Which format? +R or -R?

gogiants wrote on 10/6/2004, 11:39 AM
I'm about to burn a project to DVD that is going to be distributed to 10+ friends, so finding out which format of DVD their players will play is impractical.

Anyone have any experience/advice on which format is best in terms of playability on standalone DVD players?

This page (http://www.videohelp.com/dvd) says that -R works on 93% of players, while +R works on 89%. Too close to call from that!

I did some searches, and it was interesting to see the state of this discussion 2 years ago, but didn't come up with the magic search terms to find something more recent...

Comments

cbrillow wrote on 10/6/2004, 12:36 PM
It appears that this is still a debatable issue. I've read the same information that you cite, and there to be some contradictory opinions.

My personal preference is the + format for both write once and rewritable disks.

However, I've noticed that Customflix writes -R, based upon their experience in supplying DVDs to the "masses." Perhaps there's something to it.

When I make copies for distribution to friends, I play it safe and ask for the make and model of the player the DVD will be used with, and look it up in the compatibility guide one.
Former user wrote on 10/6/2004, 2:08 PM
It is usually more an issue of the type of DVD players they are using. Some brands, such as Sony, are less forgiving when it comes to burned CDs and DVDs. I have had good luck with both -r and +r.

Dave T2
TorS wrote on 10/6/2004, 3:15 PM
The difference between players' ability to read different types of (cheap) media is greater than the difference in their ability to deal with + and -. If you burn properly on quality media you won't have much compatibility problems either way. However, some programs, like Sony DVD Architect can set the Book Type on a +R disc so that players "believe" it is a DVD Video disc - which all players must be able to read. I'm not sure that is possible with -R media.
Tor
(I'm from the Vegas forum - just looking in here)
morindj wrote on 10/6/2004, 3:32 PM
The last time I distributed a movie on DVD to 15 of my friends, I used only the +R format, and included a note to let me know if they had trouble viewing it and I'd make a -R for them. Only 1 person needed the -R format. I kept it simple for myself, and used the feedback to create a list of folks I give movies to and what format they needed.

It made it easy for me rather than have to research each player they had. Looks like my experience is similar to the compatability percentages others have noted.

Dave
gogiants wrote on 10/6/2004, 4:19 PM
Anyone know how to set "Book Type" when using DVD Architect STUDIO version 2. I've tried looking in the product with no luck, and at least the way I searched over on the DVDA forum did not turn up specifics.

Otherwise, I'm guessing it could be a function of the burning software one uses? I use DVD Shrink to turn the "prepared" files from DVDAS into a .iso file, and then I use DVD Decrypter to do the burn. In both cases, a somewhat deep look didn't turn up an option on the book type.

Thanks...
TorS wrote on 10/7/2004, 3:27 AM
DVDA 1.0 sets book type DVD-ROM by default (on a NEC 1100A burner). There's no way I've seen to set it manually. But I do think it's done in the burning, not in the creation of files.
The dvdplus.orgsite offers (links to) programs that will alter the bitsetting on SOME burners. See if that will help you.
Tor
obsociety wrote on 10/8/2004, 3:34 PM
I have Nero 6 and that allows the setting of the disk type.