Doug,
The chemistry
or surface layers for rewritable at the same disk area I think
have a slower transient rate for change while a CD-R can be zapped
with a "gun" and the gun can move on to the next area while the "bullet"
is still traveling between barrel end and point of impact. The RW
surface I think first needs to be "conditioned" to a state before
it can be shot at again with a zero or one bullet.
That is exactly right. Think of the surface as a wax target and before a RW can be rewritten, it must be heated to much lower temp than making a hole, but held for a long enough period for the wax to flow evenly again.
really enjoy your posts.