I have just bought an Panasonic DVD Recorder ( DMR ES10) from Ebay.
I have never had a DVD recorder before, so I don't know what the various terms mean.
What do the following mean, and what differences are there between them.
DVD + R
DVD - R
DVD - RW
DVD - RAM
Thanks

Try this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_recordable

Has links to detailed descriptions of each format.

RW is re- writable disk

you also have dual layer discs to hold more data

I would stick with -R at the moment

only buy a small amount of discs to start with , machines are pernickity and expensive discs does not mean it will work ................. and even if its by the same manufactor

Why is that ?
Because I'm new to all this ?
I got it to transfer my VHS home videos onto disc.

The - R type disk is more likely to be playable on other players. Though I suspect these days it is not as big an issue as it used to be.

how well the disc is made , wear and tear on your machine

I hope your video is RGB ?

is it from camcorder tapes ? better off using camcorder to transfer to DVD machine

ALSO does your DVD have a HARD DRIVE ? copy to hard drive first , instead of straight to disc ................ thats called ' on the fly '


if your video RGB , put it in RGB INPUT to get best quality

DVD-R is a record once format. It is compatible with all current DVD players and also with the vast majority of older players. Once the disc has been recorded the discs require finalisation to be able to play on other machines. Editing is limited and once finalised, no further recordings can be added to the disc, they cannot be re-used for recording and no editing can be done. -R discs use the VIDEO MODE for recording that mimics the structure of commercial DVDs as much as possible. This makes it the most compatible format for playing on other DVD players.

DVD+R is also a record once format, but it differs from -R enough to be incompatible with it. Once finalised it too can be played on all current DVD players, and again most older DVD players will also play +R. However some older players wont play +R. Like -R editing is limited, and they cannot be re-used for recording. +R discs use a recording format called DVD+VR, which is the same as that used on +RW discs but, as stated, editing is more limited. In theory finalising is not required but many DVD players will not play +R discs unless they are finalised.

DVD-RW is a re-writeable format that also allows fairly advanced editing. Pretty much all modern DVD players will play -RW discs once finalised, and some (noticeably from Sony, Pioneer and a few others) can also play them unfinalised. These discs can be re-used up to around 1000 times. To confuse things a little, -RW discs can use the Video Mode that -R uses as well as the more advanced -VR recording format. VIDEO MODE is more compatible with other players (especially older ones), but the trade off is editing capabilities. -VR mode allows far more advanced editing but is less compatible with other players, particularly older DVD players.

DVD+RW is the re-writeable format from the same people that invented +R. Features are similar to -RW and, once again, most modern DVD players will play these discs. In theory +RW discs do not require finalising, but in practice many player will not play them until they have been finalised. Editing features are close to those of -RW and they can also be re-used again and again. Like DVD+R, +RW discs use the +VR mode for recording but allow far more advanced editing.

Now, just to confuse matters even further, some multi-format recorders that can handle all the above disc types actually use the +VR mode even on -RW discs (Liteon recorders did this as did a few other makes).

For ultimate compatibility on other DVD players use DVD-R discs and finalise them once recorded. They are also extremely cheap but bear in mind you cannot re-use the discs for recording.

As others say, some recorders and players are fussy about the quality and/or brand of discs used (which essentially comes down to the dyes used in their production). You can sometimes find a brand that works well for years suddenly doesn't work in your recorder or player because the company producing the discs has changed supplier, or changed the dyes used in production. It can be a wee bit of a pain.

As the others have said -R is probably best for transferring home videos to disc. Make more than one copy though (on a PC for convenience) if they are important as the reliability of recorded DVDs is not that great (you can lose the whole disk) and check them every year - if one of the disks has failed copy from another one to make sure you don't lose the content.

If you were using it for time shifting TV then RAM would be your best bet but a PVR is much better for that purpose anyway.

DVd - Ram is a slick beast, but not so useful. more useful, i guess in DVD records that do not have hard disks.

I bought 10 when i bought my panasonic HDD-DVD recorder, and they didnt get much use.

RGB output on a VCR?
Not likely .

I'm assuming the OP recorder does not have a hard drive.
If I'm right take the one you have back and get one with a hard drive which is the ideal setup to do what you want to do.

You can fill the hard drive with dozens of tapes , edit them , resequence them - whatever you need to do and then burn them at high speed to blank dvd's.

Copying directly to dvd will give messy amateurish results.

Once your tapes are ona hard drive you can choose to use -R or+R , whichever is offering the best deal at the time.

If you really don't want to buy a hard drive recorder then this might be the one time I would recommend using a RAM disc.

You can fill that with around 2.5 hours of footage at acceptable quality then edit just like a hard drive and remove all the bits you don't want.

But their use will be limited if your PC does not accept RAM discs.
If it does , once you've edited the RAM disc you can copy the completed edit to your PC then burn it straight back to -R/+R.

-RW(VR) is as equally clever at editing but last time I checked Panny machines only supported -RW(VIDEO).

SO your next task is to either change the recorder for one with a hard drive or pop out and get a couple of RAM discs.

They are like mini hard drives , but the price is that virtually no ordinary dvd player will play them which is why you need to put the final cut on -R or+R

VCR's are from the analogue TV era. RGB is strictly a digital delivery system (Actually component to save bandwidth YCrPb and converted to RGB by the video processor of the the digital box).

Standard vcrs use composite video which combines the two components of the video signal luminance and chrominance into a composite signal. This produces the worst possible picture. Splitting the two into separate signals produces s-video which eliminates crosstalk between the two components of the signal. This is exploited in S-VHS to improve the quality.

As for camcorders they can either be composite (ancient), S-video (slightly less ancient -eg HI 8) or modern digital ones using mpeg compression.

DV camcorders used mpeg2 compression at a very high bitrate to maintain excellent quality (4GB runs out about 20 mins, by comparison HD TV using mpeg4 can fitr around an hour in 4GB) HD capable ones usually use mpeg2 for SD to maintain compatibility and mpeg4 (h264) for HD material. In all cases a PC will give far better quality and is essential for HD material unless you have a blu-ray recorder.

Basically if you have RGB on tape it's from a digital source. vcrs cannot record RGB. DVDR's can of course record RGB but many of the lesser ones are restricted to composite or s-video recording.