DVD + or - ? Some obervations and general musings

[jtommyj]

Four days ago I purchased a Lite-On LDW-411s at BestBuy for $79.99.
It came with a 4x +R and a 4x +RW.
The biggest difference I have noticed so far is that on my DVD-R's and -RW's I had done on my Pioneer 104, they would not play on my home set-top Philips 711 or Toshiba 3950 UNLESS you had more than 3.9 to 4 GB on each disc.
The nice thing about the +R's and +RW's is that no matter how little info I put on the disc for file size, both types play on both of my set-top players.
A small 1.2 GB little snippet of a movie plays with no problem.

I thought that this would be interesting for anyone with a dual format burner in case they had the same problem to help them choose the right media.

So I guess my conclusion is to use the DVD+ media for smaller files and the - format for the larger files.

If this isn't in the right forum please feel free to move it.

Tom

[solarfox]

This is a known issue with the Phillips 711, actually -- it seems to be a bug in the firmware which hasn't been fixed.

Why +R media gets away with it when -R media doesn't is less certain, unless it has something to do with the way that some +R burners and burning software "lie" about the book-type code when burning +R media to increase the odds that older players will recognize the disc.

In any case, I've burned -R and -RW discs with as little as 200Mb on them and had them play in a variety of set-top DVD players, so this is very much a matter of "whatever works for you."

[jtommyj]

What did you burn 200 Mb and get it to work with ? Burner, I mean.
Cause while I know it is an issue with the Philips , it seems odd that it would continue 3 years later with a brand new model, my Toshiba.
Maybe it was just discs burned with the Pioneer. Next time I buy some fresh -RW's that haven't been burned on yet I'll try the Lite-On and see if that is the diff.

[solarfox]

The burner was a Pioneer A-05, burned onto TDK DVD-R and -RW media. The software used was ULead DVD Workshop.

The resulting discs play fine in my Apex, and in several models of Sony owned by various friends... Interestingly enough, the -RW copy did not work in a friend's Philips DVD+R set-top recorder, though the -R copy did. Go figure.

[jtommyj]

Thanks for the info.

Tom

[Gazorgan]

I have numerous test clips from 10 Mb up to 4.3 Gb and they all play in both my players , + or -, R or RW. My Apex will do ISO's, so that's easy, my #2 won't so I have to Author, but never had an issue.