Would agree with Bob..I only ever use +R for double layer media and thats so I can bookmark it as Dvd Rom to help with compatability. TY watershield -R discs are the way to go unless i'm forced into dual layer ie if i cant use two discs.

The article was talking primarily about rewriteable media not burn once media was it not?

John

After struggling with a few incompatibilities in the beginning, I agree that +R(W) is now the way to go. I have run countless tests with good media and there is no data indicating that +R is more (or less for that matter) compatible than -R. For RW the story is a little different, -RW media is slightly more compatible, but then again, you don't distribute RW disks for playing on DVD players, so that is irrelevant if the RW disk plays on your test DVD player.

What brand of disk you purchase is far more important than whether the media is plus or minus, and given the benefits of plus, in my opinion there is no better way to go.

The article was about both R and RW media, and for RW media the only real alternative IMNSHO is plus. The reason is that you do not distribute RW media, that is for internal use only (typically), and the superior quality of plus in all regards makes it a no-brainer for internal use. You just have to make sure that your DVD player can play them, which all newer players can.

The RW media is great for testing DVDs as you are editing and making changes.

What brand of disk you purchase is far more important than whether the media is plus or minus

The Media ID, not the brand is what is important. Welcome to the world of outsourcing. Thus the references by moist of us on the forum to Ritek G04, TYG02, MCC 02RG20, etc and not Verbatim, TDK, etc.

John

I did a lot of research, like everyone else that has posted, and came to the same conclusions. Here is my summary:

For re-writeable, I use DVD+RW. I think this is what the article was saying, and what everyone so far has said. I agree.

For write-once, the answer is not as clear as it used to be, but I still go with the original recommendation:

DVD-R

If you use DVD+R and set book type to -- ah, I can't remember, is it +ROM? -- you'll probably be fine.

Finally, on the rare occasion that I burn dual layer, I burn to DVD+R for the reasons already stated.

Fairly new to the world of video. What is the media code, where do I find it, which media codes are best, etc?

Thanks

Use DVD Identifier.
There's a link on the site to a downloadable database telling you who the manufacturer really is.
There's another one on the VideoHelp site.

Mike

Just wanted to mention that in dual layer media, DVD+R splits at the same point as a replicated disc whereas DVD-R splits the layers at a point that is unique to DVD-R. It's probably not that big a deal, but I always use +Rs for dual layer discs (which I don't do very many of) and -Rs for single layers because they seem a little more DVD player compatible.

None-the-less I would agree that the brand is more important than whether or not it is + or - R.

That DVD Indentifier that Mike posted is really useful if your not sure about a particular disc.

It turns out that even though there are many labeled brands of DVD+-Rs, there are really only about five manufactures of blank media. These are rebranded into the brands you see (like Maxell, Verbatim, Ty Yuden, etc.) There printed brand is not as important as the manufactured brand, and some brands have changed manufacturers brands to save money.

For example, Verbatim briefly switched from the best manufactured brand to the worst a couple of years ago. They got so many complaints that they quickly changed back, and many of these disc identifying utilities came out during that period. For a while there were some really good looking closeout deals on Verbatim discs that really were worthless.

Ritek is another brand that went from a really good manufacturer to a lessor one.

These days, Ty Yuden and Verbatim are pretty safe, but the identifying utility is still a worthwhile thing to have on occasion.

For example, Verbatim briefly switched from the best manufactured brand to the worst a couple of years ago. They got so many complaints that they quickly changed back, and many of these disc identifying utilities came out during that period. For a while there were some really good looking closeout deals on Verbatim discs that really were worthless.
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Verbatim is a brand name and the company outsources just like the rest of them do. It was not and is not a one shot deal as you described. It is ongoing with all of them. They outsdource to the lowest bidder. I use only Verbatim that has a media ID code of MCC 02RG20. Take a look at how many companies they have and still do outsource their disc manufacture to and you will see what I mean.

One cannot recommend by brand name only. Not in this day and age with outsourcing as the norm. You have to look for a brand with the better Media ID code, that is why you are better off recommending by Media ID code and sticking with that only.

John

Thanks to all who posted on this topic.

One of the reasons I wanted some feedback is that I have been using +R and it does seem to have some issues with older players and some of the portable DVD players. The discs play just fine in all my players, but a few folks have had issues. Guess I'll get dome -R media and give it a shot.

All else being equal, - R seems to be easier and cheaper to come by than printable +R.

Ted

I recall reading a few years ago some papers that said the "+" format offered real improvements over the original "-" format, but older players had never been designed with "+" in mind so they might reject such a disk--which is why the common technique has been to relabel a + format disk as a "-rom" one. Then the older players seemed to be okay with it.