[stevenoon]

Hi all,

I used to have a Goodmans DVD recorder which needed to format all blank discs before use.

I now have a Panasonic DVD recorder and I don't remember ever having to format a recordable DVD - only RW discs.

Just curious as to why the Goodmans needed to format discs and the Panasonic doesn't.

As far as I can remember I've only ever used DVD-R discs in the Panasonic. If I buy DVD+R discs is there any chance that the Panasonic would need to format them?

Many thanks,

Steve.

[stvn758]

My Panasonic formats +R, it's an EX77.

[stevenoon]

It could be that all +R's need formatting. It's been a while since I had the Goodmans but I think it insisted on +R discs and they all needed formatting. It could be the same with the Panasonic's - I'm not sure as I think I might have only used -R discs so far due to personal preference (not sure why I have this preference). My Panasonic machine is a model which is about 2 years old now - it's an EZ45V - which is a DVD/VHS combo unit.

The reason for my post is that I want to buy some new discs. I don't know why but I also head towards the -R format discs first. If it turns out that +R discs need formatting on Panasonic machines, I'll stick with the -R discs out of convenience.

Steve.

[martytoo]

Having used +RW +R _RW -RW and DVD RAM, aside from compatibility issues with certain brands, all formats have been usable straight out of the box on both Panasonic and Mikomi (Argos own brand) brand machines. With +/- R discs ant formatting should be carried out on the fly when the disc is used for recording as these are of course one shot discs.

[b.lever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by martytoo

Having used +RW +R _RW -RW and DVD RAM, aside from compatibility issues with certain brands, all formats have been usable straight out of the box on both Panasonic and Mikomi (Argos own brand) brand machines. With +/- R discs ant formatting should be carried out on the fly when the disc is used for recording as these are of course one shot discs.

iHave a ez 47 Disks for that need formating i us rw disks.

[tomconti]

Formatting seems to be something that cheapo recorders have to do.

-RW should be the only disc that needs formatting because its the only disc where you can select either VIDEO or VR mode.

Pioneer recorders automatically format blank -RW discs upon loading depending on your initial setup selection.

VR mode allows for HDD style editing on the disc itself while VIDEO mode allows no editing but makes the disc playable on other players.

Newer Pioneer models mention VR mode on -R discs which seems odd because no matter what you do it is not possible to edit on write once discs - you can erase a title before finalising but you cant edit bits out like commercials.

Last time I checked Panasonic only support -RW(VIDEO) and not VR so no need for formatting.

As to the + formats , they also dont need formatting but some players seem to do it for some reason aswell as another unecessary feature which is finalising +RW which it doesnt normally need.

I guess as the drives in these recorders now support all or nearly all formats unlike the old days that for technical reasons they need to change something within the machine when a certain format is used.

Philips never needs to format or finalise the +RW discs and Pioneer only format -RW.

Other brands seem to have their own rules

[David (2)]

both our Panasonics need to format +R discs before they can record onto them.

Dave

[Lucytash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomconti

Formatting seems to be something that cheapo recorders have to do.

-

I wouldn't call my Sony recorders cheap - nor the Panasonic! But all automatically format whatever discs I use.

[tomconti]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucytash

I wouldn't call my Sony recorders cheap - nor the Panasonic! But all automatically format whatever discs I use.

It was something that used to be a cheapo thing.

As I said - now that Panasonic and most other recorders support all formats they must change something within the machine .

Panasonic never used to support the + formats or -RW at all and as far as I know still dont support -RW(VR).

Strange that my PC drive will write to +R or -R without formatting but it does format -RW

Both my Pioneer recorders are 3-4 years old so only support -R and -RW