Difference between DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL ?

[nowimnothing]

Can someone tell me what the difference is between DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL? I know one was made by one group of DVD people and one made by the other... and DVD-R DL is more recent (by like a year or something i think).

But what about quality? Or anything else that actually makes a difference in which format i might want to use?

Thanks!

[ConfusedFusion]

it is all there online...search google....

a place to start :

http://www.videohelp.com/dvd

[nowimnothing]

it is all there online...search google....

a place to start :

http://www.videohelp.com/dvd

586215561[/snapback]

trust me, i did some searching. i even looked for the wikipedia entries and stuff like that. if i can't find it after searching for 10 minutes, i ask on neowin - that's what people here are for right?

and that videohelp thing didn't help, regardless of the domain name...

[ConfusedFusion]

ok then...here is more from: http://www.dvd-supply.com/whisdvdvdvan.html

DVD-R/RW

DVD-R (pronounced "dash R" not "minus R") : Format currently managed and supported by the "DVD Forum". It's supporter mostly consists of hardware manufacturing leader including Pioneer and Apple. Originally designed for professional and commercial use, known as DVD-R for Authoring use or Authoring type, was later made available to mass public market for consumer home use, known as DVD for General use or General type. The change in authoring and general format created quite a conflict that is quickly being forgotten, however if you bought a newer model that came out after year 2000 and paid less than $1-2k (no we are not making up figures!), most likely you have a DVD for General use recorder.

DVD-R discs utilizes organize dye (also see Why does DVD Recordable media have purple recording face?) that can be recognized by 650-nm laser that most home DVD player uses. A 4.7GB DVD-R media can store up to 2 hours of high quality video and any additional audio tracks, special features, navigation menu as well as subtitle and any other special feature that the DVD composer has created. (also see Where can I find DVD-R with more than 4.7GB storage capacity)

DVD-RW: The re-writable version of DVD-R media using phase changing alloy dye, enabling the content of DVD-RW to be written, erased, and re-written over and over for a limited amount of time. Most manufacturers claim over 1000 times re-writable with approx 60 years of storage life, however most users found DVD-RW have a relatively short media life due to excessive scratches, which can happen quite unpreventable if frequently used, resulting an unreadable disc. With that being said, it is highly recommended that any Data, Video or Music to be stored on DVD-Recordable write once media that uses the more stable organize dye.

============

DVD+R DL

DVD+R DL: Also known as DVD+R Double Layer or Dual Layer, a new format just released to the mass market in US. It is important enough for it's own section. With 8.4GB of storage capacity, making it thus far the most wanted media on consumer's wish list. Why did we say "wish list?". Although, it sounds tempting to go out and buy this new DL media. At nearly $13 per disc, it (DVD-Supply.COM Offers DVD+R DL media for as low as $5.15 each) is a luxury item in the technology world not everyone can afford. As a rule of thumb, new technology will usually hit the market with a big price tag, as the demand rises the price will generally decrease.

DVD+R DL may answer the question of MANY frustrating users, for example: why they cannot back-up their lawfully owned DVD movie to 1 single DVD-R/W or DVD+R/W disc. This is simply due to the fact that most DVD-ROM movies in the market are in DVD9 or DVD DL format (Also see what does DVD5,DVD9, and DVD... stands for?) .

DVD double layer format has been in the market for quite a while, just not in the recordable format as we've always dreamed of. To understand how DVD+R DL works, think of your DL recordable media as a 3 layer sandwich, with 1 layer of acrylic, 1 layer of organic dye, another layer of acrylic, another layer of relatively clear dye and finally enclosed by last layer of acrylic. How is this different from Double sided DVD-R? (also see What is the difference between Double sided DVD-R and Double layer DVD+R???) Think of a DVD player, when you read a double layer DVD-R, you are reading this article off your screen like you are now; when you finish reading one page, you click next and the page refresh and you see another page. Whereas if you are reading a double sided layer, every time you finish reading one page, you will need to physically turn the monitor around and read the back of your monitor (assuming your monitor has two screen, directly opposite of each other.... Oh, c'mon for the heck of illustration) How does a DVD player achieve this? Of course your DVD disc won't refresh, but remember the "semi translucent 2nd layer of dye"? By increasing the wave-length in other words strengthening the output or power of the laser, penetrating the semi translucent layer to read data off the back layer of the recording media. Sounds pretty exciting doesn't it? "but will it play on my DVD Player?" you ask. Yes, in most cases your DVD players are already designed to read double layer DVD-ROM or recordable media. That is why novice DVD recordable users will find it very hard to understand why their recently purchased DVD-R/W or DVD+R/W can store the whole content of their favorite DVD Movie (that has over 4.7GB of Data).

[nowimnothing]

that still isn't answering the question i'm really trying to get at here.

i guess maybe i didn't state it clearly enough.

is it worth it to buy a drive that supports both DVD+R DL AND DVD-R DL? if the drive costs 10 dollars more? 20 dollars more? 30 dollars more? than the one that only supports DVD+R DL.

is there a clearly superior format? or will it be duked out for a while, so i might as well be safe?

[ConfusedFusion]

I did understand your question and my last posting (though farely big, gives you the difference between + and -R).

As far as both the formats go, IMO, -R are more compatable with older dvd players (stand alones ). not many older dvd players will play +R.

There are a few technical articles on the web explaining why +R is better than -R

like: http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/113.

But, thats about it is known, as there is this thing about Non Disclosure so you really can't tell which one is better.

Personally I use both formats and I have multiple dual writer drives, and I feel that the +R is slightly faster than the -R. But thats abt all I know. Hope this helps.

As far as support for both formats on the same drive is concerend, well I reall think its peronal preference, you might want to check out the drive's performance and user review on sites like cnet.com and compare it with other drives.

[nowimnothing]

So essentially, the differences between the +R and -R drives are the same (Roughly) as the +R DL and -R DL drives, so when thinking about which format to use for DL discs, i can just assume (for practical purposes) that they aren't DL and make my decision that way?

I knew the difference between +R and -R for single layer discs, but i figured there would be more differences that were specific to DL discs, so that's really what i was asking about.

[Ajapi]

Well, if I were to get a new burner right now, I'd get one that supported -R DL just to be safe...Although they will both be available in the future (I doubt either variation will just die off), its good to have the versatility of being able to burn either :happy: