Does anyone know what the difference is between these two media formats, and which is better to record onto, (have bought both and cant really see any difference)?

the main difference is that with + discs, you can define chapters on the disc (making it easier to search through it).

There seem to be more - players. I have a + writer (ASDA) and when I play the +rw discs on our - player it often takes several attempts to load. A friend who is a professional photographer told me, ( and he must have got it from somewhere proper) that saving your photos on +rw discs was the safest medium in terms of archival longevity.

No it isnt.

Chapters are also added to -R discs at intervals depending on your recorder.

With my recorder, you get a lot more flexibility with DVD+Rs than with DVD-Rs. Better editing and thumbnail linking. But, you get more flexibility with DVD-RWs than DVD+RWs. Use what your recorder is happiest with - once finalised any disc should play back on any DVD player, recorder or ROM drive.

Alot of these problems may be more disc specific than recorder though.

I use DVD+r where possible. No real reason except I found a good on when I first started burnign discs and they have always been okay. I had some DVD-r discs that would not play.

-R is more popular, particularly if you buy white top/printable from pc stores.

Dual layer discs are only or were only +r.

One thing I have noticed is that on a pc the +r allow overburning where the -r don't but on this forum thats beside the point anyway!

Try to get a format and brand that works and buy a few of them!

Features for recording are recorder dependent rather than disc format dependant.

Not sure where you get any editing features from with +R.

Both formats (+R and -R) are write once and editing is not possible on either one.

All -R recorders allow you to select a thumnail for each title.

Toshiba DVD-R recorders are or were alone in offering a chapter list with thumbnails as well as a title list.

It sounds as if you have one of the budet models that usually favour DVD+.

+RW allows you to play your recorded disc in other players without finalisation .

-RW has HDD style editing but only if you record in VR mode which wont play on other players.

There are dual layer discs for both +R and -R although many set tops wont record on them while recent PC drives nearly all do

Er Gulp!? Not on any of my 2 x DVDR's 1xDVD player and 1x PCDVDRewriter or 1xPCDVDplayer.

However forgetting the rewritables in general -R will play on more players than +R. But the players that wont play -R will probably play +R and vice versa.. The majority 70-80% will play both.

THIS IS ASSUMING GOOD QUALITY DISCS. I write this in bold as my experience says this is the major factor and about 65% of the discs on the market are rubbish. Stick to Taiyo Uden/ Panasonic/ Verbatim!

If however you are burning discs on your PC then good quality +R's can be made universally compatible ( I have never had a problem with discs made this way that I picked up on Avforums.)

See
http://www.cdfreaks.com/reviews/Incr...DVD-bitsetting

The whole point of Philips introducing +RW was that it offered playback features different to -RW.

If you get any Philips recorder you will not find a finalising option because it doesn't need one.

Are you telling me that if you record on a +RW you then cannot play it on an ordinary player?

The main selling point of +RW when it came out was that unlike -RW you could treat +RW like a tape in that you could record something on it ,play it on another player then take it back to the recorder and add further recordings.

Finalising should be unnecessary-thats the whole point of it

The dvd+ alliance should know:

Check paragraph 2


http://www.dvdrw.com/why/customer-benefits.htm


It makes it quite clear that finalisation is not needed on set tops of pc drives for RW.

YES!!! Even the other DVDR!

I have read DVDForum blurb before and it doesn't relate to real life where I live- perhaps if you have Philips gear only? Even then my DVDRewriter is a Dell OEM Philips drive but it does not do anything with unfinalised DVD+RW's produced on either of my DVDR's (Akai and Sony) - finalised no problem.

This is actually not an issue with me as finalisation is one touch 30 secs at most and reversible.

However if i wish to pass a copy of a disc on to relatives or friends then I now use +R's as per the link in my last post.

That link wasn't the DVD Forum ,it was the site for the companies that grouped together to support the DVD+ format.

I have used plenty of DVD+ gear and RW has never needed finalisation.

I would suggest that if yours does then its not sticking correctly to the DVD+ spec.

The features I mention are the main selling point of the format against the DVD- format ,as indicated by the text on the link.

But as Philips licenced out the DVD+ format to pretty much anyone in order to get it into the market I wouldn't be at all surprised if they allowed companies to manufacture the equipment without sticking to the DVD+ specs 100%.

Sorry for confusion DVDForum v DVD Alliance.

Whatever it was obviously a weak marketing platform as for me I do not see finalisation as a problem. As all my DVD recording equipment is +/-RW capable I cannot see any real difference between the two formats. Neither for me replicates the ease of use of a VCR even if a disc is left unfinalised for replay on the recording device. When I got into DVD recording some 2-3 years ago I was amazed that virtually nothing in terms of friends/relatives DVD players would play even a finalized +RW disc. I found a few would play a finalized -RW and most would play a finalized + or -R disc. Whilst current players are more tolerant of different formats I stick to the DVD+ bitset to DVDROM for distributed media as described.

All DVD discs (except DVD-RAM) should be finalised on the machine that did the recording before being played back in another DVD player. You might be lucky with your Philips DVD+RWs being able to be played back in another machine without finalisation - but it is luck. I've got a PC that can play back pretty much any kind of disc, finalised or not, but my Pioneer DVD player won't play back anything that hasn't been finalised - including DVD+RWs. All DVD recorders (except your Philips by the sound of it) recommends that you finalise all discs before attempting to play them back in anything other than the machine that did the recording in the first place.


When I said editing features I meant changing title names and setting thumbnails prior to finalisation. Which, with my DVDR, can be done on a DVD+R with ease. And can only be done in a limited fashion on DVD-R (no thumbnails). So not all -R recorders allow you to select a thumbnail for each title. Because I've had four different DVD recorders, the first two didn't allow you to select a thumbnail for any kind of disc (Lite-Ons), the Panasonic allowed my to select thumbnails for every kind of disc, and my current one only allows selection of thumbnails on DVD+Rs (and both formats of rewritables).

As you said those features are recorder dependent, and my DVDR obviously favours DVD+R to DVD-R, that is why I suggested to the OP that he bought a brand and type of disc that his recorder was most happy with.

All modern equipment can read or write both + and - disks and they cost the same so they are effectively totally interchangeable.

Old equipment might only be able to cope with one type or the other.

John

You are obviously unaware of DVD+RW and how it works.

Take a look at the link from the RW Alliance.

+RW was created without the need for finalising at all.

-R ,+R and -RW all need finalising but +RW shouldn't.
I've had 7 dvd recorders (only one was a Philips DVD+) and they all play +RW.

As the link I posted shows ,recorders working to the correct +RW spec wont even offer a finalisation option for +RW because its not needed.

It sounds like the dvd recorders you have had maybe the el cheapo imports from the likes of Liteon etc where features always seem to operate differently from the way they should.

My Philips recorder from 2002 offered thumbnail selection.

I currently have 2 Pioneer HDD recorders ,a Matshita drive in one laptop and 2 other laptops (unsure what brand drive ) and they all play +RW as they should

Nothing to do with luck whatsoever.

I have +RW discs recorded 4 and 5 years ago and they have played on every laptop ,pc and recorder I own.

My Pioneer and Panasonic recorders and my Pioneer player (656) even play them ,although earlier Panny recorders did not officially support the format they still played