[Guide] DVD Recordable Format / DVD media discussions

[drgrudge]

Buying or bought a new DVD Burner and now you see DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM?, DVD+R DL? What are all these? AHH Im confuzled? Well I will tell you what this is about and other junk too

DVD-R
DVD-R is the most compatible of the formats. This format will play in about 90% of DVD Players, DVD-Roms etc. It was the first recordable format out. This format supports up to 4.37GB of data on a disk. You can also get this disc double sided* and expand its space to 8.75GB of data. This disc can be written on once and only once. Basically if it screws up, you get a nice, shiny coaster.

DVD-RW
This format is the same as DVD-R but can be rewritten several times. This format is compatible with about 80% of DVD Players, drives, etc.

DVD+R
DVD+R is very simlar to DVD-R but supports a few more features, thus sacrificing compatiblity. It supports lossless linking and both CAV and CLV writing. Newbies dont worry about these features . This format is compatible on about 80% of DVD Players, drives, etc. This disc can be written on once and only once. Basically if it screws up, you get a nice, shiny coaster. Supports the same amount of data DVD-R does. 4.37GB and 8.75 GB Double Sided

DVD+RW
DVD+RW is the same as DVD+R but can be written on more several times. It is compatible with about 70% of DVD Players, drives, etc.

DVD+R Dual-Layer
DVD+R is the same as DVD+R but supports 7.95GB on one disc. This disc achieves this by having two seperate recordable layers. This disc is the most expesive of the formats. This disc is also available in double sided* format supporting up to 15.9GB of data. It is compatible in about 75% of DVD Players, drives, etc.

DVD-RAM
DVD-RAM is the least supported format. many DVD Burners do not support this. DVD-RAM usually comes in a catridge and will not fit in most DVD-ROM drive, Player, etc. It is compatible with about 20% of DVD Players. To my knowlage, no DVD-ROM drives support this format. Think of this format as a slow harddrive. This format is not recommended.

DVD-RAM is great for set top devices. It allows you to watch something at the beginning of the disc while recording to the second half of the disc. Pretty cool.


Which is Right for Me?
Okay so now you know about all the formats but which is right for you? Well that is up to your DVD-Player. It is best to buy 1 or 2 of each format and try them out. Sometimes a DVD-Player will read DVD+R but not DVD-R. Same goes for other formats. Some DVD-Players will not read any recordable format and that just is no fun now is it.

Speeds
There are several speeds for discs. 2.4x, 4x, 8x, 16x. What do I get?
Well you should get the same speed as your DVD Burner supports. If you get slower than what it supports do note try to burn with a higher speed than what the disc says on it or you will probably end up with a coaster. EG: burner a 2.4x Disc at 4x. Same goes for burning a 4x disc at 2.4x. That stragely could still cause you to get a coaster.

Cheap Media
When CD-Writers came out blank discs were about $5 each. But then cheap $2 blanks came out and people decided to save money and buy those. Big mistake, back then. Those people ended up with alot of coasters and ended up losing money. Now times have changed, you can buy any brand blank CD discs and you will probably get a quality burn. Well that old expensive versus cheap media has started all over again, this time for Recordable DVD media. Do not buy cheap no name DVD Recordable discs. Stick with known brands.

Definitions
Double Sided: Both sides of the disc have a recordable surface.
Coaster: An object you use to place cups on or beverages on to. :laugh:
Dual-Layer: A disc with two recordable layers. Almost doubling the discs capacity.
Sizes: The disc size may say 4.7GB on the Label but infact is 4.37GB.

From : http://dan.liquidm3dia.com/2.0/dvdformats.php
Originally posted at neowin, and permission asked from the author b4 posting here...

[drgrudge]

Cost of these DVD medias in chennai:
DVD-R : rs. 18 (without case)
DVD+r :not available
DVD-RW :rs. 175

[Toocool]

This might be a stupid question but i am quite curious to know

I think DVD media comes in 2 seperate formats.. DVD +R and DVD -R is this true? Can someone give details..

[drgrudge]

Just look in the first post!


Threads merged

[shivaranjan.b]

Hey drgrudge

DVD+R availiable in chennai at Rs. 18-20. It is a cheap brand..
And DVD+R of all leading brands availiable and starts from 48 bucks onwards....

DVD+RW of Moaser Baer Rs.90 got it two months back...
DVD+RW of TDK is 135 bucks....
DVD+RW of Sony is 150 bucks....

[drgrudge]

I know that. After all I said at Oober also naa? See when I posted this guide

[expertno.1]

hmm very old thread

thanks for removing the confusions

[iammrcool]

can ne body give me the price of DVD RAM. I m really intrested in buying 1 bcos my Toshiba laptop supports it and I wanna use it as a hard drive.

[drgrudge]

Just because your Drive supports, you wanna use it?

Anyways, it's not that common here. I think it will cost around 35-40 bucks.

[Keith Sebastian]

Originally Posted by iammrcool

can ne body give me the price of DVD RAM. I m really intrested in buying 1 bcos my Toshiba laptop supports it and I wanna use it as a hard drive.

Not fast enough to replace a hard drive. OK for regular backups.

-k

[shivaranjan.b]

Hey drgrudge

Some confusion was there as i didnot see the dates... Now the confusion is gone....

[troubleshooter]

Originally Posted by shivaranjan.b

Hey drgrudge

DVD+R availiable in chennai at Rs. 18-20. It is a cheap brand..
And DVD+R of all leading brands availiable and starts from 48 bucks onwards....

DVD+RW of Moaser Baer Rs.90 got it two months back...
DVD+RW of TDK is 135 bucks....
DVD+RW of Sony is 150 bucks....

Sony DVD -R Rs. 50 with case Rs. 45 per disk for minimum 10 disk
Sony DVD -RW Rs. 110 with case only.

[drgrudge]

Lol.. I can a DVD -r (cheapo) for just 11rs. "Brand" name: Scorpio

[icecoolz]

And how many of those local DVD-R are coasters ? I serious dobut the quality for these. I would rather spend a lil more considering that I almost always back up huge amnts of data on them.

[drgrudge]

Hmmm.. I buy rs.11/15 DVD- r for not that useful purpose. Plz dont ask what I burn in them (Damn the rules).

Otherwise I buy Moserbaer DVD-r for rs.35.

Till date I have 26 cheapos and 4 Moserbaer.


Sometimes, a part of the data wont read, but it's good and saisfactory for 85% of the time.
2 DVD-r was a total coaster. But I was able to copy that burned data into my HDD and "use" them.

[Dipen01]

Well.. i have been using INTEX since 4 months.. have around 15 of them..

In Pune it costs 25/- and its 4x..

Only one prob.. i can burn only data till 4.48 GB not more.. but its boasts of 4.7... so i dont understand that..

By the way its of fair quality..no problem as if now..

[rachitar]

Originally Posted by drgrudge

Hmmm.. I buy rs.11/15 DVD- r for not that useful purpose. Plz dont ask what I burn in them (Damn the rules).

Otherwise I buy Moserbaer DVD-r for rs.35.

Till date I have 26 cheapos and 4 Moserbaer.


Sometimes, a part of the data wont read, but it's good and saisfactory for 85% of the time.
2 DVD-r was a total coaster. But I was able to copy that burned data into my HDD and "use" them.

Where do you buy the DVD -R for 11 bucks?
Riche Street eh?
I bought 7 and 2 turned out to be mirrors for my room
Which brands do you buy?
BTW i am from IITM

[drgrudge]

Yeah, Riche Street. I said in my post that I buy Scorpio cheapo and Moserbaer for other purposes.

Cool man.. what are studying in there?

[rachitar]

Originally Posted by drgrudge

Yeah, Riche Street. I said in my post that I buy Scorpio cheapo and Moserbaer for other purposes.

Cool man.. what are studying in there?

I am studying Computer Science.Right now slugging it out in the 5th sem.
Did you come for our tech fest Shaastra?

[drgrudge]

No
More via PM.

[ravimevcha]

cool post .. thanks for a Really Good Guide on DVD formats.. really help in choosing defferet DVD format

[Aanand]

Hi
Is the life of the cheap DVDs less? I am using Scorpio ( 4x)for writing video files in mpeg format. I have no problem in writing or playing it. My question is, how long will it last if I use it regularly.
Can anybody suggest a DVD at a moderate price, not a high end brands like TDK, Sony?
Thanks in advance

[drgrudge]

Hmm.. I still a have a DVD that I burned some 6-7 months back and that's the same cheapo brand. It's reads well with any problem.
So you make sure that it's reads properly after it's burned.. and there wont be any problem after that.

And reagarding the "branded" DVds I buy Moserbaer for rs. 35. It's like the CDs that we buy, which comes in 10/20 packs, so you dont get any jewel box for the same.

[rachitar]

Originally Posted by drgrudge

Hmm.. I still a have a DVD that I burned some 6-7 months back and that's the same cheapo brand. It's reads well with any problem.
So you make sure that it's reads properly after it's burned.. and there wont be any problem after that.

And reagarding the "branded" DVds I buy Moserbaer for rs. 35. It's like the CDs that we buy, which comes in 10/20 packs, so you dont get any jewel box for the same.

In Nero there is "verify cd after burn" option
I always enable it so that the compilation is always verified.
If it passes the test,is it safe to assume that the cheapo DVD will last and will have no problems in the future?
Also i usually use this cheapo DVD say once in a year.Is it safe to assume that the life of the cheapo DVD will be more than say 10 years atleast then

[hsnayvid]

hey drgrudge,

what art the x ratings of the cheapo discs.

I recently settled for a benq 1640 at 3200 bucks, and was looking for info on different formats.

I bought Sky cheapo(20 bucks) 4x DVD-R. I should say that it has quite good performance. (burnt 2 discs)

I also got Benq 8x DVD+R. Really fast DVDs I must say burnt in 8.15 min flat at 8x only! (Burned 4 Discs)

I got this Afa 4x DVD-R at 15 bucks. Haven't tried it yet but the surface has got a few scratches already.

You dont get much format options around here as they have selected brands and you got to purchase from them only. Dual layered and double sided discs are unavalible around here.

I have one query, you say that DVD +/- R can be written on once and only once. Does this mean that the disc closes after burning and we cannot append the discs if we use less capacity? Please tell me as all the discs I've burnt are at max capacity.
I think that we should be able to use them similarly to a CD-R.

Secondly I'd like to ask which burning software you guys use. I am using Roxio Easy Media Creator 7.

[Dipen01]

Well...atleast i use Nero 6.6 Ultra...

[drgrudge]

Originally Posted by hsnayvid

I have one query, you say that DVD +/- R can be written on once and only once. Does this mean that the disc closes after burning and we cannot append the discs if we use less capacity? Please tell me as all the discs I've burnt are at max capacity.
I think that we should be able to use them similarly to a CD-R.

Who told? We can burn again in case we have not used the full 4.x gb of the disk. It's same procedure as we burn CDs. Just try it out using a cheapo.

Originally Posted by hsnayvid

what art the x ratings of the cheapo discs.

I have seen only 4X rating. But 90% of the times I burn in a 2X speeds and it takes 13-14 mins to burn a 4.xgb DVD. Burner is LG.


To burn: Nero ultra, dunno what version.

[einsteinium]

Can I know the rates for DVD-R and DVD+R in Delhi
(with out case)

[hsnayvid]

Originally Posted by drgrudge

Who told? We can burn again in case we have not used the full 4.x gb of the disk. It's same procedure as we burn CDs. Just try it out using a cheapo.

I have seen only 4X rating. But 90% of the times I burn in a 2X speeds and it takes 13-14 mins to burn a 4.xgb DVD. Burner is LG.


To burn: Nero ultra, dunno what version.

Thanks for the clarification!
It takes 13-15 min to burn at 4x for me too!

[kato]

i never used costly dvd-r i always use the cheapos the one i m using currently is power source but didnt have any problem with it. Has anyone encountered some big problem with these cheapos post them