Blank DVD Question

[MrPShah]

I know with blank cds it really doesn't matter too much anymore, but with blank dvd's does the brand you select matter? How do you know if a blank dvd is high quality, or will crap out within a year or so?

 

[BlueWeasel]

It's all a matter of the manufacturing code of the DVD media. You'll need a program like DVD Identifier to read the media code, and there's no way to determine the code by looking at the packaging.

Some of the best media comes from Japan and includes Ritek (the past few TDK and Sony DVD+R discs I've gotten have been Ritek). Generally, the higher burning speed indicates higher quality media (4x, 6x, 8x), and the 2x or lower media is usually lower grade.

You'll just have to try a particular brand and see. I've had good results with the KHypermedia DVD+R media from Officemax, even though it only burns at 2.4x. It all depends on your particular burner.

 

[MrPShah]

I see, but now what about +R vs. -R, I have a player than can read both, but is there any difference on the two nowadays?

 

[BlueWeasel]

DVD FAQ

There are no differences in the capacities of -R and +R media, and DVD+R is the newest standard of the two. Personally, I prefer DVD+R because the burning speeds are higher and because it can used with bitsetting.

Bitsetting is a way to set the disc so it is recognized as DVD-ROM (like all video games, DVD movies, etc.), and this provides the most compatibility with DVD players and drives. However, not all DVD burners support this feature, so you'll need to make sure your drive supports bitsetting.

 

[BlueWeasel]

Also, remember that the capacity of single-layer DVD-R and DVD+R media is 4.7 billion bytes. This translates into 4.37 gigabytes.

More Info Here

 

[MrPShah]

thanks!