Sarasota PC Monitor
Tech Talk (09/03)
Which DVD For Me?
by Brian K. Lewis, Ph.D.*
Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.You may have noticed that many new computers are being delivered with DVD players and CD burners, but not with DVD burners. So why is that? The problem is that the industry still has not settled on a single format for DVD players and burners. You can get a burner for your computer, but you have to specify which of three different formats you want.
The primary problem in selecting a burner has been this multiplicity of formats. DVD blanks come in write-once and rewriteable forms just as do CDs. However, these are further divided into DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs. In this case the + (plus) and - (minus) designators are very important. Discs written on a drive built to the + specification can not read discs written using the - specification. In addition some of the rewriteable discs can not be read in older DVD players. This corresponds to the problems that older CD players have with rewriteable CDs. Additionally, not every DVD ROM player can read computer prepared DVD non-rewriteable discs. Some will read DVDR, but not DVD+R. Since the DVD ROM players don't usually tell you which format they can read, this further complicates the selection process.
The DVD minus formats were developed by a consortium that includes Panasonic, Toshiba, Apple, Hitachi, Matsushita, NEC, Pioneer, Samsung, Time-Warner, Sharp and others. The DVD Forum (www.dvdforum.org) now supports these formats. Philips, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Mitsubishi, Ricoh, Yamaha and others developed the DVD plus format. They formed the DVD+RW Alliance (www.dvdrw.com). Even after several years, these competing formats have not been reconciled. However, a few companies have recently put multi-function DVD burners on the market. More on this later.
There is another format for DVDs called DVD RAM. This is a format that can be used as if it were a hard disc. You can drag and drop files to it, it can be erased and reused, and you can use one or 2 sides. The 2-sided version stores 9.4 GB of data. The catch is that these discs can not be played in existing DVD players or DVD-ROM drives. Also, not every DVD burner can read and write to these drives. You must have a DVD-RAM capable drive.
DVD discs come in 1-sided, 2 sided, and 1 or 2 layers per side. The number of layers and number of sides determine just how much information you can store on a disc. Commercial DVD video discs are the most frequent users of the 2 layer discs. They can store either 8.54 GB on 1-sided discs or 17 GB on a 2-sided disc. Generally, DVD burners for personal computers will use single sided, single layer discs that have a capacity of 4.7 GB.
Before you go shopping for a DVD burner you should decide what you want to use it for because that can determine the format you want to purchase. Are you going to use it to backup a hard disk or do you want to just drag and drop data files to it? In that case you may want a rewritable drive that works with double-sided DVD-RAM discs. Are you going to use it for converting VHS tapes to DVD? Then you want a write-once format that will work with your DVD player. If you want to record audio or video to a DVD format and then play it on a DVD recorder, you have to use care in selecting the recording format. Both DVD-R and DVD+R drives can read/write the DVD audio and video formats. However, not every DVD player can play these formats. For example, Iomega has a tutorial on its web site that helps you select the disc for your recording. The tutorial specifically states that you should test your drive and software to see which of the two formats work best.
In selecting a specific drive for converting VHS tapes to DVD, an important factor is the software. So you need to review the software bundle provided with the drive to determine if it will work with your equipment and if a video capture card is required.
I am not aware of any computer drives that will record to two layers. Therefore the video capacity of the disc is limited to 4.7 GB. This will provide about two hours of high quality video. Pioneer does have a DVD-R burner that will work with double-sided DVD-R discs. These have a capacity of 9.4 GB.
Up until a few months ago, all of these formats and the consequent problems caused me to caution against buying a DVD burner. However, Sony changed that situation by offering a DVD burner that supports all the formats except DVD RAM. This drive, the DRU-510A will read and write to both the plus and minus formats. The drive had a suggested price of well over $300.00. This was much higher than the price of a single format drive. The current street prices of this drive are generally under $300.00.
Not to be outdone, Iomega also produced a multiformat drive. In their case, the drive would also read/write DVD RAM. For some computer users, this added feature would be a distinct advantage. The street price for this drive is about $280.00. LG Electronics also has a DVD burner that includes DVD RAM and the plus/minus formats. It has a street price of just over $200.00.
Just recently NEC and Pioneer have released multiformat drives that have street prices below $200.00. Neither of them includes DVD RAM capability, but they do read/ write all the other formats. Sony has also released a new multi-format burner with a street price of just over $200.00. So the situation in the DVD burner marketplace has changed drastically. If you are in the market for a DVD burner, look carefully at the multi-format burners that have become available. Since most of them do not include DVD RAM, you will still have to decide which formats are important to you. However, you should be able to find a drive that will allow you to burn DVDs that will work with your home entertainment DVD player without worrying about the plus/minus format problem.
*Dr. Lewis is a former university & medical school professor. He has been working with personal computers for more than thirty years. He can be reached via e-mail at bwsail@yahoo.com or voice mail at 941/925-3047. :
Copyright 2003. This article is from the September 2003 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the publication the reprint appears in, please send to above address, Attn: Editor. For further information about our group, email: admin@spcug.org/ Web: http://www.spcug.org/The Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. has 1,100+ members and was established in 1982. We are members of the Assoc. of PC User Groups (APCUG), the Florida Assoc. of PC Users Groups, Inc., and we are members of the America Online Ambassador Program.
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