Some Basic Questions about Dual-Layer Burners

[Brent212]

Okay, I've been out of the game for a couple years now, since before dual-layer burning was common, and I have a few questions that must be fairly obvious, since I can't find any topics where other people asked them.

When I bought my current (single layer) burner almost 3 years ago, I was under the impression that dual layer burners, which I think were just coming out, weren't worth the extra cash because the dual layer discs they burned couldn't be played on standalone dvd players. Reading through the forum, this doesn't seem to be the case.

Is there something special you need to do, that wasn't done/known about when dual layer burners were first coming out, to make the burned disc play on a standalone dvd player? I keep reading about setting the "booktype", and drives that have "bitsetting support". Do these things relate at all to burning dual layer discs that will play on standalone players?

How compatible are dual layer burned discs with standalone players? I think I've read that single-layer burns are theoretically compatible with something like 99% of standalone players (though my burns seem to play in more like 50% of the players I try them in). Is there a similar figure for dual layer media?

Is there a point in time before which standalone players were not able to play dual layer burned media?

Can a dual layer burner do as good a job at burning a single layer disc as a single layer burner can? If so, then really there's no point in not getting a dual layer burner, right?

Can single layer burners and regular (non-writable) DVD-ROM drives read dual-layer burned discs? I know they can read dual-layer pressed discs, so I'm guessing the answer is yes.

What dual layer burner would you recommend for around $30-50? I don't care about speed. Just burn quality. I want to maximize the amount of standalone players that my burns will play on. I hate going to a friend's house, popping in a disc, and finding out their player won't read it.

Thanks,
Brent

[VegasBud]

Brent212,

The "book type" field on a dvd tells the drive what the disk format is. Using "bitsetting" to set the field to "DVD-ROM" (the value for a pressed disk) enables older players to deal with burned media formats that came out after the player was made. All dvd players either recognize the DVD-ROM value, or ignore the field entirely. Since the "DVD-ROM" value is the same ("0000") for single or dual layer disks, it would be equally effective (on older players) for both.

Going by the player list here at VideoHelp, 72% of the players (where playback of +RDL was noted) could play the dual layer disks. I'm sure if you only considered newer drives, the number would increase substantially, but even now, not all players support burned dual layer.

A new dual layer capable burner would arguably burn a single layer disk better than an old burner, at least with currently available (newer) media. At a certain point, the burner manufacturers stop providing updates to the firmware on older drives, so they don't work as well (or at all) with newer media.

Newegg.com lists 66 burners they sell for $25 to $50, but not all of them burn dvds. Personally, I've liked LG, NEC, and Pioneer burners. The only Liteon I've had wasn't so good, and I never bought another. They may have improved since then...I just don't know.

I hate going to a friend's house, popping in a disc, and finding out their player won't read it.

The determining factor in compatibility is the media, not the burner. Currently, most people find Taiyo Yuden single layer, and Verbatim +R dual layer work the best.

[Brent212]

Awesome! Thanks for the reply.