What brand of dvds and what type of dvd do u use???

[jones24]

I have used many brands from tdk, sony, imation etc and used dvd-r and dvd +r to burn my movies and so far all of them work on my stand alone player.


Yet just to play it safe, is there a brand and a type of of dvd media whether +r or - r that works with almost every or most stand alone dvd players and can be burnt at a fairly high speed???

Still have to burn my movies at 8x speed even though now dvds can be burnt at 20x speed cos it seems my player doesn't play it movies well at higher speeds.

[guns1inger]

I use Verbatim 16x and burn at 12x with no problems. It can burn at 16x, but choose not to because the speed ramping at the 12x mark tends to lower the reliability of the burn at that point. Note - this does not produce coasters, but DVDInfo Pro shows a difference in the speed read tests.

TY's also get recommended a lot here, but they are only available via mail order in most places.

[solarfox]

These days, I use nothing other than Taiyo Yuden white inkjet printable 8X DVD-R. 7-8 minutes to burn a disc is plenty fast for me, considering that by the time I get to that point I've already got at least a 3-4 hours invested in capturing, encoding, and authoring the disc, making up some DVD case and disc graphics, and once the disc is burnt it'll take another 3-5 minutes or so to print the graphics onto the surface.

If you're not interested in making it look nice, you could save a few cents buying the non-printable ones instead. Either way, though, I would absolutely not trust any off-the-shelf retail brand these days; you never really know what you're getting. And, as I've said before: if the data you're burning to disc is worth so little to you that you won't even spend a lousy 10-15 cents more per disc for reliable media vs. the cheap crap, then why are you bothering to archive it in the first place?

[redwudz]

Taiyo Yuden silver tops, 8X and 16X, (DVDR -), and Verbatim DL DVDR+. I order from RIMA most times, a few times Supermediastore or Meritline.

[jones24]

I use Verbatim 16x and burn at 12x with no problems. It can burn at 16x, but choose not to because the speed ramping at the 12x mark tends to lower the reliability of the burn at that point. Note - this does not produce coasters, but DVDInfo Pro shows a difference in the speed read tests.

TY's also get recommended a lot here, but they are only available via mail order in most places.

What does speed ramping mean??? If the burn reliability is lowered does it mean some players cannot read it?????

i see so burning it at 16x makes it harder to access data on the disk comparred to a lower burn.

[jones24]

These days, I use nothing other than Taiyo Yuden white inkjet printable 8X DVD-R. 7-8 minutes to burn a disc is plenty fast for me, considering that by the time I get to that point I've already got at least a 3-4 hours invested in capturing, encoding, and authoring the disc, making up some DVD case and disc graphics, and once the disc is burnt it'll take another 3-5 minutes or so to print the graphics onto the surface.

If you're not interested in making it look nice, you could save a few cents buying the non-printable ones instead. Either way, though, I would absolutely not trust any off-the-shelf retail brand these days; you never really know what you're getting. And, as I've said before: if the data you're burning to disc is worth so little to you that you won't even spend a lousy 10-15 cents more per disc for reliable media vs. the cheap crap, then why are you bothering to archive it in the first place?

That's good. Damn it sucks that you cannot really trust what they sell on the shelves. Yet dvds have become so cheap nowadays. I bought tdk 25 discs at 16x for less than 20 bucks.


For myself well hope to get a good brand which is cheap and hopefully stores data till the end of time.

[jman98]

For myself well hope to get a good brand which is cheap and hopefully stores data till the end of time.

You can have cheap or you can have good, but you can't have both in the same disc. If you want something that will last a long time, it won't be cheap. If you want something cheap, it won't last a long time.

[tomlee59]

What does speed ramping mean??? If the burn reliability is lowered does it mean some players cannot read it?????

i see so burning it at 16x makes it harder to access data on the disk comparred to a lower burn.

Writing is not performed at a constant speed. A "16x" write actually starts at a lower speed (e.g., 2x or 4x), and then ramps up to the maximum speed by the time the outermost tracks are being written. As you might guess, the maximum speed is a maximum because, if you wrote faster, it would fail. That also tends to imply that the maximum value is where things are starting to get marginal. To reduce that marginality, write a bit slower than maximum.

It's like tires. They might be rated for 120mph, but you'll get higher reliability if you drive slower than that. The better burns at slightly lower speeds means that you'll have fewer errors, and greater compatibility among different drives.

[jones24]

What does speed ramping mean??? If the burn reliability is lowered does it mean some players cannot read it?????

i see so burning it at 16x makes it harder to access data on the disk comparred to a lower burn.

Writing is not performed at a constant speed. A "16x" write actually starts at a lower speed (e.g., 2x or 4x), and then ramps up to the maximum speed by the time the outermost tracks are being written. As you might guess, the maximum speed is a maximum because, if you wrote faster, it would fail. That also tends to imply that the maximum value is where things are starting to get marginal. To reduce that marginality, write a bit slower than maximum.

It's like tires. They might be rated for 120mph, but you'll get higher reliability if you drive slower than that. The better burns at slightly lower speeds means that you'll have fewer errors, and greater compatibility among different drives.

Thanks for the explaination. You mentioned slightly lower speed which means at 16x at 12x. Well iu burnt mine at 8x.


Another question, does the lower you burn the dvd the less chance of error?????

Is there a minimum speed to burn it at where lowering it further won't make a difference???

[guns1inger]

With a newer burner you should be able to burn close to the full speed. Some newer burners are much smoother in the way the accelerate, so you don't get the same ramping. For quite a while people used to say burn at 2x regardless, however that seemed extreme, even back then.

Bottom line, you do what works for you. I find 12x burns on 16x Verbatim -R printables works very well for me and my burner.

[Hittz]

Verbatim and/or TDK, both 16X DVD-R.

[MysticE]

For myself well hope to get a good brand which is cheap and hopefully stores data till the end of time.

You can have cheap or you can have good, but you can't have both in the same disc. If you want something that will last a long time, it won't be cheap. If you want something cheap, it won't last a long time.

My disc of choice are TYG02 (-R 8x). The Premium Line from various vendors is usually about $.30 delivered. Cheap and Great! My Pioneer 115D burns them very nicely at 12x (great scans). This is a great all around disc as it works well even in older burners. A good choice for those afraid to update firmware.

http://www.supermediastore.com/taiyo-yuden-silver-thermal-8x-dvd-r-media-200.html

With 10% off that's $.27/disc with the 200 pack.

Here's the coupon code TY10POFF. Expires 10/12.

[SmokieStover]

Verbatim +R 16X @ 12X

Verbatim +R DL 8X @ 6X

Nothing else, period!

[orsetto]

This is connected to some degree to the part of the world you live in: most media production is sub-contracted, and some countries get "better" or "worse" versions of particular brands depending on where they're sourcing the discs from.

In the USA, right now Taiyo Yuden (TY) 8x premium DVD-R is about the only guaranteed safe bet for older hardware like legacy DVD recorders. Some variants of Sony and Verbatim are also still OK, although consistency for those two brands went out the window over a year ago. If you are using a new or recent computer-hosted burner, you have more choices because they will burn nearly anything. For archival use, I'd still stick with TY, Verbatim or Sony- all other brands have been farmed out to the CMC conglomerate, whose quality output is all over the map and wildly unpredictable.

[Epicurus8a]

T.Y. & Verbatim @ 6x PERIOD.

[PhoneMatt]

Verbatim, all the time. They are rated 16x, but I usually burn at 12x. I have no problem with them in any of my stand alone recorders (2 of which are a bit older) or my computer burners. As for cheap- I pick them up at my local Office Max when they have them on sale. They normally run them, every 4 months or so, at $19.95 for a spindle of 100. (I'm lucky, my locals only carry MIS, so far.)

[hech54]

Taiyo Yuden 8x Silver Top.

[fritzi93]

Verbatim only, for a few years now. No preference as to -R or +R, they do equally well with my writers (BenQ, Samsung, Lite-On). Currently using lightscribe +R booktyped to -ROM. As to speed, 8x here, as disc quality tests tend to show best results at that speed, and I don't burn enough discs to be in a hurry about it. I've occasionally burned Verbatims at full speed and have had no playability issues. Disc scanning is not definitive, IMO, and perhaps one shouldn't place much reliance on it, but...there you are.

Good luck.

[quik_123]

I've used the following and never had problems:

Sony, Verbatim, Maxwell, Memorex, TDK and Phillips

All have been good tho I prefer Verbatim and Maxwell above everything else.

I burn at low speeds too as high speeds usually lead to either faulty discs or burning out your burner.

[tomlee59]

Another question, does the lower you burn the dvd the less chance of error?????

Is there a minimum speed to burn it at where lowering it further won't make a difference???

These are excellent questions. Up to a point, burning slower helps. Here are just a few reasons why:

1) Some discs may have a slight mechanical imbalance. Spinning them too fast can make them wobble enough to make it hard for the laser to stay in focus properly. Slowing things down helps to reduce that problem. Off-brand discs are more likely to suffer from this "runout" and so lower-speed burning can help those a lot.

2) The laser beam can't turn on and off instantaneously (it's still very fast, but that's not the same as instantaneous). The faster the disc spins, the greater the distance traveled while the laser is transitioning between "burn" and "not burn." If the laser is a bit on the slow side (say, due to aging, bad design, evil gnomes...), then the sloppy transition between off and on may produce a marginal burn. Slowing the disc reduces the distance traveled during the transition, producing a much sharper transition.

3) The dye layer may be incompletely burned at high speed (either because of marginal laser power, or because of the dye itself). Slowing things down gives the laser more time to do its work.

Below a certain speed, you've already burned the dye completely where it needs to be burned, and you've got very sharp transitions between burned and unburned regions, so going slower just means you're slowing things down for no particular gain. And some burning algorithms are not tuned for extremely low speeds, and can actually produce worse quality burns. Without running extensive experiments, you can't know exactly where the point of diminishing returns kicks in. That said, I just burn at one or two notches below maximum, and that seems to work just fine for me. So, burning good 16x media at 12x (or 8x) has served me well. Low coaster-generation rate, and the burns have better archival characteristics, too. The bits are still readable years later. This is not true of some of the earliest discs I burned, before learning a bit more about how to improve reliability.

[Hittz]

I bought some Sony DVD-R 16X disc's and created a few images, and attempted a few burns using IMGburn. (which was always reliable to me) Im getting write errors only when burning at 16X (with the Sony disc) but I can burn fine at say 8X, 10X. Would this be an example of the same situation you mentioned Tomlee59? Or could my burner (9 months old) be on the blink?

[tomlee59]

It's impossible to say for sure without experimentation. If things don't get worse from here on out (with that media), then it probably is just a media-related thing. If your burns get progressively more marginal with time, then that would tend to point the finger at the burner. Live with your workaround until/unless you can't stand it, then it'll be time for new media and/or a new burner.

[pepegot1]

Verbatum, TY, TDK, 16x. I burn at 16x and no problems with hundreds of discs. In 5 to 6 minutes I have a good disc ready to go.

[Hittz]

Thanks Tomlee, I am watching for progressive problems as you say. I even brought it back to the store where I purchased it they burn tested it and said all worked fine, but I've seen these symptoms before

@ Pepegot1, I usually stick with Verbatim or TDK, but when Sony is on sale I jump on them, all being DVD_R 16X
I never had problems with. I have had problems with Sony a couple times though.

[dfisher052]

For the last year I've been using Sony 16x DVD-R disc's with my Optiarc (Sony/NEC) burner. I burn at 8x & have burned close to 400 discs without one single coaster. I buy them at Staples when they go on sale for $22.95 per 100 stack. I think I'll stick with what works. But, I will say this. I have used other brands with the Optiarc (Tevion, Maxell, TY, plus a couple of Maxell DVD+RW's) and have not had a bad disc. In fact, much to my surprise, I've been using one of the Maxell DVD+RW's I'd say close to 50 times over & over again to check a burn & it still works fine. I'm now on my third burner & the Optiarc has been the best by far. I hope I didn't just jinx myself.

[Hittz]

Im using a Lite-On brand burner (my second one) I burn about 10-14 discs per week and I thought my last Lite-On burner failed prematurely. And currently after reformatting my machine and burning 2 discs at 16X without a problem I wonder was it a driver issue. I was also getting pixelation problems with my monitor. All that has stopped since reformatting. I still will watch my burner

Edit

I've continued to burn at 12X with the Sony DVD-R 16X disc and have had no further errors since. Got about 10 left, and have a 50 pack of TDK DVD-R 16X waiting to be used, I will try burning at 16X just to see what happens.

[Hittz]

[JohnnyBob]

DVD-5: Taiyo Yuden 16x DVD-R (TYG03), usually burn at 12x-16x with a Lite-On burner.

DVD-9: Verbatim DL DVD+R 2.4x-6x (MKM001) burn at 4x, or 2.4-10x (MKM003) burn at 6x-8x, with a LG burner.

[Rich86]

These days = mostly 16x DVD+R inkjet printables with booktype set to DVD-ROM brand names Verbatim, Taiyo Yuden and Sony burned at 8x.
Some DVD+R-DL inkjet printables from Ricoh & Ritek . . . also burned at mid speeds of rating and booktype DVD-ROM.
Everything works fine.

[edDV]

Noticed a pallet of "One Time Buy" Verbatim 16x DVD +R/-R 50x at Sam's Club for $10.87 ($0.22ea).

I'm going back for more.