What is 16x?

16x refers to a multiple or a factor of 16. It is commonly used in the context of optical disc drives such as CD, DVD or Blu-ray drives, where it indicates the maximum writing speed of the drive. Specifically, 16x refers to a writing speed of 22,160 KB/s or 16 times the base writing speed of 1.4 MB/s. This means that a disc can be filled up with data at a much faster rate, reducing the time taken to burn a disc. The higher the speed, the more prone the drive is to producing errors, and so higher quality discs will be needed. Other industries that use or refer to 16x include computer hardware, gaming, and networking.