Any chance of DVD-RW/DVD+RW?

[ember]

Is it possible to make a combined DVD-R/-RW/+R/+RW writer? Are any companies considering this?

[dvdchimp]

Yes there are. next year maybe? no idea on cost or manufacturer.
look and you might find the info.

[rctoyguy]

Does anyone have any info on this --- Even the manufacturers name would help.

Why can't someone make a drive/software bundle that will make DVDs that will play in ALL DVD players?

There has to be a "standard" standard, or there would be problems with rented movies. You never hear of a problem with a rented (or store-bought) movie not playing in X brand or X model player.

If I buy an A04 because my Sony set top player wants -R and -RW, I am out of luck if my family and friends have DVD drives that want +R and +RW.... Not to mention what would happen if my set top player dies 2 weeks after I get the A04 -then I am restricted in what I buy to replace my set top unit....

[mpb]

Why can't someone make a drive/software bundle that will make DVDs that will play in ALL DVD players?

There has to be a "standard" standard, or there would be problems with rented movies. You never hear of a problem with a rented (or store-bought) movie not playing in X brand or X model player.

If I buy an A04 because my Sony set top player wants -R and -RW, I am out of luck if my family and friends have DVD drives that want +R and +RW.... Not to mention what would happen if my set top player dies 2 weeks after I get the A04 -then I am restricted in what I buy to replace my set top unit....

Yes, there is. But first, to answer your other questions:

Originally there WAS a DVD recording standard. The first DVD-R, before they were split into "General" and "Authoring" types, was 3.95GB and plays on better than 99% of all DVD set-top players. It was designed for that and that alone: perfect archiving.

DVD-R became cheaper to make and they managed to get the track pitch set correctly for 4.7GB, and the G/A split is much ado about nothing. DVD-R/RW is the standard, and plays on more set-tops, but is slow to write and must be formatted precisely for A/V applications.

DVD+RW was developed as several companies found out that if they changed slightly the pitting method on the disc, that many (but not all) DVD player lasers could still get reflectivity and read the disc properly, and they could increase write speed noticeably at little cost. DVD+RW is non-standard, but right now it's the fastest and most convenient for ease of writing.

There are pictures posted to another thread here on this forum of a new laser assembly built by Sony that is a DVD+-RW and is labelled as such. I can't verify that it's for real, but it looks legit. If it's used in future drives, then everybody wins.

The DVD Forum has approved a DVD Multi logo for players capable of playing ALL of the various recordable discs. You can expect most new players to have this logo, which will eliminate the fear of you picking the wrong recorder in the future.

If you can wait, wait until October 2002 for the Pioneer DVR-105. It will be a 4x DVD-R/RW. In your situation you may want to stick with -R/RW because the players that will play that and choke on the + discs, FAR outnumber those that will do the opposite.

[lattedfw]

I took that DVD+-RW picture to mean the laser assembly could write either, but the supporting firmware and hardware would likely only be for one or the other. I don't think the physical difference between + and - formats is so different that a generic laser assembly couldn't be built.

[ember]

The truth is, there will always be some DVD players that cannot play either DVD+ or DVD-

[Kennyshin]

Is it possible to make a combined DVD-R/-RW/+R/+RW writer? Are any companies considering this?

Sony DVD±(M)RW?