A Brief Guide to DVD formats in DVD-Recorders

[Sporkguy]

The majority of this guide refers to DVD Recorders, as these are the current trend in home entertainment systems as a replacement to VCRs. There will be a more detailed guide to DVD-Recorders at a later date :)

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It's like a rerun of the 70's and 80's fight between Beta and VHS - but this time the fight is between three rival DVD recording formats.

While all DVD recorders will let you record and replay shows and movies on your own home system and watch movies from the video shop, troubles arise when you record something on your system then try to play it back on a machine that supports a different format, perhaps your computer or a friend's DVD player.

The three rival formats are DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW AND DVD-RAM.

Don't be put off by all the letters, DVD-R and DVD+R means you can record, or write to, the DVD once. The extra -RW and +RW letters simply mean you can rewrite discs multiple times. So you can record over programs on a disc once you've watched them.

DVD-RAM is a write-once and rewritable format. Of the three formats, DVD-RAM is the least compatible with rival formats and has the least market penetration here in Australia, and I assume will be taking off well in other countries too.

Between the formats most compatibility problems arise with the rewritable discs. Most machines will accept a write-once disc recorded on a different format without problems. They won't all accept rewritten discs from a rival format however.

So, if you want to record something and lend it to a friend, the safest thing to do is record on a write-once disc.

The format you ultimately buy will be dictated by your choice of brand because the different manufacturers are allied with different formats.

In Australia, DVD-R/RW has been most popular.

There is an extra teaser. Bowing to consumer frustration, some manufacturers are producing multi-format recorders that accept all discs. Naturally, they are more expensive -- Sony's RDRGX3 recorder sells for AU$999 -- but are proving popular because they future-proof your purchase.

Hope that helps with your purchase :)

Edited July 29, 2004 by Sporkguy

[Prince21]

Good guide you could include new stuff to it.

[Sporkguy]

As my guide is only a brief one, I've left out all the choices which do not apply to Recorders that aren't on the mainstream market here in Australia. Most average consumers aren't concerned with the new stuff yet, not until it's released in Harvey Norman stores anyway :p