DVD Writing Formats

One of the interesting aspects of the IT industry is its never-ending list of jargons. Every day we are drowning in a sea of computer jargon. This happened to me recently when I was sourcing for a DVD writer to burn some OS images. What I originally imagined would be a simple process turned out to be a day of research and study. With so many variations of DVD formats, which one is the right one for me? Should I buy a writer that supports “-“ or “+”. And is 4X fast enough for me?

This article is the result of my quest for the right DVD writer to buy. I hope the article will give you a better idea of the various DVD recording formats to choose from.

DVD Recording Standards
I have listed the various DVD recordable formats in the following sections.

DVD-R
DVD-Recordable.
Most compatible with DVD players and drives.
Capacity of 4.7GB.
Pioneer released the 3.95GB DVD-R(A) 1.0 drives in October 1997. The first drive cost $17,000.
Created and backed by the DVD Forum.
DVD-RW
DVD-Re-Writeable.
Similar to DVD-R, except that DVD-RW disks can be erased.
Capacity of 4.7GB.
Developed by Pioneer based on DVD-R.
DVD-RW came out in Japan in December 1999, but was not available in the U.S. until spring 2001.
Some DVD-RW drives only record on DVD-R and DVD-RW disks.
Created and backed by the DVD Forum.
DVD+RW
Announced in 1997; became available in fall 2001.
Capacity of 4.7GB.
DVD+RW is supported by Philips, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Ricoh, Yamaha, and others. It is not supported by the DVD Forum.
DVD+RW drives read DVD-ROMs and CDs, and usually read DVD-Rs and DVD-RWs, but do not read or write DVD-RAM discs.
Some DVD+RW drives only record on +R and +RW discs.
DVD+RW have a couple of technical advantages:
o lossless linking, which enables editing after recording without a full erasure that DVD-RW requires.
o Up to 2.4X recording speeds on some writers.
Created and backed by the DVD+RW Alliance.
DVD+R
DVD+R was released in mid 2002.
A write-only variation of DVD+RW.
Capacity of 4.7GB.
Created and backed by the DVD+RW Alliance.
DVD-RAM
Launched in summer of 1998.
Capacity of 4.7GB.
Not compatible with most drives and players.
Two types of cartridges: Type 1 is sealed; Type 2 allows the disc to be removed.
DVD-RW DL
A newer standard exists–DVD+R DL. The DL stands for Dual (or double) Layer. Basically, it means that the DVD media uses two layers of standard disk that have been pressed together, separated by a transparent spacer and a thin reflector

When buying a DVD drive, check to see that the media it supports is also readable on your existing DVD-ROM drive. For example, if you have a couple of DVD-ROM drives that can only read DVD-RW disk format, then you might not want to invest in a DVD+RW drive that only supports DVD+RW.

Burning (Writing) Speed
Most DVD writers today support up to a maximum writing speed of 8X (with 12X and 16X reportedly coming soon). This speed rating simply indicates the speed at which the drive spins; the higher the number the faster the reading and writing of data. In general, a drive can read a disk faster than writing a disk, and a drive writes faster on a Recordable disk than a Re-Writable disk.

The DVD recordable media you buy today is also rated by the speed ratings: 2X, 4X, 8X, and so on. You should try to match the media with the speed rating of your drive. For example, if your drive supports up to 8X, you should buy media that is rated as 8X. This will allow your drive to write at the maximum supported rate and reduce the time spent on writing the disk. Of course, if you have an 8X drive and you buy a 4X media, you can still use the media, but the drive will write to the disk at a slower speed. On the contrary, if your drive is 4X and you buy an 8X media, then you won’t be able to take advantage of the media’s capability to write at 8X, since your drive can only write at 4X. (There is still a possibility of over-clocking your drive to write at a higher speed rate, but this is very much dependent on the media used and the drive type.)

Do note that not all disks are compatible with a particular drive. There have been many reports on the web citing incompatibilities of certain disks with some drives. So, before you buy a dozen of them, buy a few and test them out first.

Which Writer to Buy?
With so many different types of DVD recordable drives in the market today, that’s a tough question to answer. In a nutshell, there isn’t much of a difference between DVD-RW and DVD+RW formats.

If you are buying a drive today, I suggest going for those combo types that support both DVD-RW and DVD+RW (commonly known as DVD±RW). This will ensure that your drive can support both types of media.

If you already own a drive and are buying recordable media, make sure you buy the correct media for the drive you have. One note of advice, though, buy a few samples to test with your drive before buying in bulk – you never know which media may be incompatible with your drive.

Happy hunting !