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Which do you perfer DVD-R/RW or DVD+R/RW


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Old 16-02-2008, 00:39
Jumbo_Holden
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Here's a question. Just wondering what format to most people prefer? Nearly all DVD recorders do both (my first only did DVD-R) not a lot of difference really but do you state a preferred preference at all??

Me personally with DVD-R/DVD+R it makes not a jot of difference but I do much prefer DVD+RW over DVD-RW... because you can record on +RW and straight away play it back in any other player or PC (in my case make a backup image) with DVD-RW however you have to finalise the discs before it will playback and if your 'say' recording all the episodes of a series by the time you've got to the 6th episode and then finalised the disc you can get errors and things can go wrong. Far less risk of that with +RW so I always use +RW over -RW.

But what are you views?
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Old 16-02-2008, 09:56
Kojack
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I have no preference either apart from dvd-R was more wide spread at the time, most player/recorders do both now days my DVD recorder only does DVD-R/RW. Ive been using -RW for recording TV series for 4 years & never had 1 fail yet maybe just been lucky.
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Old 16-02-2008, 11:41
CLL Dodge
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DVD-RAM.

Expensive, though.
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Old 17-02-2008, 11:18
ic1male
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I've always bought DVD-R. The +R discs always seem to have errors on my computer.
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Old 17-02-2008, 12:38
It's only me
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I prefer -R to + but thats because by dvd recorder can only record a true 16:9 WS to -R's only where as the +R is only 4:3
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Old 17-02-2008, 12:48
Spruce
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I prefer -RWs as I can do a playlist and editing on the disc plus all my players and PC will play them.
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Old 17-02-2008, 18:35
bobcar
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I prefer -R to + but thats because by dvd recorder can only record a true 16:9 WS to -R's only where as the +R is only 4:3
It will record true 16:9 just not the WS flag.
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Old 17-02-2008, 18:39
r_mitchell85
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I use dvd-r, because when I got the dvd recorder, I was told they would be playable in most dvd players once I had finalized them. and thats what I wanted.
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Old 18-02-2008, 21:21
PowerJC
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DVD-R simply because its what my player takes.
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Old 29-02-2008, 17:47
Jumbo_Holden
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I might be buying a new DVD recorder that does DVD-R, +R and DVD-RAM

People always say ram is the most reliable. Just wanted to know a little bit more about it. Well mainly what I want to know is will a normal PC DVD-burner drive (+/-) will they be able 'READ' DVD-RAM disks?
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Old 29-02-2008, 17:52
niall campbell
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yes but check the specs of the computers drive


- R works in most things, if not all

buy a small pack of discs to start with and make sure they work

even different models of discs from the same manufactor may not work so buy a pack of 5 first
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Old 29-02-2008, 18:04
Jumbo_Holden
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yes but check the specs of the computers drive
even different models of discs from the same manufactor may not work so buy a pack of 5 first
Right, my setup system is as followed. I record something from live TV onto DVD with the recorder (currently SKY+ via scart to DVD+RW) - can't do it via anything else, and I find +RW more reliable than -RW

Then I 'copy' the finished recording from the +RW onto my hard drive. (Neaten up it up, take off indent and cut out the adverts with TMPEng DVD author) Then keep it on my hard drive. Once I've got all the episodes I need burn them back onto DVD-R disks.

What I was thinking about was still doing all that but using DVD-RAM (re-writable) disks for the capturing as I hear it's better quality, more reliable etc. Just need one of my DVD burner drives to be able to read the Ram disks though. They all read +RW just fine
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Old 29-02-2008, 22:22
atvmidlands
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No need to bother with RAM.

Assuming your recorder wont have a Hard Disc Drive for editing you should go for -RW.

In VR mode you can perform HDD style editing just like you can on RAM.

However once that edit has been burned to -R you can reformat the -RW into VIDEO mode and record something to play on a normal player .

Most players wont accept RAM discs
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Old 01-03-2008, 17:32
Neck_Romancer
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Wasn't the + format developed by Philips? Would explain why - is the way to go generally.
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Old 01-03-2008, 17:59
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I have far more disc failure & writing errors using -r, I always use +R now, far more reliable IMHO
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Old 01-03-2008, 22:34
atvmidlands
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Wasn't the + format developed by Philips? Would explain why - is the way to go generally.
Yes the + format was developed by Philips and their early recorders were dreadful.

There are posts on both sides where various writers seem to have more success with one format or the other.

With write once discs there should be nothing in it but its the RW discs and the features unique to each one that could sway you depending on what you want to do with recordings
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Old 02-03-2008, 03:09
captainkremmen
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Although both the + and - formats launched within a few months of each other it was the minus format that stole an early lead (mainly because -R just seemed to be more compatible with other DVD players and the blank discs were a bit cheaper). These days it makes little difference especially if your dvd recorder and any seperate players are less than a couple of years old.

DVD-R originally allowed no editing of any kind. DVD+R allowed limited editing, hiding chapters for example so the player would skip over commercials, but even modern DVD-R recorders allow this too.

When it comes to DVD-RW and DVD+RW things are a little more complicated. DVD+RW uses only one method of recording, the +VR mode ( the same mode is used on +R discs too). This allows fairly advanced editing on set top recorders. DVD-RW has two modes. The standard Video Mode is the same as that used on DVD-R, and in many cases a DVD-RW disc recorded in Video Mode will even play on a player that says it doesn't support DVD-RW. The second mode is DVD-RW VR mode. this is a bit more advanced than even +VR mode and allows for more advanced editing, although mainly on Pioneer recorders.

Incidently, many dual format recorders now use +VR mode even on -R and -RW discs. Liteon recorders do this for example. Some machines that are dual format have better compatibility with recordings on one type of disc or the other, but this is mainly due to the brand of disc than anything. I have found some -R discs that wont record well on my Liteon and I have also found a couple of +R brands that the Liteon doesn't like either. Even brands of disc that did work can stop working reliably if the manufacturer changes the dye.

When making video discs on a PC though it makes little difference.

As for DVD-RAM, it is great in principal but unless you have a DVD player from Panasonic and maybe one or two others, they generally wont play in anything but the recorder used to record on them.
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Old 02-03-2008, 12:50
niall campbell
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Right, my setup system is as followed. I record something from live TV onto DVD with the recorder (currently SKY+ via scart to DVD+RW) - can't do it via anything else, and I find +RW more reliable than -RW

Then I 'copy' the finished recording from the +RW onto my hard drive. (Neaten up it up, take off indent and cut out the adverts with TMPEng DVD author) Then keep it on my hard drive. Once I've got all the episodes I need burn them back onto DVD-R disks.

What I was thinking about was still doing all that but using DVD-RAM (re-writable) disks for the capturing as I hear it's better quality, more reliable etc. Just need one of my DVD burner drives to be able to read the Ram disks though. They all read +RW just fine
can you not record straight onto hard drive ? missing out the disc ?

I think its a personal choice with discs and what ever you find works stick with it

whats your dvd recorder make and model and the makes/ models of computer drives
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Old 02-03-2008, 20:58
atvmidlands
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Although both the + and - formats launched within a few months of each other it was the minus format that stole an early lead (mainly because -R just seemed to be more compatible with other DVD players and the blank discs were a bit cheaper). These days it makes little difference especially if your dvd recorder and any seperate players are less than a couple of years old.

DVD-R originally allowed no editing of any kind. DVD+R allowed limited editing, hiding chapters for example so the player would skip over commercials, but even modern DVD-R recorders allow this too.

When it comes to DVD-RW and DVD+RW things are a little more complicated. DVD+RW uses only one method of recording, the +VR mode ( the same mode is used on +R discs too). This allows fairly advanced editing on set top recorders. DVD-RW has two modes. The standard Video Mode is the same as that used on DVD-R, and in many cases a DVD-RW disc recorded in Video Mode will even play on a player that says it doesn't support DVD-RW. The second mode is DVD-RW VR mode. this is a bit more advanced than even +VR mode and allows for more advanced editing, although mainly on Pioneer recorders.

Incidently, many dual format recorders now use +VR mode even on -R and -RW discs. Liteon recorders do this for example. Some machines that are dual format have better compatibility with recordings on one type of disc or the other, but this is mainly due to the brand of disc than anything. I have found some -R discs that wont record well on my Liteon and I have also found a couple of +R brands that the Liteon doesn't like either. Even brands of disc that did work can stop working reliably if the manufacturer changes the dye.

When making video discs on a PC though it makes little difference.

As for DVD-RAM, it is great in principal but unless you have a DVD player from Panasonic and maybe one or two others, they generally wont play in anything but the recorder used to record on them.


DVD-R launched 4 years before DVD+R (as a format)and was available in Panasonic and Pioneer recorders.

But the first dvd recorder launched in the UK came from Philips but it did not even support DVD+R as the format was not around - it was +RW only.

However a short while later Philips launched +R as it was more compatible than +RW and the Philips recorder without it was given a firmware upgrade to add the format.

Both +R and -R do not offer any kind of editing whatsoever.
They are write once discs - playback wont be possible on other players until its finalised and once finalised you cant do anything with them.

Before finalisation you can delete sections but as the disc is not rewritable the space is not saved .

The DVD+ "editing" of simply hiding chapters tells the player to skip these sections when played back.
Although when set on +RW some other players will skip those sections it does nt work on all players and it wont work at all with +R - certainly not on other players.

Regarding RW discs.

+RW has no editing beyond the hiding chapters type of editing so it does not actually offer any kind of editing at all .If you remove a section of a recording the space is not available until the entire recording is deleted.

-RW on the other hand has 2 formats.
In VIDEO mode there is no editing at all but the disc will play on other players.
In VR mode you can edit using all the sophisticated options available with both HDD and RAM although most players beyond Pioneer wont play VR mode discs.

Liteon is not a good example of using the best of either format as it has limitations that other recorders dont have.

Dual format players were a worthwhile innovation 4 or 5 years ago but not now- most recorders support both apart from the supermarket junk

You should bear in mind that if you want the best of each format you should check that the recorder fully supports it.

Not sure about current Panasonic recorders but the first ones to support recording on -RW did not support VR mode and this is the case with other brands that claim -RW support.

Current Panasonic and Pioneer machines all support recording to DL -R discs.

But some machines wont even play DL discs of one format or the other.
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Old 02-03-2008, 20:59
atvmidlands
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can you not record straight onto hard drive ? missing out the disc ?

I think its a personal choice with discs and what ever you find works stick with it

whats your dvd recorder make and model and the makes/ models of computer drives

I think its common sense to record to HDD first if you have one .

Recording direct to dvd is messy and amateurish but without a HDD using an RW disc of either format is the best option depending on what you have to edit
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Old 03-03-2008, 09:53
jbeavon
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Right, my setup system is as followed. I record something from live TV onto DVD with the recorder (currently SKY+ via scart to DVD+RW) - can't do it via anything else, and I find +RW more reliable than -RW

Then I 'copy' the finished recording from the +RW onto my hard drive. (Neaten up it up, take off indent and cut out the adverts with TMPEng DVD author) Then keep it on my hard drive. Once I've got all the episodes I need burn them back onto DVD-R disks.

What I was thinking about was still doing all that but using DVD-RAM (re-writable) disks for the capturing as I hear it's better quality, more reliable etc. Just need one of my DVD burner drives to be able to read the Ram disks though. They all read +RW just fine
Do you record much stuff from the Sky channels?

If not, I'd seriously recommend getting hold of a Freeview capture card for your computer, and using that to capture the stream straight to your Hard Disk. Tidy the resulting stream up using PVAStrumento, and then editing using mpeg2scnitt.

You'll end up with an already DVD compliant MPEG-2 file, which you can then just author to DVD. No re-encoding of the file needed, and the quality should be higher, as you'll still be using the original stream as broadcast!
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Old 03-03-2008, 19:01
Gilson
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yes but check the specs of the computers drive


- R works in most things, if not all

buy a small pack of discs to start with and make sure they work

even different models of discs from the same manufactor may not work so buy a pack of 5 first
If using a reasonably modern PC then use +R's as per
http://www.cdfreaks.com/reviews/Incr...DVD-bitsetting
for the ultimate in compatability.

Also whether using +/+RW or -/-RW formats only use discs based on TY dyes which in the High Street/PCWorld/Staples etc means Verbatim or Panasonic brands only. These are the only ones I have found to give 100% success.
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Old 03-03-2008, 21:25
atvmidlands
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If using a reasonably modern PC then use +R's as per
http://www.cdfreaks.com/reviews/Incr...DVD-bitsetting
for the ultimate in compatability.

Also whether using +/+RW or -/-RW formats only use discs based on TY dyes which in the High Street/PCWorld/Staples etc means Verbatim or Panasonic brands only. These are the only ones I have found to give 100% success.
I always used to use Verbatim discs in both + and - but a couple of 100 disc spindles proved to be poor .

The only discs where I can get 99% is Staples own brand.

Not sure what they are.

Both my Pioneer recorders had problems with Verbatim where previously there was no trouble at all.

The Staples ones also proved 100% reliable in my PC rewriter too.

Spindles of 50 for £13
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