A Survey of DVD Recording Formats

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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.

 

Read more about dvd recorders formats on www.dvdrecorders.ws