Abc's Of Dvd Drive Abbreviations
The number of different formats available in Dvd drives can be confusing to anyone in the shop for one. The list is much longer, but to address a few of the tasteless formats, we have Dvd-Rom, Dvd-R, Dvd-Rw, Dvd+R, Dvd+Rw, Dvd-Ram ,Dvd+R Dl and Dvd±Rw. Wow! This list of tasteless formats is long enough, no wonder it's confusing!
What's with all the Formats?!
The presuppose for various recordable Dvd formats is that no one group owns the technology and different groups have chosen to support one technology over another. There is no commercial suitable for manufacturers to reference, so for the time being consumers will have a few choices.
The first thing to address is Dvd itself, which stands for Digital Versatile Disc. Some may argue that the V stands for Video, but with the quality to store video, audio, and data files, Versatile is by all means; of course the keyword.
Start with the Basics
A Dvd-Rom drive is the only one we will address that does not record. Rom stands for Read Only Memory, and refers to the typical drive that can merely read Dvds, as well as Cds (all Dvd drives can read Cds). The Lite-On Ltd-163-Do-R has attributes representative of your typical Dvd-Rom drive, and features a maximum Dvd read speed of 16x and a maximum Cd read speed of 48x.
Before getting into the different recordable formats, let's address the basics of what the R and Rw stand for, regardless of whether there is a + or - in the middle. R stands for Recordable, which indicates that the disk may be recorded to only once. Rw stands for ReWritable, which indicates that the disc may be recorded to more than once, and are ordinarily rated for 1000 rewrites under good conditions.
The Dvd-R/-Rw format was advanced by Pioneer, and was the first format compatible with stand alone Dvd players. The group that promotes the technology calls itself the Dvd Forum, which is "an international association of hardware manufacturers, software firms, article providers, and other users" with famed members such as Hitachi, Samsung, and Toshiba. The Dvd-R/-Rw format is based on Cd-Rw technology and uses a similar approach to burning discs.
The Dvd+R/+Rw format is a newer format, also based on Cd-Rw technology, and compatible with a large ration of stand alone Dvd players. The +R/+Rw technology is not supported by the Dvd Forum, and its main backing comes from a group called the Dvd+Rw Alliance. The Alliance "is a voluntary group of industry-leading personal computing manufacturers, optical warehouse and electronics manufacturers" with members such as Dell, Hewlett Packard, Sony, and Phillips Electronics.
The Dvd-Ram format is based on Pd-Rw (Phase-Differential) drives, and de facto uses a cartridge to hold the media (just like its Pd-Rw predecessor). Some Dvd-Ram cartridges are double sided, development them ideal for clubs to use as law backup, hence Dvd-Ram is normally found only in commercial applications, and most end-users won't ever need to use or see this type of drive. The Dvd-Ram suitable is also supported by the Dvd Forum just like the Dvd-R/Rw format. However, because of its use of a cartridge (limiting it's compatibility), and the scarcity and price of the media used, Dvd-Ram is a distant third when compared to the Dvd+R/+Rw and Dvd-R/-Rw technology.
The +R/+Rw and -R/-Rw formats are similar, and the main variation Dvd+R technology has is the quality to narrative to multiple layers (with its new Dvd+R Dl format), where Dvd-R can only narrative to one layer (not all +R drives are capable of dual layer burning, but no -R drives are). The Plextor Px-504U is an example of an external Dvd+R/+Rw drive capable of recording particular layer discs in the +R/+Rw format, but also able to read discs recorded by a Dvd-R drive.
What is Dvd±Rw?
Dvd±Rw is not de facto a isolate format, but the designation given to drives capable of both -R/-Rw and +R/+Rw operation. This type of drive is typically called a "Dual Drive" (not to be confused with a "Double Layer" drive) since it can write to both the +R/+Rw and -R/-Rw formats. The Samsung Ts-H552 is a Dvd±Rw drive capable of reading and writing every format discussed so far, and then some. It takes benefit of Dvd+R Dl (Double Layer) technology available with the +R format, allowing the suitable media to store virtually double the 4.37 Gb capacity of a typical particular layer disc.
The other main thing to reconsider with Dvd burners is selecting the precise media. Media for Dvd-R, Dvd-Rw, Dvd+R and Dvd+Rw media may all look the same, but they are slightly different in order to match the specific recording formats. The price of media for whether format is ordinarily the same, with Rw media costing a good deal more than R media of whether format. double Layer media is even more expensive, and is the only way for an owner of Dvd+R Dl drive to take benefit of the mammoth capacity increase. As the number of double Layer drives increase in the market, the price of the Dvd+R Dl media is predicted to fall with increased production of the media. Dvd Burners (as these drive are often referred to) can be picky about the media supported, so be sure to pick your media wisely.
Dvd in a Nutshell
Dvd-Rom : Reads Dvd discs
Dvd+R : Writes to Dvd+R media (will also typically write to Cd-R and Cd-Rw media)
Dvd+Rw : Writes to Dvd+Rw media (will also typically write to Dvd+R, Cd-R and Cd-Rw media)
Dvd+R Dl : Writes to Dvd+R Dl (Double Layer) media (will also typically write to Dvd+R, Dvd+Rw, Cd-R and Cd-Rw media; many double Layer drives are Also dual drives - that is, able to write to Both +R/Rw and -R/Rw media)
Dvd-Ram : Writes to Dvd-Ram cartridges (not in wide use on buyer shop - in general a company format; can also read Pd-Rw discs. Will not normally be able to write to any other format together with Cd-R or Cd-Rw)
Dvd-R : Writes to Dvd-R media (will also typically write to Cd-R and Cd-Rw media)
Dvd-Rw : Writes to Dvd-Rw media (will also typically write to Dvd-R, Cd-R and Cd-Rw media)
Dvd±Rw : Writes to Dvd-Rw and Dvd+Rw media (will also typically write to Dvd-R, Dvd+R, Cd-R and Cd-Rw media; typically called "Dual Drives" since it can burn to two different Dvd formats)
Final Words
This narrative took a look at the more tasteless formats of Dvd drives in order to shed some light on all the choices available. The differences between them all may be subtle, but the compatibility issues can be quite frustrating. The easy acknowledge to anyone considering a drive is to forget about + and - by themselves, and shoot for universal compatibility with a good Dvd±Rw with Dvd+R Dl support.
Abc's Of Dvd Drive Abbreviations