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Media Descriptor File is a proprietary disc image file format developed for Alcohol 120%, an optical disc authoring program. Daemon Tools, CDemu, MagicISO, PowerDVD, and WinCDEmu can also read the MDF format. A disc image is a computer file replica of the computer files and file system of an optical disc.
Unlike an ISO image, a Media Descriptor File can contain multiple layers and multiple optical disc tracks. Like the IMG file format, a Media Descriptor File is a "raw" image of an optical disc. The word raw implies that the copy is precise, bit-for-bit, including file-system metadata.
A Media Descriptor File may be accompanied by a Media Descriptor Sidecar file. This optional binary file contains metadata about an imaged optical disc, including a delineation of where disc layers begin and end , and which portions of the MDF belong in which disc layer. The MDS file also stores the location and value of the layer breach bit, a CD/DVD copy protection mechanism. The MDS file is comparable to the CloneCD Control File and cue sheet file formats. However, their capabilities are not identical; also the cue sheet is a text file format.
Alcohol 120%'s MDF/MDS format is one of the few formats besides Nero's NRG, BIN/CUE and CloneCD's CCD/IMG/SUB disc image formats to support Mixed Mode CDs which contain audio CD tracks as well as data tracks.