# DVD-R vs. DVD+R **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 21, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-r-vs-dvd-r/336655 "2005-12-21T18:17:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-r-vs-dvd-r/336655/1 "2005-12-21T18:17:47Z")
If I have a recorder that burns both, and they are both the same price (this week at Staples), which is the better choice? ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-r-vs-dvd-r/336655/2 "2005-12-21T18:25:19Z")
It’s my understanding that it depends on what device you’ll be playing them on. I think if you’re playing them on your computer or the DVD recorder you mentioned, it doesn’t make much difference. If you’re going to play them on a stand alone DVD player, you’ll want to know if it plays DVD-R, DVD+R, or both. Information on specific DVD players [here](http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers). ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-r-vs-dvd-r/336655/3 "2005-12-21T18:51:32Z")
DVD-R is probably playable on more DVD players than DVD+R. But check your computers / DVD players , but check yours out in the link provided. My DVD recorded only burns DVD-R, and only OFICIALLY plays pre recorded DVDs or DVD-R, but word is that it unofficially plays DVD+Rs also. (My DVD player cannot read DVD+Rs, that is why I got a recorder that burns DVD-Rs) Brian ---
**Author:** ![Brute\_Force\_Orthodontics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/76d3ee/32.png) [@Brute\_Force\_Orthodontics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brute_Force_Orthodontics)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-r-vs-dvd-r/336655/4 "2005-12-21T20:44:59Z")
There’s an [old article at CDFreaks](http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/113) comparing the + and - formats. The author feels that + is better-engineered. Compatibility with standalone DVD players is a surprisingly complicated issue, since its effected by the media, the player, the recorder, the recording software, and the options chosen when burning: > [@](#): > > A famous example of such logical incompatibility is the “Book Type” field, which indicates the type of the disc. The first DVD-ROM specification only allowed 0 (i.e. read-only) to be written there, but later each recordable format defined its own value to identify itself ; unfortunately it turned out that some players simply refuse to read a disc with a non-zero value. To handle this problem, the latest DVD+R standard specifically authorizes to write a zero Book Type for compatibility reasons, and nowadays many drive manufacturers have made this bit programmable. But this cannot be done for DVD-R(W), as the Book Type (with several other information in the lead-in) are pre-embossed (i.e. pre-recorded) on blank media. Note however that although it reduces compatibility, this pre-recorded Book Type also improves copy-protection security, as it enables any player to easily identify a DVD-R(W) disc. My standalone DVD player was made in the late 90s, before any recordable DVD formats were common, yet it works fine with DVD+R discs with DVD-ROM book type. ---
**Author:** ![Fridgemagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@Fridgemagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fridgemagnet)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-r-vs-dvd-r/336655/5 "2005-12-22T03:02:39Z")
The DVD+R camp has most of the juicier patents, and so there are some non-ideal techniques with DVD-R, such as [land pre-pit](http://www.pioneer.co.jp/crdl/tech/dvd/6-3-e.html) data embedding instead of the much more robust DVD+R [wobble](http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/113) encoding. When DVD-R first came out, the discs were completely incomptable with ordinary DVD players, while from the very start DVD+Rs had [seamless linking](http://www.dvd-makers.com/public/657.cfm) that made a written +R/RW disc backwards-compatible. Now almost all DVD players are designed to be DVD-R compatible, and the DVD-R technology was tweaked a little to overcome the problems that prevented backwards compatibility, so that’s less of an issue these days. **SmackFu** , go for a named brand +R/RW player, not just the cheapest. Lots of companies can make working models, but making DVD recorders that work really well takes major resources that a no-name company hasn’t access to.