What speed to burn DVDs

[cowboygrifter]

What is the best speed to burn backup movies at?

[Rich86]

You are bound to get all sorts of answers to this one as everyone has their own biases and experiences to draw on. Here is mine.

Successfully burning to DVD media is a function of many things - burn speed being only one of them. I assume you have a powerful enough computer, plenty of RAM, available hard disk drive space, quality DVD burner functioning properly, etc.

One suggestion is to keep your dvd burner firmware up to date in order to use newer dvd media. The write strategy for media is generally provided via these firmware updates.
Generally speaking, you want to burn your dvd media at a speed your burner and media is designed for. I don't know that there is a speed that is too slow as long as that speed exists in the firmware for this particular media. But there definitely are speeds which are too fast, especially as you proceed towards the end of your burning on the outside rim of the media where the speed tends to be at its peak.

I generally use good quality media (but not the most expensive) and select a burn speed somewhere in the middle of the available range of speed options. For example, my Benq burner is rated for a maximum speed of 16x - so I stay around 8x. But if I'm burning to 8x rated media, I'll probably burn at 4x. I'm interested in getting a top quality burn and not in a big hurry since I have no need to pump out a lot of burned media.
This approach has worked very well for me using good quality media which is compatible with my particular burner - Benq (Daxon), Maxell, Ritek, TDK these days.

[Gen-An]

Personally, I've had no issues burning quality media at its rated speed, and sometimes even burning faster than rated speed, like YUDEN000T02 at 12x on my Plextor PX-712A.

[louthewiz]

My burner can do 16x but I prefer 4x since I barely see coasters with that speed. Lou

[cowboygrifter]

My burner can do 16x but I prefer 4x since I barely see coasters with that speed. Lou

When I use nero I get nothing under 6x when using 8x media. Is there a way to change this or can somebody recommend another DVD burner

[mikesbytes]

When I use nero I get nothing under 6x when using 8x media. Is there a way to change this or can somebody recommend another DVD burner

Nero is a bit strange in that way. Try setting the burning speed prior to putting the blank DVD in.

[cyflyer]

I'm also happy to burn at 4x without mucking about with firmwares and higher rated dvd speeds. The quality of the end result is what matters not the extra few minutes you'll save. From what I can see of the comments here, the technological advance of the hardware, ie 16x dvd's and burners, has not necessary meant the same reliability in burn quality and consistancy. Whats the next step, 32x rating dvd's and burners when the 16x are not entirely reliable yet ?

[ROF]

What is the best speed to burn backup movies at?

The rated speed of the media you are using, the maximum speed of your burner, or the speed you are most comfortable using. Everyone has their own preference. Some people won't burn faster than 4x as they claim they create more coasters beyond this. Since I haven't made too many coasters in my entire DVD burning processes I burn my DVDs at the media rated speed.

[lordsmurf]

With properly rated media, usually 8x-12x.

[Marvingj]

I burn at 4x..No Coaster unless bad media.

[chas0039]

Burning slower than the rated speed will many times result in a worse burn. Ritek G05, back before it turned to trash, was a good example.

The exception is virtually all 16X media which burns better at 12X. Experts will say that faster burns will result in faster deterioration but many do not like to hear that.

[Bodysurf]

What is the best speed to burn backup movies at?

As with many questions, "it depends". And even then, there are a variety of opinions on the subject.

I will give my opinion, as of 01/2006:

It depends on the media. I burn at 16X using my Pioneer DVR-A09XL with Verbatim 16X DVD-R media. I rarely get a coaster (I believe my success rate is probably 95%), and when I don't, they always work with a variety of DVD-ROM drives and standalone DVD-players. As a plus, they are relatively cheap (~$0.45 each) and are readily available at lots of places in the USA.

That being said, I had problems with some Verbatim 8X DVD-R media that would always burn fine at 4X, but would have a coaster-rate of around 20% when burnt at 8X. So you either experiment as I did, rely on the anecdotal experience of others or just do whatever you want.

So what I would do is choose the most advanced "1st Class DVD-Media" -- successful burns/high success rate is so dependent on the media -- and burn at its rated speed. If you get coasters/bad burns at an unacceptably high rate, then kick the speed down or use different "1st Class DVD-Media".

The best "1st Class Media" in my experience has been 16X InkJet Printable Verbatim DVD-R media. Many people say that 8X Taiyo-Yuden DVD+R media is tops also; the same goes for true Maxell either.

The above advice is just plain common sense.

[Denvers Dawgs]

Do you already have a dvd burner? If not the new Benq 1640/50 comes with software that automatically scans the inserted blank media, and then burns at the best speed for that media....

[mikesbytes]

The best "1st Class Media" in my experience has been 16X InkJet Printable Verbatim DVD-R media.

what is the media code for Verbatim -R 16X ?

[Bodysurf]

The best "1st Class Media" in my experience has been 16X InkJet Printable Verbatim DVD-R media.

what is the media code for Verbatim -R 16X ?

00 00 00 00 01 40 c1 fd 9e d8 52 00 02 85 0d 0e .....@....R.....
88 9a 80 00 03 4d 43 43 20 30 33 00 04 52 47 32 .....MCC 03..RG2
30 20 20 00 05 88 80 00 00 00 02 00 06 09 0b 14 0 .............

[number 9]

There's another problem with the question. It also depends on what you are using the disk for. AVI's burned for eventual use on a set top box react differently. I've used different disks burned at different speeds burned in two different LG burners and have found for my set top, the best speed to burn stuff is at 1x but who in heck wants to take 1 hour to burn a disk.

[gwoiler]

I've burned over 3000 Ritek Inkjetables and printed on a R200. The first thousand were 4 x and the rest have been 8x and except for some bad disks that were replaced... there were maybe 3 or 4 bad ones in the all that burning in 1.5 years. They were burned on Pioneer 107 burners and authored with DVDLab. MPG's were crunched with TMPGEnc and the latest ones are crunched with Liquid Edition. I will not move up to 16x until it is widely done. I mean... my Epson can't keep up with burning so why burn faster?!

glenn