Which is more compatible DVD-R DL or DVD+R DL??

[Sandro]

Hey guys,

I have been involved in this industry for a while now & especially involved in DVD authoring, burning etc.
Recently I have started burning projects to Ridata DVD+R DL Printables & I have been getting a few clients complaining on playback issues etc. By the way I never burn more than 4x speed.

I spoke to my distributor & they offer the same discs though in DVD-R DL. He said to me that the +R are more compatible though I have always been told that DVD-R discs are more compatible than DVD+R discs so I am really puzzled why this is happening.

If someone could shed some light on this subject that would be great.

Thanks.

[guns1inger]

There is only one brand of DL discs that provide consistent quality : Verbatim +R DL made in Singapore. Ritek/RiData DL discs are rubbish. If you are going to burn to dual layer discs, then it is Verbatim or nothing. Anything else is just flushing money away.

Secondly, you should expect compatibility issues with DL discs in high % of players more than 2 years old.

[jman98]

As guns1inger says, RiData DL discs are crap. Your only choice for quality is to find DVD+R DL discs by Verbatim. I have used their Made In India discs and they worked OK for me, but there is MUCH bitching here about them. If you can find their Made In Singapore discs, you will have no problems. If you can only find the Made In India DL discs, you may or may not have problems burning them. Verbatim unfortunately is using both India and Singapore to make these discs right now. The only way to be sure to get Singapore made discs is to buy them in a store where you can look at the label and see where they were made. Also, if you want to spend more money, the DVD+R DL DataLife Plus series is only made in Singapore, but they cost about 2 times as much as the normal DL discs.

In my experience, DVD+R DL is much more compatible than DVD-R DL. DVD-R DL discs are quite expensive. Apparently they are hard to make and that drives up the price. In my opinion the DVD-R DL format is kind of kludgy in terms of what they had to do to make DVD-R work as a DL format. While there are a few weird DVD players that only like the DVD-R DL discs, most players will prefer to play the DVD+R DL discs.

Finally, should you be interested in having DVDs commercially pressed, I have heard of commercial pressing facilities that will only take DVD-R DL discs to use as a source for pressing the DVD. If you don't care about that, then stick with Verbatim DVD+R DL discs and try to get the Singapore made ones.

[bbanderic]

As the others have said, Verbatim DVD+R DL (Made in Singapore) is your best option. However, it's equally important that your clients have compatible players, since you really have no way in determining that, I'd stay away from dual layer discs altogether, otherwise you're just asking for trouble.

[OldeMan]

I agree with the others in that the only reliable DVD DL media is the Verbatium DVD+R variety.

In terms of compatability, my experience has been that a DVD+R that has been bitset to DVD-ROM is more compatiable than any burned DVD-R media. Many good DVD burners have non-factory firmware available that will do the bitsetting as part of the DVD burn process.

Do a seach for your brand and bitsetting in the following forum... http://club.cdfreaks.com/f61/

[bbanderic]

I agree with the others in that the only reliable DVD DL media is the Verbatium DVD+R variety.

In terms of compatability, my experience has been that a DVD+R that has been bitset to DVD-ROM is more compatiable than any burned DVD-R media. Many good DVD burners have non-factory firmware available that will do the bitsetting as part of the DVD burn process.

Do a seach for your brand and bitsetting in the following forum... http://club.cdfreaks.com/f61/

I agree about DVD-ROM bitsetting. However, while most burners with factory firmware will not automatically bitset SL DVD+R, most, if not all, burners automatically bitset DL discs to DVD-ROM and there are still compatibility issues with players more than 2 years old, especially after the layer break.

[VegasBud]

Sandro,

The main reason dvdr-dl is unsuitable for dvd-video is the fixed middle area/zone at the outer edge of the disk, which doesn't allow a flexible layer break selection. Since setting the layer break correctly is absolutely critical for undetectable layer switching during playback, dvdr-dl should not be used for dvd-video.

If you need more details, you can take a look at "Mt. Fuji Commands for Multimedia Devices" available here. The most relevant part starts at section 4.18 (page 165).

It would also be best to follow the consistently offered advice to only use Verbatim +rdl.

Since nobody else has mentioned it, ImgBurn is by far the best way to choose the optimal layer break location. If you aren't currently using ImgBurn, you definitely should give it a try before you burn any more dual layer disks.

Since this was your first post here, welcome to VideoHelp.

[Sandro]

Guys,

First off all I just want to thank you for all your comments, they are very much appreciated.

I will go ahead & source some Verbatim Dual Layer Discs. Do any on you guys know any good resellers in Australia that sell the Verbatim Printable DVD+R DL?

I have found a few, though most of the discs are only 2.4x speed It would be good to burn at 4x, otherwise its going to take a while.

Thanks again.

[SCDVD]

I'm happy to see that we made it through a thread (so far) about DL media without some social mutant contrarion spewing forth a load of bilge about some pseudo analysis of crud DL media or some some zit-faced kid inflicting a dose of punk crap on us about "good burns" or recreational burning.

I don't care what these jokers burn. They can burn toast as far as I'm concerned. The only thing that bothers me is that this crap can mislead people into using some really inferior garbage.

[jman98]

Guys,

First off all I just want to thank you for all your comments, they are very much appreciated.

I will go ahead & source some Verbatim Dual Layer Discs. Do any on you guys know any good resellers in Australia that sell the Verbatim Printable DVD+R DL?

I have found a few, though most of the discs are only 2.4x speed It would be good to burn at 4x, otherwise its going to take a while.

Thanks again.

Verbatim's printable DVD+R DL discs are only rated at 2.4x.