DVD Disks

62cwil · Post by **62cwil** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 4:25 am

Which is better for saving movies on...DVD-R or DVD+ R and can you tell me why?

xplosion · Post by **xplosion** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 4:29 am

really no difference. When things started out some computers included burners which would only record on one or the other, but lately more manufacturers are including burners that will use both in recognition that people with earlier models will want to be able to use their old dvds on the new computers.

It also applies to standalones though, which are slower to catch up. I have a Pioneer DVR-7000 which will only use dvd-r, can't use dvd+r

xplosion · Post by **xplosion** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 4:37 am

p.s. it appears the new dual layer blank discs (8 GB compared to 4 for single layer) are only in +R. haven't seen any dvd-r yet. You need a dual layer burner for these too. I don't know if they had piracy in mind, but until the dual layer discs came out you couldn't put a whole Hollywood dvd on one disc (including special features etc), because they are usually much bigger than 4GB. The 8 GB dual layer blank discs are currently going for anywhere from $6 to $10 each, whereas the standard 4GB dvd-r and dvd+r if purchased in bulk (like at ebay) can be had for as little as 50 cents each

rwindeyer · Post by **rwindeyer** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 5:21 am

xplosion is correct. They are two different standards; with a DVD-R you should be lucky (in any given standalone DVD player) about 93% of the time; with a DVD+R it should work about 90% of the time.
It's a matter of trial and error for you. I have a player that won't recognise DVD-R, so I use +R.

62cwil · Post by **62cwil** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 6:12 am

Thanks

THoff · Post by **THoff** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 6:28 am

DVD-R is generally more compatible, since it was the first consumer recordable format that became available -- older players may not recognize DVD+R disks. The reverse is rarely the case, but it happens.

One thing that can help compatibility of DVD+R media is support for "bitsetting" or "booktypes" in the DVD burner. With such a feature, the disk will be marked as a DVD-ROM instead of a DVD+R disk when it is closed. You can go to VideoHelp and see if your burner supports this feature, and also which disk types your standalone player(s) will tolerate.

Even though I have a dual-format, dual-layer burner with bitsetting support, I burn all my video disks using DVD-R media. I use DVD+R for making data backups (where this media has some advantages).

Edit: Technically, DVD-RAM came first, but support for this in standalone devices is even more questionable than DVD+R support.