DVD+ vs DVD-

[Greg Clark]

Simple question. Can I make a master with a DVD+ disk stick it in my 11 burner tower, save to its HD and then burn all next DVD's to blank DVD- disks?

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Greg,

That should not be an issue from my experience. But why not run a quick, simple test to verify on your end, using your gear?

Thanks

[Greg Clark]

Jeff my problem is I'm working thousands of miles from home and only have Blank DVD+'s. I could go purchase a few blank DVD-'s if you think I need them.

[Steve Bleasdale]

No do not do it just DVD-rs, plus wont work properly..

[Dave Partington]

Single layer: DVD-R has the best compatibility

Dual Layer: DVD+R DL has the most compatibility (DVD-R DL just won't work in most players)

To answer your questions YES you can master to one type and duplicate to the others. FYI I spent 10+ years writing firmware for CD/DVD/Blu-ray duplicators so I really do know what I'm talking about!

[Jeff Pulera]

I agree with Dave that it should be issue free. Think of it this way - regardless of whether you use +R or -R media, the same "Video_TS" folder gets written to it either way. That folder doesn't care one way or the other what media you later copy it to.

I have a consumer stand-alone DVD recorder than only accepts DVD+R media, then I pop that "master" disc out of the recorder (after Finalizing) and into a DVD tower and make DVD-R copies, it's all good.

Without researching online, I think one of the differences with the +R format is something to do with making menu changes after recording the video (before Finalizing of course), such as with my stand-alone recorder. But in the end, the final disc contents are standardized.

Thanks

[Vince Pachiano]

Originally Posted by Dave Partington

Single layer: DVD-R has the best compatibility

Your DVD player would need to be well over a decade old in order to not support DVD+R
So technically speaking DVD-R, it is more compatible, but for practical purposes, they offer the same compatibility.

However, on the whole, DVD+R is a superior recording format.
Several years ago I switched from DVD-R to DVD+R

[Andrew Smith]

Adding on to what Vince has said, both the plus and minus are/were competing formats as to the technical system of *how* the data is written to the disc in order to make a standards compliant DVD disc. Both standards will produce a disc that is just as good for playback.

Andrew

[Taky Cheung]

DVD+R or DVD-R shouldn't be matter these days. It was use to be DVD-RW has a lot of issue. DVD+RW works like a big floppy disk.

Then DVD DL still has lots of issue with settop dvd players. Mainly of them won't handle home burn DVD DL disk. I would suggest try to avoid them burning them at much as you could.

[Dave Partington]

Originally Posted by Taky Cheung

Then DVD DL still has lots of issue with settop dvd players. Mainly of them won't handle home burn DVD DL disk. I would suggest try to avoid them burning them at much as you could.

The biggest problem with DL discs is not the disc but the 'book' method of closing and finalising the disc. Many players are looking for DVD-ROM type and when they find DVD recordable they won't play the dual layer media.

Some drive models of drives have firmware that change the book type encoding to DVD-ROM when coming the disc. It's not the official way of doing it, but it makes it work. I'm a little out of touch with specific model numbers no so can't offer any specifics, but that's how we used tomato thing more compatible back in the days I was still doing it. If you need it, google is your friend :)

[Dave Partington]

Originally Posted by Vince Pachiano

Your DVD player would need to be well over a decade old in order to not support DVD+R

My first Sony DVD player (hacked for multi-region) is over 15 years old and stills work as well today as the day I bought it. Other cheaper players have come and gone over the years but the Sony was built like a tank. It plays -R fine both won't even see +R discs.

My Blu-ray player will play everything except DVD-R DL.

I know lots of people who have players that play -R fine but some are marginal on +R and won't play any DL media. I only ever ship -R for customers.

Fortunately, Blu-ray was a better standard but I think the new Ultra Blu-ray has come too late and most will will skip on by and just want digital files.

[Dave Partington]

Originally Posted by Vince Pachiano

Both standards will produce a disc that is just as good for playback.
Andrew

That's IF your player can play them. It's like saying both english and french are both good for telling stories, but if you don't understand french then it's not going to work. The data and data encoding is identical between the formats, but the physical playability is not.

Now, as said earlier, most modern players (asI recall 2005 or so onwards) can play both +r and -R equally well, but realise that not everyone (including B+G parents) will have newer players. Lots of people have players from the early 2000s and have no reason to change them. Don't assume that people buy new players every few years, and don't assume most people have Blu-ray players either, because in this part of the world they certainly do not.

It used to be that parents would typically end up playing their incompatible discs on computers, but since the number of computers with DVD drives is fast declining that may no longer be an option.