Track (moving medium)
A track is a path on a recording medium. There are some variations in nomenclature; for some media a track is a logical path and for others it is based on the geometry of the medium.
The term is not used for punched cards.
Content-based tracks
The terms session, title or track may be used, depending on the medium.LP
A track on a long playing record is a segment of the spiral groove recording a single movement, song or other work.Usually, unrecorded sections of the groove guide the tone arm between consecutive tracks. However occasionally - for example on some language learning records - the tracks are not connected, and the tone arm must be moved manually to the next track's lead-in groove.
Optical disks
A track, session or title on an audiovideo optical disk is a segment recording a single movement, song or other work.Geometry-based tracks
On some devices a track is defined based on the geometry of the medium, typically running for the full length or circumference.Linear
On magnetic cards, magnetic strips and tape, tracks normally run the full length of the medium. Some devices record multiple tracks in parallel either to improve speed or to provide separate channels for, e.g., stereophonic sound.Punched tape
On Punched tape, also known as paper tape, a track runs the length of the tape and all tracks are recorded in parallel. References to the number of tracks sometimes use the word channel or level. Five level tape is used for Baudot, eight-level for ASCII and twelve level for carriage control tapes.Magnetic tape reels and cartridges
On analog audio tape, a track runs the length of the tape and typically contains a single channel; stereophonic and quadraphonic recording use multiple tracks.On digital tape, a track runs the length of the tape; typically all tracks are written and read in parallel.
Magnetic cards and strips
On magnetic cards and magnetic strips used as storage media, a track runs the length of the card or strip; typically multiple tracks are written and read in parallel and considered to be a single logical track.The NCR CRAM, RCA Model 3488 Random Access Computer Equipment and RCA 70/568-11 Mass Storage Unit used magnetic cards in a magazine.
The IBM 2321 Data Cell used magnetic strips in a cell and subcell. The tracks had variable length count key data records.
Magnetic stripe cards
Magnetic stripe cards are commonly used as credit cards, identity cards, and transportation tickets. Standardized cards contain up to three parallel tracks. Unusually, two different recording densities are used (210 and 75 bits perHelical scan
On some videotape and magnetic tape media, a read/write head moves across the width of the tape while the tape is moving, providing a diagonal Helical scan. An example is the IBM 3850 Mass Storage System.Rotating
A track on a rotating magnetic disk or drum normally runs for the circumference of the medium. All tracks on a magnetic drum have the same capacity.Early rotating drives recorded bits at a constant angular density and all tracks had the same data capacity. On all contemporary disk drives a track contains fixed length sectors. However, some older disks and drums recorded variable length records, and the DASD subsystems supported for general use by IBM's flagship operating systems simulate the Count Key Data organization.
The first disk drive, the 1957 IBM 350 disk storage, had ten 100 character sectors per track; the tracks on contemporary disk drives are substantially larger.
In the early days of the industry sectors were referred to by several other names.