DVD-r general and DVD-r authoring media

[ktajudeen]

Could some one please explain to me .... is there a significant quality
difference between DVD general media and DVD authoring media?
The price difference between these two are a lot. I have a lot of
VHS tapes, would like to convert to DVD.

[GenkaNT]

I you have VHS as a source, you'll be OK with DVD-r general;VHS is still an analog source.
If you have a high quality digital recording like Digital8, MiniDV, MicroDV, DVCAM and so on, that is when DVD-r authoring media comes in.

I hope Iwas very clear on the topic...

[Romper]

DVD-R General media is for use with General drives, such as A03 / A04, DVD-R Authoring media is for Authouring drives (I can't think of a model off the top of my head). Now if my memory serves me right the wavelength of the laser is different between general and authoring, with authoring being exactly the same wavelength as is used by the laser to read in your setup unit. The reason this was done was to stop direct copying of DVDs.

I was going to say more but my head is too melted after a server at work fell over twice without apparent reason!

[Cornucopia]

Romper was right for the most part, and sorry, but GenkaNT was completely wrong. There is NO, I repeat, NO difference in quality of reproduction between the two drives/media.

Which drive do you have?

If you have the A03/103, or A04/104 or if you'll be getting the A05/105, then you MUST ALWAYS USE GENERAL MEDIA! If you get the Authoring version, you will have spent your money on something you can't even burn to.

Conversely,
If you have the S-101, or the S-201, then you MUST ALWAYS USE AUTHORING MEDIA! General Media would be worthless here, just like trying to use DVD-RAM, DVD+RW or something.

You most likely do not have the 2nd bunch, since you would know if you had to pay $17,000 (S-101) or $5000 (S-201). These drives are usually only bought by heavy-hitting pros, since they are the MOST compatible in drives, and allow for CMF info for sending Copy Protection instructions to the replication plants. They are in shorter supply, and the demand is lower, that's why they're more expensive. Same goes for the media.

Of course, you could always RTFM that came with your drive.

Now, if you haven't bought a drive yet, my recommendation is to go for the 1st bunch-the A05 being the newest (able to burn DVD-R at 4x!).

Scott

[Cornucopia]

One more thing...

Both of these types of media should be readable in both of these types of drives. It's just the recording part that is specific to the type. (Referring only to DVD-R media here)