General Vs Authoring DVD ?

[bayaraa_us]

Hi,

What is the difference between "General use DVD" vs "Authoring DVD"?
Blank medias you see on store shelves are they General DVDs?

[furball6969]

http://www.recipe4dvd.com/103/

http://www.esbuy.com/pioneerdvrs201.html
check out the price about half way down the page.

[SLK001]

DVD for Authoring - different laser wavelength, much higher cost, plus the burner starts at $2,000. You will probably not see these in any B&M store, unless some purchasing clown ordered them by mistake (OfficeMax did this once).

[bayaraa_us]

Is General Vs Authoring same as DVD-9 Vs DVD-5?

What i'm getting is Authoring DVD is the one Hollywood releases their movies on with many extra stuff high quality more than 2 hours of video.

And General DVD is the one we use 4.7Gb

Right?

[drewson99]

no, Authoring DVD-R are actually SMALLER than General, about 4.3 I believe. DVD-9 can only be pressed. Only be pressed. Only be pressed. DVD-9 can not be burned. Only pressed.

the difference is, as stated above, in the wavelength, and in the quality of the burned material inside the disc. DVD production houses will accept an authoring DVD-R as an original to create a "Glass Master", whereas they will not take a General for this purpose (as far as I have been told)

DVD=9 can not be burned! By any machine! Not even those hollywood boys with the big toys do it! Only pressed.

hee hee

remember what I said though

[bayaraa_us]

Ok,

Now i'm really getting confused. So is Authoring called DVD-9 in and General called DVD-5? or Not?

Does anybody have any reference website that explains all this?

[Vejita-sama]

https://www.videohelp.com/dvd

If you look to the left there's a link "What is DVDR" that might help

Basically DVD-5 (aka single layer) discs hold 4.7GB of data. DVD-9 (aka dual layer) discs hold 9.6GB of data. DVD-9 discs are actually two DVD-5 dics pressed together. That's why you CAN NOT burn a DVD-9 disc.

Neither is 'better' one just holds more than the other (which certainly can be a good thing).

[Cornucopia]

To make it easy for you, these are the types available (not counting 8cm-sized discs):

DVD-ROM (Store-bought, PRESSED discs) max size
1. "DVD-5" (1sided/1layer, Actually = 4.7BB or 4.37GB)
2. "DVD-9" (1sided/2layer, Actually = 8.54BB or 7.95GB)
3. "DVD-10" (2sided/1layer, Actually = 9.4BB or 8.74GB)
4. "DVD-18" (2sided/2layer, Actually = 17.08BB or 15.90GB) - Rare

DVD-R [Authoring] max size
1. v1.0 (1sided) = 3.95BB or 3.68GB
2. v2.0 (1sided) = 4.7BB or 4.37GB

DVD-R [General] max size, also DVD-R/W, DVD+R, DVD+R/W
1. 1sided = 4.7BB or 4.37GB
2. 2sided = 9.4BB or 8.74GB--VERY RARE

DVD-RAM max size
1. v1.0 (1sided) = 2.58BB or 2.4GB
2. v1.0 (2sided) = 5.16BB or 4.8GB
3. v2.0 (1sided) = 4.7BB or 4.37GB
4. v2.0 (2sided) = 9.4BB or 8.74GB

*Note: There is NO SUCH THING as 2layer for all the recordables, only for PRESSED discs.

Scott

[bayaraa_us]

I still didn't get the clear answer for difference between Authoring and General DVD medias.

So what i'm getting is normal consumers cannot buy DVD-9 Authoring media off the store shelves, only the pros can press them right?

By the way what is "Pressing" means? Excuse my English. Also one more stupid question does 2 layer means two physical cd's sticked together on top of each other so the laser would go through either of the layer?

I saw on DVD Media section there are DVD-9 medias actually available such as Ritek Which is dual layer (two DVD-5's pressed together). And i see that you can't burn DVD-9 medias. But how do you backup your own m 2 hour long full length movies on normal 4.7GB DVDs?

I noticed most Hollywood DVDs are 7.4+ GB in size. Are they DVD-9s?

[Cornucopia]

I'm going to chalk this up to the language barrier, and to lots of websites that spew out misinformation.

I still didn't get the clear answer for difference between Authoring and General DVD medias.

The difference is boringly technical (even for me), but suffice to say they are almost as different as -R is to +R.
Unless you are working at a big DVD/VideoPost production house, you'll probably never see an "Authoring" drive, and unless you order in bulk (100's+) from a media wholesaler, you probably won't see "Authoring" discs. The usual stuff from internet companies and retailers will ALL be "General".

So what i'm getting is normal consumers cannot buy DVD-9 Authoring media off the store shelves, only the pros can press them right?

"Pros" don't press them themselves, either. Nobody can "buy" DVD-9 media, because there isn't any prepackaged DVD-9 media to buy.

By the way what is "Pressing" means?

To "press" means to STAMP, or to MOLD. Just like the old 33 1/3rpm LP records used to be done, or Coins. IN A FACTORY aka Assembly Line. Done with $500,000+ pressing equipment and using "clean rooms". If you have more questions about pressing, you should probably do an internet search.

does 2 layer means two physical cd's sticked together on top of each other so the laser would go through either of the layer?

2-layer means 2 Quarter-thickness discs, 1 of which is semi-transparent (not normal), get stuck together. That makes it 1/2 thickness, and then another 1/2-thickness smooth/even section gets glued to that (unless you're doing double-sided). This glue stuff is critical, because it's only microns thick and is supposed to be completely even thickness itself-can't be done at home.

I saw on DVD Media section there are DVD-9 medias actually available such as Ritek Which is dual layer (two DVD-5's pressed together). And i see that you can't burn DVD-9 medias.

There are DVD-10 (single-layer, DOUBLE-SIDED) media available, NOT DVD-9. But each side is a standalone 4.7GB, so unless you manually chop your video in 1/2 and author as 2 separate sections, it won't work. Not alot of benefit there for the home user. 'Course they really are meant for the Studios to put various stuff on: PAL on Side1, NTSC on Side2; or 4:3PS on Side1, 16:9Anamorphic/Letterbox on Side2. Stuff like that.

But how do you backup your own m 2 hour long full length movies on normal 4.7GB DVDs?

Read all the recent spate of "DVD-9 to oneDVD" articles, guides, and forum topics...

I noticed most Hollywood DVDs are 7.4+ GB in size. Are they DVD-9s?

Yes.

HTH,
Scott

[bayaraa_us]

Thank you very much for all, especially the last post by "Cornucopia".

I was so lost in the latest technical jargons and words.
Now i can burn my home dvd's like a Pro

[SLK001]

Now i can burn my home dvd's like a Pro :)

Yeah... Isn't it amazing how much better the "Authoring DVDs" work versus the "Generals"?

[Cornucopia]

I was expecting to either have to edit one of my answers, or answer a followup question I was expecting from bayaraa_us. The question never came, so I'll go ahead and ask it and then answer it 'cuz I know somebody else will want to know down the road...

Q: If you don't have DVD-9 media, how then do the studios make DVD-9's? (and DVD-18's for that matter)

A: Studios only burn discs when they have a DVD-5 or a DVD-10, and they want to do a short run of check discs. Once they're ready to go, or bypassing that step if they are doing DVD-9's or -18's, they record the DVD disc-image onto DLT tape. DLT stands for "Digital Linear Tape" AFAIK, and looks like a stubby, squarer VHS-size tape. Pretty big as far as backup tapes go.
In addition to the disc image data, there is a preamble of data that tells the replication (pressing) plant how to set up the disc. This includes disc type-size ( DVD-5, -9, -10, -18 ), physical size (12cm "normal" or 8cm "mini"), whether this is meant to be a CSS-Encrypted disc or not (AHH, that's how they get that on there! ), Region codes, etc. It also says which layer of a DVD-9/18 the tape refers to, and what direction the inner layer runs. Studios send out 1 tape for a DVD-5, 2 tapes for DVD-9's or -10's, and 4 tapes for DVD-18's.
The pressing plants actually prefer to use DLT's as the "Gold" Masters for their glass mastering process, because of the excellent data error correction and because of that extra info.

Scott

[bayaraa_us]

Ok, So in the "DLT" you have not only the mpeg-2 video but also menus and extra features all arranged in VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS just like how we do it right?

Isn't DVD-5 cheaper than DVD-9 to mass produce for production studios? Cos DVD-9 sounds like expensive piece of media.

[Thorn]

Yes, the DLT has everything authored. It's basically just another medium to transfer the disc image but it can store the entire 8.7 GB rather than the 4.3GB that DVDR media can hold.

DVD-9 are more expensive to make, but not by much anymore. You used to see some cheaper manufacturers using multiple DVD-5s to store the multiple versions or the extras rather than using DVD-9 or even dual sided discs. Now, however, DVD-9 are cheaper to make and most good dvd manufacturers won't skimp unless the movie is short or really cheap. Don't forget that even if it's more expensive, it still costs pennies per disc compared to what you end up paying.

[crusty]

[Yes, the DLT has everything authored. It's basically just another medium to transfer the disc image but it can store the entire 8.7 GB rather than the 4.3GB that DVDR media can hold. ]

Yes it is true that the DLT carrys all the info but in the case of DVD-9 it is actually broken across two DLT's, the second DLT carrys the information FROM the layer break of the first DLT. Correct me if I am wrong but this is what I have had to do in the past with sending DLT's to replicating houses.

[Thorn]

I don't really know...
I just assumed both layers would be on the same tape since DLT can hold many times more data than DVD-9. Of course, the industry may have reasons for doing it that way (since the layers have to be pressed individually anyway).

[drewson99]

2. 2sided = 9.4BB or 8.74GB--VERY RARE

these are easily found for sale on the internet, just not a lot of different manufacturers. i think I got my last set at yahoo shopping if you're interested.

Andy

[Cornucopia]

Yes drewson99, even as we speak double-sided media are becoming more popular and more available. However, proportionately, they are much more difficult to get (AND STILL BE HIGH QUALITY COMPATIBLE).
If you think about it, they will always be more prone to handling mishaps and the ensuing data errors.

and yes crusty, that is how DLT's are split, and why.

Scott

[drewson99]

do you mean putting a thumbprint on the disc before burning?

anyone should be able to avoid that by using extra care. i love these discs and have never noticed a difference between their compatibility or error frequency and that of my single sideds.