My understanding of dvd-r/ram/rw formats & interesting ques

[bnbhoha]

I'm impressed with the dvd-r /dvd ram drives. This is what I've noticed:
(this is maily for the dvd-r formats only)

1. dvd-r format comes with either dvd-rw or dvd ram not both, right?

2. dvd-r/dvd-rw come with the ability to write cdr and cdrw, but I noticed drives that are dvd-r/dvd ram writers do not have the capability to write cdr or cdrw. Anyone else noticed this as well?

3. Why don't they make a drive that incorporates all three of these formats?

4. This is why I like teh dvd ram feature can be erased and re written up to 100,000 times, some say 1 million. dvd-rw can be re-written 1000 times. Wouldn't dvd ram be the ideal choice?; I also heard that it can be re-formatted in less than 30 seconds and you can easily drag and drop stuff on the media like a hard drive w/o any software. And the Panasonic e20 stand alone player used it, so I can interchange the media if I buy teh Panasonic.

5. I heard that the dvd-rw format is not all that effective, it's extremely slow and good media is hard to come by. What this I hear about 2.0
dvd-rw media?

6. Since I'm on a role, I realize that dvd ram will NEVER be offered with the dvd+rw format. Are there any benefits of the dvd+rw format. I really don't see any.


I am basically looking for a burner that has dvd-r and dvd ram which can also record on to cdr and cdrw, but have not found on yet. Do they make these yet? If not, is it because they are not compatible w/ the dvd ram format? Will they ever make them? Any insight/comments would be appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

[nemethmik]

> 1. dvd-r format comes with either dvd-rw or dvd ram not both, right?
Yes

>2. dvd-r/dvd-rw come with the ability to write cdr and cdrw, but I
>noticed drives that are dvd-r/dvd ram writers do not have the
>capability to write cdr or cdrw. Anyone else noticed this as well?
Yes, that's true

>4. Wouldn't dvd ram be the ideal choice?;
It woud be, but it is not supported by DVD-ROMs and standalone DVD players. Type 2 DVD-RAM discs can be removed from the
protective cartridge, I tried this but no DVD-ROM I had access to were able to read these naked DVD-RAM disks.
Nevertheless, the Hitachi and Panasonic dvdcams use DVD-RAM,
and they might have bright future.
For computer guys the best burner is the Panasonic LF-D311:
it's sub-$300, XP has built-in support for it, DVD-RAM is used like
hard disks, most DVD authoring applications can burn test DVDs
on DVD-RAM, and if you like it you can simply copy the ISO image from the DVD-RAM onto a DVD-R.

>I also heard that it can be re-formatted in less than 30 seconds
Actually in 10 seconds.

> a burner that has dvd-r and dvd ram which can also record
> on to cdr and cdrw, but have not found on yet.
> Do they make these yet?
No. The only DVD-RAM/R unit available is Panasonic LF-D311,
which does not support CD burning.

> If not, is it because they are not compatible w/ the dvd ram format?
No

[EricB]

Seems to me it is far more beneficial to have -RW than RAM. RAM can only be used in the drive, not in any other players. Being able to erase something 1,000 times seems like plenty.

Given the -R and -RW combination, you can get a drive that also includes burning CD-R and CD-RW

[nemethmik]

I think you are right, DVD-RAM is much superior technology than DVD-RW or DVD+RW, but because it is not supported by DVD-ROM drives and standalone DVD players, DVD-R/DVD-RW might be the way to;
Or, maybe, the today non-existent DVD+R/+RW units if the DVD+R/RW
media is available and inexpensive enough.

[RAAGAAman]

This is an old article but HLDS is coming out with a Multi-format that will do pretty much everthing.

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.asp?RelatedID=1725


RG

[alkieman]

DVD-R writing comes with every currently available DVD-RW writer. The only DVD-RAM drive to feature DVD-R burning at present is the Panasonic. Other DVD-RAM drives are available that do not have DVD-R support at all.

All DVD-RW drives also support DVD-R although Apple for some odd reason didn't allow DVD-R burning in their original superdrive even though the actual drive supported it. New Apple Superdrives do allow DVD-R burning.

Whether CDR and CDRW burning is included is up to the manufacturer of the drive. Pioneer included it as a selling point but they did not have to do so. The DVD+RW camp followed suit and also included support for CDR and CDRW burning. There's no reason why Panasonic could not include CDR and CDRW burning in newer versions of their DVD-RAM drives, they just choose not to.

All three DVD re-writable formats are supported by different manufacturers many of whom are bitter rivals. Panasonic really had to include some form of write once format because DVD-RAM discs are just so expensive and no home DVD players can play DVD-RAM discs. They chose DVD-R because it was available at the time.

Pioneer will not include DVD+R/RW writing support because they want their own DVD-R/RW format to succeed, likewise Philips will not include DVD-R/RW writing support because they want their DVD+R/RW format to win. Incidently, both drives can READ the other format, at least my Pioneer can read DVD+RW and my friends Philips can happily read my DVD-R and DVD-RW discs.

Sony will however be bringing out a stand alone home video recorder that supports both rival formats (but not DVD-RAM). Whether they also introduce a PC writer that supports both camps remains to be seen.

DVD-RAM is the superior format. no question, but it was designed orginally for PC use, being able to use it for video work was a later addition. DVD-RAM is just too expensive and hardly any stand alone DVD players can take the DVD-RAM cartridges as it adds extra expense to the manufacturing process.

DVD-RW is indeed a very effective format. It's high capacity and blanks are fairly cheap but Pioneer never claimed 100% compatibility with existing DVD players if you use DVD-RW for video work.

DVD-R media is Ver2.0 for us home users, earlier versions were designed for professional use and support high end features like copy protection and region settings. I've had no problems with any branded media at all, had some minor problems with some unbranded ones that a Sony Playstation2 refused to read but my two Pioneer stand alone DVD players took them fine as did every one of my friends stand alone players. It's much the same issue with different brands of CD-R disc, better discs work in more machines.

DVD-RW is V1.1 and if you buy decent ver 1.1 brands they should work in all DVD-RW writers. I've had no problems with Princo, TDK, Pioneer and all others I've tried.

The only advantage of DVD+R/RW is speed of writing. They are more than twice as fast at writing a full disc than DVD-R/RW. The downside is the cost of media is currently more expensive.

DVD-RW and DVD+RW have similar compatibility at around 60-70% of current home DVD players.

DVD-R works in about 90% of all home DVD players but DVD+R is so new that compatibility hasn't really been tested. DVD+R discs are also much more expensive because it's such a new format.

The only company liable to include CDR/CDRW support in their DVD-RAM writers is Panasonic, the other DVD-RAM producers are all aimed at computer users. Try asking Panasonic but I doubt they'll include that feature.

[alkieman]

although the new Hitachi/LG combo drive does look interesting. It supports all the formats you are interested in, it's liable to be expensive however.

[Greg12]

1.) yes

2.) They don't include it, probally to many different lasers
DVD-RW drives do write to CD-RW though

3.) They are all rival formats, any drive using all 3 would be third party.

4.) DVD-RAM has like 10% compatibility at the moment.

5.) Good media for DVD-RW isn't hard, it's kinna expensive but price is coming down

6.) DVD+RW burns a lil faster and had microsoft's backing but DVD-RW is a lil bit better compatibility. DVD-RW may prove to be the winner because DVD+R isn't out yet and current DVD+RW drives can't burn to DVD+R.

Also it's easier to type DVD-R.

[alkieman]

I'll agree with that last bit Greg don't need to use the shift key when typing DVD-R