The difference in DVD formats

[Adu]

TO CLEAR UP UR CONFUSION!

How is DVD+R/+RW related to competing formats like DVD-R/-RW/-RAM?

DVD+R/+RW, DVD-RAM and DVD-R/-RW are all rewritable DVD formats, however, only DVD+R/+RW is designed from the start to be compatible with existing DVD-ROM drives and DVD-Video players, both on a physical as well as on a logical level. This means that a DVD+R or DVD+RW disc recorded in a DVD+R/+RW video recorder can be played in virtually all DVD-Video players or DVD-ROM equiped PCs, and that any DVD+R or DVD+RW disc recorded with data on a PC DVD+R/+RW drive can be read by most DVD-ROM drives.

DVD-RAM uses a totally different kind of physical recording method, which is absolutely incompatible with DVD (hence, it can hardly be called 'DVD'). No normal DVD player will be able to read DVD-RAM discs, even if you use the newer DVD-RAM version without a cartridge housing.

DVD-R and DVD-RW were initially not designed to be used as a DVD-compatible recording solution. DVD compatibility was added at a later point, however since the formats were not developped for this purpose, they do not offer the level of compatibility and flexibility (while remaining DVD compatible!) that DVD+R/+RW offers. Furthermore, DVD-R/-RW is less suitable for data applications as well due to a number of technical limitations (such as the inability of random access writing). For a very extensive comparison of the various formats, please refer to Comparison with DVD-R/-RW Video Recorders and Comparison with DVD-R/-RW PC Drives.

The DVD-RAM and DVD-R/-RW supporters have announced numurous compatibility programs for their DVD players (such as "DVD-Multi" and "VR support"), however only a small minority of players will include these (costly!) additions. DVD-RAM/-R/-RW lies the burden of compatibility on the player,