[lensovet]

For those of us that don't have the premium audio system installed, the CD-player screen has two parts. The top shows the track number and the elapsed time. The bottom portion has the words "DISC" and "TRACK" written with blank space, possibly for some sort of data. In additon, right next to the CD slot, there's a cd icon - "compact disc - digital audio - TEXT"
I cannot find any info on exactly what an audio "text" CD is on the net. Does anyone know what these discs are/where to find them? And what is supposed to be shown on the lower portion of the screen? For manual reference, see pages 160 (picture), 169 *CD player operation).

 

[mikeslavis]

CD-Text

CD-Text is a standard that can be encoded to an audio CD which allows an appropriate reader to display information, such as Title/Track/Performer. I don't know *exactly* how it functions in the Prius but in the 2004 that I rented, I tried out some of my CD-Text audio CDs and it did, indeed, display the Disc Title and Track Name on the screen you're describing.

CD-Text comes on an audio CD only if it has been specifically placed there by the author of the CD. I'm not sure which pressed CDs have the feature, I'm sure there are forums for this sort of thing too, but I'm pretty sure I recall some Prius users mentioning the Audioslave pressed CD has CD-Text information on it.

Myself, I take the CDs in my collection and burn versions specifically for the car, so I can leave the original in my "archive". The program I burn these on allows me to specify the CD-Text information, which I do. These CDs can then display the info on any CD-Text capable player (like the one in the Prius). It's a pretty cool feature, and I like it because the information travels with the CD, doesn't require an external storage database or a connection to the Internet. And the CD plays just like a regular audio CD.

Does that help?

[email protected]

 

[lensovet]

Yes!

Mike,
That, indeed, is very helpful, and I'm glad that there's someone (you) out there that knows this, because Toyota obviously didn't consider it a note-worthy topic (not a single word about this in the manual).
My next two questions: where can you get/buy CD-text discs, and what program do you use to make your own CDs that allows you to encode that text data?
Thanks a lot!
Paul

 

[petteri]

I use this program to create CD-TEXT CDs, either direct copies from the CD itself or MP3s.

http://www.poikosoft.com/

Peter
Miami, FL USA

 

[mikeslavis]

CD-Text "encoder"

Paul,

I burn CDs on the Windows platform using CDRWin, a package available at:

http://www.goldenhawk.com

I'll attach a snapshot of the CD-Text editor screen.

As for where to buy them, my understanding is that some store-bought CDs have CD-Text on them (I mentioned the Audioslave album), and I don't know the easiest way to tell. Like I said, there's probably some Internet group out there that tracks which CDs have the information and which don't, but I haven't gotten into that realm...

If you want, send me a personal email to [email protected] and we can discuss a bit further...

[email protected]