The .cue / .bin format developed by Jeff Arnold for CDRWIN can encode CD Image formats in either 2048 or 2324 bytes per sector. The BIN file is a binary copy of an entire CD/DVD disc. The BIN file contains all the data stored on the original disc, not only its files and folders but also its system-specific information such as, boot loaders, volume attributes and any other data. BIN files are usually bigger than .iso files because, in contrast to .iso files, they are not a bit for bit copy of the entire CD/DVD.
.bin files (or .RAW files) are images extracted in pure RAW format. That is 2352 bytes sectors, the full CD sector content: user data, sector header, error correction codes (ECC) and error detection codes (EDC). Once again, each sector is converted to digital data in the .BIN file, but more stuff is copied and the resulting file will be bigger. The .BIN file should be 251,000 x 2352 = 590,352,000 bytes big. This process will copy ANYTHING on the disc, so it is useful for exotic discs (multiple tracks, mixed track type Audio+Data or Data+Audio) and for non-PC CDs (PSX, VCD, MAC).
The .cue file is a cue sheet that describes the data stored in the .bin file. The .cue file is in fact a plain text file. A typical .cue file is as follows:
FILE "IMAGE.BIN" BINARY
TRACK 01 MODE1/2352
INDEX 01 00:00:00
The file would be saved as IMAGE.CUE
