DVD Formats....please explain?

Question

There are so many formats of DVDs like DVD-/+R, DVD-/+RW, DVD-/+R DL and DVD-RAM. I know that R is for Writable, RW is for Re Writable and DL is Dual layer.

Can you please tell me what does these + and - stand for?
Also what is DVD-RAM? Is it similar to DVD-/+R and can I burn DVD-RAM in the normal burners. And does all these formats work in a good DVD Writer. I have a Sony AWG 170 (Dual layer 16x).

Please explain it to me in simple terms because I have visited tens of sites but could not clearly understand it.

Answer 1

digital versatile disk (DVD) the - and + are competing formats. there is a difference as to how the material is written to the disk with the combination there is a 'blurring' of the difference.

* DVD-R for Authoring: a special-purpose DVD-R used to record DVD masters, which can then be duplicated to pressed DVDs by a duplication plant. They require a special DVD-R recorder, and are not often used nowadays since many duplicators can now accept ordinary DVD-R masters.
* DVD-R (strictly DVD-R for General): can record up to 4.5 GB in a similar fashion to a CD-R disc. Once recorded and finalized it can be played by most DVD-ROM players.
* DVD-RW: can record up to 4.7 GB in a similar fashion to a CD-RW disc.
* DVD-R DL: a derivate of DVD-R that uses double-layer recordable discs to store up to 8.5 GB of data.
* DVD-RAM (current specification is version 2.1): requires a special unit to play 4.7GB or 9.4GB recorded discs (DVD-RAM disc are typically housed in a cartridge). 2.6GB discs can be removed from their caddy and used in DVD-ROM drives. i Top capacity is 9.4GB (4.7GB/side)...

Recordable formats, supported by the DVD+RW Alliance

* DVD+R: can record up to 4.7 GB single-layered/single-sided DVD+R disc, at up to 16x speed. Like DVD-R you can record only once.
* DVD+RW: can record up to 4.7 GB at up to 16x speed. Since it is rewritable it can be overwritten several times. It does not need special "pre-pits" or finalization to be played in a DVD player.
* DVD+R DL: a derivate of DVD+R that uses dual-layer recordable discs to store up to 8.5 GB of data.

i use mostly DVD-R for movies i personally find that i have problems with the DVD+R disk from the same manufaturer, and when i rerecord to a DVD-R I seem to have better luck and fewer coasters.

I have had real bad luck with the -DL format. I use Nero for recording with all formats.

Hope this helps see wikipedia for more. I have also read a good White Paper on the actual format from MaximumPC a magazine.

Answer 2

I'm not sure about all of it, but I know that typcially, DVD+R are what you want if you are burning DVDs to play in a normal DVD player. DVD-R are more for data DVDs which will only be accessed by computers and not played as a video disk.

Answer 3

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