Can anybody explain the differances between different DVD recording technologies, or point me to a webpage that does? Wich one is the most common? Wich ones (if any) can I play in an ordinary DVD-player? Capacity?
Thanks.
Basically, you got three different formats, DVD-R, DVD+R and DVD-RAM. There’s also DVD-RW and DVD+RW, which are the rewritable versions of DVD-R and DVD+R.
DVD-R, -RW and RAM are supported by DVDForum, while +R and +RW are supported by DVD+RW Alliance
Almost all DVD-players can play DVD-R, most can play DVD+R, and around 70% can play the two RW-formats. Almost no player can play DVD-RAM (this format is mostly used for data storage)
For more info, including formats supported by players and such, you should visit http://www.dvdrhelp.com/
The “plus” and “minus” discs have pretty-much the same features from the consumer’s viewpoint: they’re available in the same sizes (8- and 12-cm), there’s a record-once and an erasable/re-recordable version, etc.
It’s a more-aggravating version of the old VHS-versus-Beta videocasette-format war, because the competing disc formats are so similar. The major gotcha for a consumer is whether an indivudual device can play or record a specific disc; newer devices can handle a greater variety of discs.
The DVD-RAM is more specialised, optimised for computer data storage, and rarer.
All of the 12-cm recordable DVDs store around 4.7 billion bytes on a side (some are available two-sided, though I haven’t actually seen one). Recordable DVDs do not store data on multiple layers as pre-recorded stamped DVDs can.
DVDR Help is good; I also point people to the DVD FAQ.
Er, that link should be http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html
I went through this dance a month or so back. I ended up getting a DVD minus, however almost all the new DVD burners can do both.
Isn’t DVD ram media physically different? I thought it was in some type of cartridge or something.
I bought a drive that records all five types. Don’t need to worry about the dance. 
DVD-RAM originally came in cartridges, however, some of the discs can be removed from their cartridges. My recorder came with a Maxell DVD-RAM that had no cartridge, and was in a normal jewel case.
Somewhere recently I found a list of the types of DVD-RAM discs, which went something like:
Type 1: in cartridge, single-sided, non-removable. Type 2: in cartridge, single-sided, removable. Type 3: empy cartridge, removable. With the possible added variations of disk size and number of recordable sides and all, they were up to Type 9…
I wasn’t clear about it but I was looking for the formats for standalone video DVD recording, as a replacement for my broken VCR. I guess there is DVD-RW and/or DVD+RW for me then. Thanks!
Galerion, the discs are the same for both computer and standalone recording. (I don’t think there’s anything like those pre-taxed “CD-R for Music” discs here in the DVD world.)
The main difference is that computer recorders can be a lot more flexible in what they’ll do, and on the other hand to make a DVD-Video with them you need to learn a lot more.
I’ve never used a standalone DVD recorder. They’re around five times the price of a computer DVD drive.
I’ve read that some of the standalones use a streaming data format called DVD-VR to record the video to the disc without the filestructure and all the menus and things used by the regular DVD-Video data format. I’ve also read that the most common disc for this streaming format is DVD-RAM. This may include the 8-cm discs used by the new DVD camcorders. Are there players that can play discs containing DVD-VR data?
Now, the standalone recorders that don’t use this streaming format presumably make simple DVD-Video discs. Although that’s a good question. Every time you recorded Ahnold, would the recorder have to finish up by building the DVD-Video filestructire, adding a simple menu, etc?
If these standalone recorders use DVD-RAM discs, you need to find a player that can play DVD-RAMs. If these recorders can use R or RW discs, you’d be better off; these are more compatable with other players.
Everything I say in this post about standalone recorders should be taked with a big grain of salt… this is definitely something for research.