.A.Q.

The Games List

Multimedia

CD+G Information

CD32 Links


The CD+G Page

Screenshot from my CD+G collection ...


Fleetwood Mac - "Behind the Mask"


Fleetwood Mac - "Behind the Mask"


Information Society - "Information Society"


Information Society - "Information Society"


Laura Brannigan - "Laura Brannigan"


Laura Brannigan - "Laura Brannigan"


Little Feat


Welcome to the CD+G Section

Since the Amiga CD32 is one of the few CD players that is capable of displaying the graphics of the CD+G audio CDs, I felt it was worthy to put up a separate page just for the purpose of discussing and answering questions about the CD+G format.

What is the CD+G format?

CD+G discs look like standard audio CD's when played back on regular CD players or CD-ROM drives. The CD+G format is an extension of the standard RED-BOOK audio format. On an audio disc there is an area known as the subchannel.

This area is used to store data for the cd player like elapsed time etc. Some of this area is normally unused. In CD+G discs the subchannel is used to store the CD+G data. This data consists of commands and graphics that are interpreted by the player to produce the CD+G display. (see the pictures of playback on the left).

How do I know what CDs are CD+Gs?

Chances are likely, you would know if you had them, however, you may not. When you purchased the CD, it probably had a sticker on it that looked like this:

But, since you might have bought the CD used - you may not have the cover plastic anymore. Many CD+Gs have a new symbol on the CD itself that shows it as a CD+G:

But, in many cases, even this symbol isn't indicative that the CD is a CD+G title. Many times, you just might have to put it into a player to see if graphics appear.

Is there a list of CD+G music CDs?

Yes, but it is old and quite incomplete as far as I know. The CD+G format didn't last long as a popular music format (it is now replaced by the 'Enhanced CD' format) but lives on as a Karaoke Music format (at which it excels). Search the web for "Karaoke CDG" and you will find MANY places that sell them.

As for music CDs, you can read the list here. This list was borrowed and modified from the now hard to find original CD+G list. If you know of others, please let me know so I can update the list.

How can I play them without a CD32?

There are dedicated CD+G players, mostly in the form of stereo equipment or stand-alone Karaoke systems. Some video game systems (consoles) also play CD+G discs. These include Commodore CD32 and CDTV, Philips CDI, NEC TurboDuo, SegaCD, and Sega Saturn.

There are a couple of utilities for popular computers that will help you extract and view the CD+G graphics. I will tell you now that 1) it doesn't work with very many CD-ROM drives - mostly SCSI, high end drives can read CD+G code and 2) the programs that are out there are rather complicated and glitchy to use. But, if you're ambitious - here is where you can find them at:

Windows Users: CDGPLAY | WinCDG

Macintosh Users: CDGPLAY