X-ray diffraction has now become a key tool in dynamic compression experiments, with a rich variety of mature diagnostics available. It is a technique which measures the arrangement of atoms in solid material, a direct measurement of the structure and density of materials. This thesis presents two new diffraction diagnostics where the key innovation is the use of a single photon counting CCD to measure energy resolved diffraction signal. Using CCDs in this way has not been done before in a high power laser experiment. The first diagnostic measures diffraction from a poly-crystalline sample and along with experimental results, a simulation code was created to support the development of the technique. The second technique is for use with single crystal samples. The energy resolving ability of the CCD is shown to give extra information about the state of the compressed material it is probing. As an extension to the experimental work, Molecular Dynamics simulations of germanium are presented which show qualitative agreement with previous work in which a phase transition occurs. The structure of the phase changed material is covered in detail.