[Call_me_Dave]

Hi all

Will there be any difference in recording and playback if you buy cheap DVD-RWs as opposed to expensive ones?

Thanks.

[barky99]

Tesco ones work OK with me

[Call_me_Dave]

Originally Posted by barky99

Tesco ones work OK with me

How much are they? and the reason I ask is because I did buy some cheap brand new ones from Ebay. It was a business seller. The thing is, after burning, the playback is not as smooth as I'd like it to be.

I'm not sure if there was a problem with the blank DVD themselves or the burning software. I'm using both DVD Flick and Freemake Video Converter to see if there'd be any difference but the results are sadly the same.

[Helmut10]

It can do, both the digital errors on burning or the long term life of the disc. DVD-RW or indeed any writable disc is dependent on the quality of the dye layer and the other materials used in manufacture, also in the quality control of the manufacturing process.

The quality of the Burn can affect it as well. That depends on you and the DVD Burner used.

Cheap unbranded discs are much more likely to use poor quality materials and manufacture. Much more a lottery than the 'proper' branded ones. Even branded ones come from various manufacturers and factories which do vary.

Labelling on the Disc itself can affect the quality. The active dye layer is close to the label side. Personally I don't label or write on the disc itself or etch labels with the Writer (labelflash etc).

Your query in your second post really relates to Burning Discs encoding re-encoding and other sorts of messing around with video material which is a wholly different subject.

The quality of the discs themselves you can test using something like Nero Discspeed.

[Call_me_Dave]

^^^

Thanks, Helmut; really informative.

[barky99]

cheap ones seem to have more 'duds' .... yes, depends on equipment as some cope better than others thanks to dvdrw standardisation 'wobbles' & subtle differences from make to make in the hardware.
haven't dabbled much with the rw's recently but Maxcell probably worth a punt

[mincepie]

Short term...I'd say no.
Long term it seems yes -as others have pointed out above.
As to if it's worth it...depends on what you are going to do with the DVD - Will it be needed in the future?