+R and -R ...another question (1 Viewer)

[yeders]

hey
i kno that -Rs are more readable on dvd players and stuff, and xbox's only trend to read -Rs, so yeah ive never used a +R, but yeah some dvd burners and burn +Rs faster then -Rs, but at work (dick smith) we were talking about sumthing how the 'standard' of blank dvd media is going to +R...anyideas?
any one kno of anything similar or can anyone maybe give me a more technical idea of the difference between the two? thanks

 

[MedNez]

Well, if you have a DVD-R burner, you can't burn DVD+R, obviously, and vica versa, however, some DVD burners burn both.

Computers with DVD-ROM drives can read both, and the main difference is how other devices will read them. Some players only read +R , some only read -R. Most read -R, and it has something like 90-95% compatability.

Basically, DVD-R more suited to video streams eg. movies, and DVD+R for anything else. Not actually sure which is cheaper, though, don't buy DVD blanks often.

 

[yeders]

yeah.... i figured most of that, the blanks are basically the same cost, yeah just is weird y have two different types of media, gona b really screwd when blu ray and EDVD cums out...along with a few others.

 

[MedNez]

Same as many things - why make more than one type of audio or video format? They probably started out as competing formats and then became the two standard ones. Since they work in different ways, they might have been the best two ways of burning to a DVD disk, when they came out.

*shrugs*

Technology changes - a year or two and they'll probably be base formats.

 

[sunny]

The two different formats are supported by two different groups, the DVD Forum (- formats, developed by Pioneer) and the DVD Alliance (+ formats). There are companies that push each format and some have their fingers in both to get the benefits.

The DVD Forum's format was the original one, but the licensing cost of technology was obviously expensive and that formed the DVD Alliance which created the + competing formats.

Which one of the two will be the de facto standard will depend on who you ask. But like Beta and VHS they'll eventually sort themselves out.