how to finalize a dvd recording?

Answer 1

1. Select the DVD disc type which your DVD recorder uses. There are five recordable DVD disc types. Your recorder may use only one of these type DVD discs or may use multiple types. Check your owner's manual. These DVD recordable discs cost only a few dollars and come in single, 3 pack, 5 pack, 10 pack, 25 pack, 50 pack and more, with or without the jewel cases. If you want to be able to re-use (rewrite) on a disc, be sure to buy the DVD RW or DVD RAM discs, otherwise it will be a record only once operation (DVD R).

DVD Recorders: DVD Recordable disc types

Type Capacity-single Rewritable Format Record Time
DVD-RW 4.7GB Yes VR or Video 1 to 6 hrs.
DVD+RW 4.7GB Yes
DVD-R 4.7GB No Video 1 to 6 hrs.
DVD+R 4.7GB No
DVD-RAM 4.7GB Yes

2. Format the disc. Once you've got the proper DVD recordable discs, you're ready to insert the disc into the recorder and format. The unused DVD disc has to be formatted before it can be recorded on. Formatting the disc takes only about a minute. You can setup the DVD recorder to automatically format an unused disc when inserted according to your menu pre-selection setup or you can manually select the format each time. The format type depends on how you want to use the disc and what type of disc you are using. Certain edit operations are available with some format types and other issues are associated with one format type or another. Since a DVD-R or DVD+R type disc cannot be re-written or modified after the initial recording, the format options are limited to "VIDEO". See format types below.

3. Set recording mode. The recording mode can be selected before recording. This setting is basically a trade-off between video quality and recording time. The higher the quality, the less recording time you'll have on the disc. The lower the quality, the more recording time on the disc. Settings for DVD discs are typically 120 min. or SP mode. This gives you good video quality with 2 hrs. of TV shows recorded on the disc.

Rec. Mode Min. Hrs. Quality
HQ 60 1 highest
SP 120 2 high
LP 180 3 good
EP 240 4 OK
SLP 360 6 acceptable

4. Operating the recorder to record on the disc. Buttons on the remote control or the recorder itself should include RECORD, RECORD PAUSE and RECORD STOP. To record, simply press RECORD button. To skip (cut out) commercials, press RECORD PAUSE while the program continues. To resume recording, press RECORD PAUSE again. When finished recording, press RECORD STOP button. There may be a pause of a minute or so while the DVD recorder finishes the recording process after you press RECORD STOP. To playback your video, press the PLAY button. WOW, can it be that simple? Yes it can.
What else do I need to know about DVD recording?

Finalization - You may not need to finalize a disc you recorded on your DVD recorder in order to play it back on the same recorder. If however, you want to play the DVD back on a different machine, say your friends DVD player, you may need to finalize the disc first. The process does not take long. The finalization process marks any unused portion of the disc as not recordable and therefore the time it takes to finalize is less for a full disc and more for a not so full disc. A MENU option or a button will begin the finalization process.

Titles and Chapters - A DVD Title can be thought of as a single recording session, say a 30 min. TV show for example. A Chapter is a segment or portion of a Title. A 30 min. TV show could have two chapters, each 15 min., so the description would be Title 1, Chapter 1 or the first 15 min. and Title 1 Chapter 2, the second half of the show. Actually in some cases you can insert Chapter marks where you want manually and therefore have as many chapters as you like. Another recording on the disc, would be Title 2 and it would have it's own Chapters. Title 3 and Title 4 etc. would be more shows. Each title is selectable via the DVD recorder's menu and therefore provides direct access to the show you want. In addition, each Chapter is available so you can skip thru the show quickly or go back directly to a segment.

Format types - VR or Video. The "VIDEO" format is a good choice (for re-writable discs) since it is most compatible with DVD players. The "VR" format (for re-writable discs) gives you more editing capability than "VIDEO" format.

Compatibility - As long as you record and playback your disc on the same recorder, you do not have to be concerned about compatibility. If however you want to play your disc on another DVD machine, you need to keep in mind what type of disc you have and what capabilities the other DVD machine has. For example you cannot play a DVD-RAM disc on DVD player/recorder that does not have the capability to use DVD-RAM.

Answer 2

Only DVD-R and DVD+R recordings need to be finalized. Place the disc in the player, find the menu that has the finalizing option and select it. A DVD not finalized will play on the recorder that recorded it, but won't play on an ordinary DVD player.

Answer 3

can I finalize my dvd if my remote had broke?