> I've heard that +R is more compatible too

I have never heard this. Everything I’ve read has said that DVD-R is more compatible. I’ve always use DVD-R. Maybe this is a candidate for Mythbusters. ;-)

~jr

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD%2BR

that's the info I read, but not from there. Basicly, it says that DVD+R is more reliable, error wise, then -r & lets you change the bitsettings & that increases compatiblity..

I have never read that DVD+R is more compatible. In fact, EVERYTHING I read back in the earlier days of burning DVDs (2-3 years ago), which included scientific tests, showed DVD-R was more compatible, especially with older players. Modern players should be able to read either format.

Here's a link to the old test, still one of the few scientific tests, which shows compatiblity differences:

DVD Compatibility Test


[Edit] Whoops, the page no longer exists. Here is a quote that I saved from the follow up to that article, although it does not specifically mention the -R +R issue:

Re: DVD-R Media
posted 2/19/2004 04:03 PM EST reply
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While I have continued to test recordable DVD media for compatibility, I have not published any additional results. I can tell you that the conclusions from the June 2002 article still hold, with a few additions.

1) Buy name brand media (Maxell, TDK, Verbatim and Ritek).

2) Use low to moderate bit rates for video compression (less than 7 Mbps)

3) Use Dolby Digital audio rather than linear PCM

4) Use rewritable media (DVD-RW or DVD+RW) for internal testing to save time and money

5) Use write once media (DVD-R or DVD+R) for discs that will go to customers, friends or family. They work better and cost less.

6) Dont put a stick-on label on the disc. If you want nice looking discs get an ink-jet printer that can print on the disc blanks that have a printable surface.

7) Use a multi-format burner (DVD-R and DVD+R) so you can support whatever your clients need. Some players like DVD-R, others like DVD+R, but most will work with either.

Ralph LaBarge
Moderator
=======================

I tried searching for "LaBarge" and "compatibility" to find a cached version of the old test. I did find this information on the MIT site, which adamently states that DVD-R is more compatible:

MIT compatibility

Without doing anything special, -R is more compatible than +R, however, if you can burn your +R media with a DVD-ROM booktype, then +R achieves nearly 100% compatability.

DVD's have on them a booktype field that tells the player what type of media it is reading. Early DVD players would only recognize the DVD-ROM booktype (assigned to commercially produced stamped DVD's). When -R media was introduced it had a new booktype and so players that were specifically looking for the DVD-ROM booktype frequently wouldn't play the -R media.

Then +R media came along with still a different booktype, so players that were looking for either DVD-ROM or -R booktype only woulnd't play +R.

+R had a big advantage though, it allowed a burner to write a different booktype if the burning software and burner supported this. Thus you can create a +R disk that looks pretty darn close to a stamped disk. Granted, there are always differences in the reflectivity which can cause issues, but every player that I've encountered problems reading -R would happily read +R when burned with a DVD-ROM booktype.

--Scott

Read somewhere once that -r was more compatible so went that way. I had nothing but playability problems... worked on about 1/2 the players, I couldn't figure it out. THEN read somewhere +r was the way to go, switched to Maxell +R and playability went up to over 90%. I found that lap tops seem to like -r and not +r, but since that was the only issue, I stuck with +R permanently. My vote +R

The biggest issue in compatibility is the brand and quality of media you use. This is even more important than +R or -R.

Often a person will tell you that they got better compatibility when they switched from +R to -R, or the other way. However, remember that when they switched from one to the other, they also were switching to a different media. Even if they used media from the same company, they were, by definition, switching to a new media.

Thus, the only way to determine whether the format itself (i.e., +R or -R) is the contributor to the compatibility, or whether a change in compatibility is due to using better media, you have to conduct a large-scale test. That's why I referred to such a test in my previous post.

That test showed unequivocally that -R is more compatible than +R, although Scott's post about being able to burn a more compatible DVD code when using +R media (assuming your burner supports this, which mine does not), sounds like it might very well be true. Of course, you not only need a burner that can do this, but you also need burning software that can do it as well. DVDA cannot.

John,
Didn't see Taiyo Yuden mentioned on the short list.
Thought that was good quality blank media.
All I ever use.
Could my problem (see earlier "Sherman" post) be more to do with media (bum batch) than bitrates?
To review, project plays fine on some machines, freezes on some, returns to main menu on others at times when that should not be happening, while audio is missing when played on another machine!!!.
Have burned at lower bitrate (4500) to see if that makes a difference.
Running out of hair and ambien here.

Nero can do that option & my first DVD burner, an HP 300i, had that option. My current Sony DRU-710 doesn't have that checkbox clickable, but I've never had a compatibility problem. Ever. Never 1 returned disc after several several hundred. At least not on the Ritek disc's I've burnt on players bought in the past few years.

I have found that "-R" has provided me with the best compatibility and I rarely have a client come back to me saying that the disc did not work.

I would assume... especially now that the manufactures are making their players compatible for all formats. If some shares that the disc not work I first ask how old their player is.

Quality is the key... I have had most problems with low end brands. Spend the extra money and get Taiyo Yuden... Ritek.

In the future our headaches will be... "I have HD DVD.... I have Blue"
Ray". It will be interesting to see how tis evolves to our distribution.

Chad

it will eveolve in to "Use my streaming server. You don't need a $1k player for that." :)

serious!

I mostly use DVD+R (burned with DVD-ROM bitsetting) and never has any problems. Once it well played on player without recordered media support (made in 1999). Trying DVD-R media playback fail on it.

Beginning to see that cutting back the bitrate has much to do with compatibility,---maybe more than the disc type.
IMHO.
There are many smarter people who reach this forum.
But that's my two cents.

I just completed my first project, a 35 minute season highlight compilation DVD for parent's of my son's Pee Wee Football team containing video, stills & music. I burned some test copies, all on DVD-R on Memorex, TDK and Taiyo Yuden media. Then I gave copies to a few people to test on their tvs/dvd players etc. I also tested them on my 2 DVD players - one was a 5 yr old panosoic and one a cheap "cyberhome" brand from Wal-Mart. All copies played on all players. However, I did notice that both of my players I had some skips so I went from burning at 8x speed to 4x speed and all skips & problems went away. Perhaps that could help in your case? I've read on this forum and others that buring at a slower speed than the max listed on both the DVD burner & DVD media may help. In my case, it did. And, it didn't take any longer for some wierd reason, to burn a disk at 4x vs 8x. (I was using a 16x RW burner and 8x media).

I'll second the points made by Scott (Booktype setting of +R discs to DVD-ROM) and John (quality of media) as being the most important factors in getting the best compatibility.

I'd say using quality media is the most important thing, because even if you can set the booktype to DVD-ROM, bad media will still cause playability issues. The booktype setting is just added insurance to make you disc more compatible with older players.

With these two things in mind (as well as keeping the bitrate within spec), I have yet to have a faulty disc.

As bad quality media (even with "high quality" brand names) is so pervasive these days, I pretty much will only buy one or two different brands of media and stick to them as much as possible (i.e. buy in bulk!).

Here's a couple links that I use to check the quality of media:

digitalFAQ - Blank Media & Quality FAQ
Videohelp - DVD Media List

Hello
I have probably burnt 50,000 discs using Pioneer Drives and DVD-R media. The only complaints have been from very few customers with some models of Philips DVD player or HP Laptops.
In these cases I reburnt on DVD+R media and they went away happy.
Virtually every duplicator sold has Pioneer drives and DVD-R media is the standard in the industry outselling DVD+R by probably 100-1.

Virtually every duplicator sold has Pioneer drives and DVD-R media is the standard in the industry outselling DVD+R by probably 100-1

That is certainly true of the one duplicator here in our local town.

What about double/dual layer? I had a problem with my Denon 1920 and double layer (+R) Maxell media. Tried the Ritek dual layer (-R) and it plays fine.

The Denon plays single layer +R fine. The manual say's it's only compatible with -R.

This is a SACD/DVD-A player too. Are there issues with compatibilty if the drive can read SACDs?

rocky