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by DAVID WU on November 6th, 2004

DAVID WU

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Are DVD-R discs compatible with DVD+R writers? How about DVD+R discs with DVD-R writers?

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Answers. 1 helpful answer below.

  • by Christopher Woods on November 7th, 2004

    Christopher Woods

    DVD writers are generally compatible with most variants of the DVD format, including DVD-R, DVD+R and DVD RWs of both types. DVD-RAM is generally incompatible, as it uses a caddy system to hold the discs - so it won't physically fit into the drive. RAM is expensive too, and not as advantageous as the other formats, so we'll leave that for now.

    When buying a DVD burner, it will say (either on the box, or on the manufacturer's web site if nowhere else) which formats it supports for burning / reading. My Sanyo (badged as Optorite) DD0201 burner supports DVD-R/W and DVD+R/W, as well as CDR/Ws. It's not the fastest burner, or the most docile (it's a bit picky about which dye types it has to burn onto, and these can vary depending on what manufacturer of DVD media you buy), but it works. There are some VERY good burners available right now, however, that will support DVD-R/W and DVD+R/W media at their full speeds - and sometimes _over_ the recommended full burn speed, which can be very useful. These drives include the (fantastic) Pioneer range of DVD burners, the latest incarnation (as of the time of writing) the Pioneer DVR-108, which also supports the latest Dual-Layer DVD+/-R/W format (which has been used in commercially available DVDs since day one, but has just made it to the home user). Other quality DVD drives which will support both types of media include the excellent NEC 3500 drive and the LiteOn burners also.

    [ edit ]

    As somebody commented that my response doesn't sufficiently answer the question of whether their DVD plus drive would be able to write to DVD minus media, the answer is in short, unless the drive is a "hybrid" drive (in that it supports multiple writeable DVD formats, and it will say so in the user manual / on the box if it does) then the chances are that it will not. This is due to physical differences in both the method of writing to the disc, and technical differences involved in the disc manufacturing process.

    I would've thought that this is obvious myself, but there we go.

    [/ edit ]


    What you really have to look for, and be careful of as much as the type of drive you buy, is whether the devices that will be used to access the written data on a DVD are capable of reading the format you choose to use, be it + or -. There's a nice interactive feature on http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers.php which will help you search for your type of device, and check to see whether it supports DVD+R/W / DVD-R/W or not. While not being THE definitive source, it certainly helps to have a (fairly) consolidated source. The site also has information on the differences and similarities between the + and - formats.


    HTH,
    Christopher.

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