DVD-R Versus DVD R

Having produced thousands of DVDs which were sent to people with a variety of make, models and years of DVD players I have figured out a few things in relation to which DVDs I found to work the best.

Probably the most controversial subject on which format of DVD to use is whether to use DVD-R or DVD+R.

History

From Wikipedia:
The DVD Forum was created to facilitate the exchange of information and ideas about the DVD format, and to enable it to grow through technical improvement and innovation. The organization hopes to promote worldwide acceptance of DVD for entertainment, consumer electronics and information technology applications. Membership in the DVD Forum is open to any company or organization involved in DVD research, development, or manufacturing; software firms and other DVD users interested in developing the format are also encouraged to join. Forum members can support other formats in addition to DVD.

Pioneer has been a visionary in the production of DVD-R discs. Pioneer created the original 3.95 GB DVD-R in 1997 and is supported by most DVD players. The standard DVD-R size is now 4.71 GB). This opened the door to much larger file capacity over the 700 MB CD-R. In 2005 Pioneer then developed the 8.54 GB dual layer DVD, DVD-R DL.

In 2002 the DVD+RW Alliance creates a competitor, DVD+R for the "old timer" DVD-R. This opened the argument about which is better and has been an argument ever since. In 2004 it was found that a dual layer DVD could be made from the DVD+R disk and so the dual layer DVD was borne.

Some common points between DVD-R and DVD+R are:

1.Both are only recordable 1 time. You cannot save 2 times on the disk. Even if you are in the middle of burning a disc and it has an error, that disk is no longer good.
2.Both have a 4.7 GB storage capacity, although it is reported that the DVD-R has a slightly higher storage capacity than DVD+R.
3.Both disks generally melt if you put them into a fire.

In my experience with DVD's, the ones that I had the least amount of compatibility problems with is the DVD-R and those are the only ones I use.

As an additional point, if you are going to buy a DVD player and want to make sure that it plays both formats, you can find players that are usually labeled with "DVD±RW", that is your best bet.

Interesting fact: Many people think that DVD-R is DVD minus R, which is not the case. It is actually DVD dash R.

Rafferty Pendery
CEO Studio98