HELP!!! DVD+R or DVD-R to burn?

buckaroo wrote on 1/31/2007, 2:14 PM
I have my project all ready to go in DVDA4, with menu's etc.

But whats the difference between DVD-R and DVD+R???!

I had some DVD-R ready and burnt some of my small movie project to them, i tried them on our sony dvd player and they wouldnt play?

I then had one left of some TDK DVD+R and that burnt fine, so i buy some more DVD+R and they dont work?

Do i have to use 4X speed only? as i think they defaulted to 16X which i can only think of as the difference?

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 1/31/2007, 3:25 PM
DVD-R are usually a little more compatible. Bad media, whether DVD+R or DVD-R can cause problems. Use Nero DVD Speed (free tool) to test quality of burned discs (do forum search on "DVD Speed" for more info).

Several other threads on impact of burn speed on quality, including one that is active right now. Probably not your problem but DVD Speed will tell you.

Burn Speeds
MPM wrote on 1/31/2007, 10:11 PM
Places like CD Freak & Videohelp often try to keep running lists of media -- videohelp has a database on hardware that *might* help. There's also software to tell who made the disc, which might make it easier to keep track of and basically just tell you what you really bought.

My personal strategy isn't complicated -- hurry & burn the 1st disc or two & run round to a couple of picky players to see if it works. If it doesn't, back to the store... Also why I only buy media brick&mortar.

And unless data, might want to keep burn speeds conservative.
TLF wrote on 1/31/2007, 11:35 PM
The difference is that DVD+R is "technically" superior (apparently). it was designed to avoid some of the problems associated with DVD-R.

In practice, +R and -R are roughly equal, though in my experience, some older players prefer +R but ONLY if the +R was burned with bitsetting enabled (this fools the player into thinking the disk is a pressed DVD-ROM).

Of course, not all burners support bitsetting, and not everyone knows how to use the feature.

In reality, these days there is little difference in compatibility. DVD players play virtually anything you can throw at them.

So don't lose any sleep, but do buy quality media - Taiyo Yuden is highly recommended.

Worley
MPM wrote on 2/1/2007, 9:26 PM
Not wanting to get into this topic really -- it's like revisiting the MAC vs PC wars -- personally I've had the alleged best media give me problems, and some of the cheapest work, without a man ID. This of course speaks nothing of longevity, which should be better with better media, except those are the ones I see more cracking/splitting on at the center hole.

DVD burners are accurate, usually, but you don't know if you got a loser after a burn until you try it. DVDs written by your burner are almost certainly read by your burner, but they can check accurate and fail in some players - this is to some extent variable with media and burn speed, and especially apparent with DL.

There are a lot of rules and a lot of hints, but in my experience seems real life has broken every one of them at one time or the other. But, this is just what I've experienced myself -- mileage will vary.
TLF wrote on 2/1/2007, 11:36 PM
I've used cheap and expensive media. Some cheap burns fail instantly, some expensive burns fail immediately.

But, certain cheap media was unplayable within two months.

Some cheap media won't burn the complete 4.3 (4.7)GB on the disc due to poor dye spread towards the outer edge.

But this is true for both +R and -R discs.

As I said, these days, there's little to distinguish between them.

Worley