DVD " - " vs. " + " ????

[BMzx]

What is the difference between DVD-RW and DVD+RW ?
I went to buy a DVD Burner ant CompUSA and the guy
had me totaly confused . . . . . Can anyone explaine this to me?


Thanks

[ejai]

To put it bluntly nothing really, but if you want close to 90% compatibility then DVD-R is the way to go. Most people use DVD-R. The DVD-R format is acknowledged as a standard by the DVD Forum.

DVD-R is what most people have and are using. It could change, but I haven't seen any indications that it will.

ej

[mysticgohan17]

There are burners (commercially like HP or Sony) that use +RW more than -R. Most iMacs use the + and are compatible with most DVD players not more than -R

[Jester700]

To put it bluntly nothing really, but if you want close to 90% compatibility then DVD-R is the way to go. Most people use DVD-R. The DVD-R format is acknowledged as a standard by the DVD Forum.

DVD-R is what most people have and are using. It could change, but I haven't seen any indications that it will.

ej

BBBZZZZTT. Wrong answer. Overall, both write once formats are roughly equal in compatibility, and both are higher than both rewritable ones. Before you go quoting some "test", I'll state once again (this is dead horse territory) that every test so far has been flawed or small and was in no way conclusive; further, different tests have had different formats emerge on top in compatibility! The only TRUE test is with individual players - specifically, your own. The DVD Forum is a marketing group, not a true developmental collective.

Case in point - my Sony burns BOTH media, but I usually use DVD+R - it's a little faster to burn, and faster to close. Further, only 2 set top players I've tried have been able to read only one of the two instead of both - and the one they could read was DVD+R. I'm not stupid enough to say this is universal - it's onlyone data point of many. But it IS a data point.

[rhuala2]

I have the same Sony burner and I stick to DVD-R. I believe that stand alone DVD players have more compatibility with -R than +R. Go into you local CC or BB and look at all the DVD players and decide for yourself. When I did I found -R players were more common so I stick to that format.

In general I also found +R writes a bit faster but -R is a little cheaper. I think, only my opinion no test data or quotes, that DVD -R will probably win out in the long run or neither will win out. Maybe we will have both formats in 5 years from now. The reason I think -R will win is because most people would rather pay a little less than wait a little less. For a 100 pack of DVD's would you rather pay $69 or $79. Yet the cheaper one takes a few minutes longer to burn. Everything else being equal I opt for the $69 ($0.70 a disc) cause I burn while I sleep

rhuala

[energy80s]

Any tests I have read state that the +R standard is more compatible with standalone players than the -R one. However, remember that at least one in four DVDR discs won't play in anything!! (Other than PC's of course).

[SatStorm]

There is a so called technology war, supported by some US Big Ones, for the DVD "standard" (which by law is DVD-R).

In US this war is big, we have the DVD-R and DVD+R Gladiators.
DVD+R is supported by some Big Ones, which wish to make America technological isolated to one more area. You see that way, the average US costumer is much more easy controled, and that is a very good thing for those Big Ones.

In Europe, there was never a true war, DVD-R is along in the arena, while DVD+R only appears to some DVD Standalone Recorders (basicly from Philips). The success of DVD+R in the PC market I can say that is minimal.

In Asia, they have devine the market in 3 areas: To PCs, the format is called DVD-Ram and nothing can change it. It start became popular as a pro format in Europe too. The PC home enthusiast for digital Video, use DVD-R. For those who wish a DVD Recorder easy to use like VCR (no computer involved) there are now some DVD+R standalones.
In general for video, DVD-R is also the way to go in Asia.

So, if you live in US you have to choose which Gladiator to follow. But for the rest of the world, it is DVD-R all the way.

Personally, I vote for DVD-R just to teach the US Big Ones that costumers ain't victims for their plans. But, since I am not a US citizen and I don't think US style, my opinion doesn't really count! It is up to you to choose!

[Jester700]

Good points, all. These things do fluctuate over time - MOST new players play both, since it's a selling point. And as for media cost - they're pretty equal in the US for good discs, with DVD-R a little lower. But that's been out longer, too. Since the technology is equivalent, I'd bet in 6 months we'll have price parity.

[epo]

Compatibility:
Tests often show better compatibility with "+". This is because some tests verify only, if disk is recognized by player. If it comes to playing, compatibility is roughly equal. I personaly haven't seen any player, unable to play even cheapest modern DVD-R.
Price:
2 formats have came very close to each other allready
Speed:
With 4x writers out, there will be no difference
Other issues:
IIRC "+" has something, called Media Descriptor unique to every disk. If this is true, it can be widely used to restrict consumers.

[ember]

This war means nothing to the individual - what matters is that the format plays on your machine i.e your player, and any other player that you want them to play on.

[Jooner]

Funny, I thought the war was already over.
Down here (The Netherlands) it's all DVD+RW what you hear and what you see in advertorials.
Personally I'm very happy with my DVD+RW burner. Haven't seen any compatibility issues (yet), but only tried 2 different players.
I think ember is right, what matters is that the format plays on your machine i.e your player, and any other player that you want them to play on.
There is some more info at: http://www.dvdplusrw.org ,but remember that this is not an independent site.

[Jester700]

Funny, I thought the war was already over.
Down here (The Netherlands) it's all DVD+RW what you hear and what you see in advertorials.
Personally I'm very happy with my DVD+RW burner. Haven't seen any compatibility issues (yet), but only tried 2 different players.
I think ember is right, what matters is that the format plays on your machine i.e your player, and any other player that you want them to play on.
There is some more info at: http://www.dvdplusrw.org ,but remember that this is not an independent site.

Actually, I think it IS independent, but certainly biased.

[epo]

Yeah, and here in Finland 90% (last figures) are using Nokia cell-phones. Do You see similarity

[Faustus]

As an apple tech I must point out that apple uses -r now +r. Love my -R personally. Who cares about a format war, mines supported by the DVD forum, which is the only offical body to over see such things, and its technology is moving along nicely.

On a side note, Vendors of +RW devices cut deals with many major chain stores, thats why you dont see -R advertising or products at them.

[rhuala2]

Funny, I thought the war was already over.
Down here (The Netherlands) it's all DVD+RW what you hear and what you see in advertorials.

Why would you stick to +RW, isn't that like at least 3x more expensive than -R. Do you do permanent burns to +RW?? Or are you saying +R and +RW, in my neck of the woods +R and +RW are different beasts.

rhuala

[SingSing]

Apple switched from +R to -R, and Sony added -R to their writer. May give some credits to the -R war effort.

It is also true, that RW disc is more commonly used to backup things that change a lot, like address book, E-mail backup..... . Large files like movie normally burn into R type disc.

[thxkid]

+R media is at the price where -R was 3-4 months ago in 2-3 months it will all be the same price, and yes we need a format war, drives the prices down, you have one format like Microsoft controlling 90% of consumers, sorry you 10% Mac people but thats life, you get this very exspenive software, with 2-3 formats out there consumers can choose and enjoy the ever dropping prices, I personally own all 3 formats a E10 Ram DVD recorder a E20 DVD-R/Ram DVD Recorder and a HP +R\+RW Burner on it way from amazon.com, so I'll just shop around for the cheapiest media, saw TDK +R a while back at COMPusa for $2.95ea, not bad for brand name media, but I can get +R right for just a $1 more over the same -R, but its been dropping really fast the last couple of months.
So far the rips from burners have not even come close to the quality my DVD Recorders can do, so a burner for me is more for data storage and home video'e with cool menu's.

[SergeantD]

So far the rips from burners have not even come close to the quality my DVD Recorders can do, so a burner for me is more for data storage and home video'e with cool menu's.

Huh??? This makes zero sense. The standalones are analog and the comp burners are digital. I have 1 of each also and I can easily see a slight degrading on my Panny E20. The only thing the standalones are good for is for convience of taking from a camcorder or TV programs. As far as copying from a DVD source, the burners do an identicle copy.

[jwagner]

From what I've seen and read they guy is right when he says that there is BASICALLY no real difference. Sure, other's may blast him and point out the few differences between them but when it comes ot putting a price on those differences when it comes time to decide which to buy it is pretty meaningless. Like the guy further up said, he has only come across 2 dvd players that didn't recognize both types of discs.

[dc91gt]

Yes, Macs only represent 10% of the market - however, I'm not a mac guy or a fan of their computers, they are the defacto standard for video editing shops (behind real systems like avids). So if -R is what they are using, that 10% overall market share probably represents 85% of the video editing market.

I think I've made my decision - Pioneer A05. Not only cheaper, but easier to find right now.

[vitualis]

Both are good in some respects and both are crap in others.

Since +/- drives have been released, you don't necessarily need to choose a side...

Regards.

[dun4cheap]

A laymans answer. I found this is the PC Club add I just got today. Now before you shoot me, I did not write the article. It is verbatem to the article in the PC Club add I recieved today. I do however believe that it gives a quick explanation of the main differences. I hope you guys find this interesting.



Which is Better, DVD+R or DVD-R?

DVD-R is the first DVD recording format to be compatible with standalone DVD players. Its goal is to make recording to DVD's affordable. This type is supported by 60% to 85% of DVD players. Since this format is older, the feature set is basic. However, DVD-R has one advantage for professional video authoring: DVD-R hardware allows video producers to use CSS copy protection on their DVD's

DVD+R is newer and built with home video users in mind. Its compatability with DVD players is similiar to DVD-R, with 60% to 85% of players able to play DVD disks written in the DVD+R format. The biggest advantage of DVD+R: It adds the ability to manually define chapters in the video after recording. Also, with DVD+R there is no need to finalize the disk after recording. The downside to DVD+R: there is no way of applying CSS copy protection.

The two major DVD recordable formats are very similiar. With relatively modern standalone DVD player, there should be no problem playing a movie recorded in either format.

[vitualis]

As per: http://www.vcdhelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=382979#382979

Regards.

[Faustus]

Apple NEVER used +R. The first apple DVD burners were Superdrives (aka DVR-A03s) before that some models used to have DVDRAMs, just wanted to clear that up. That is all.