DVD Formats

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jmonahan

What formats are the typical movie DVD's in that you buy or rent? Are
they -R, +R, or some other type?
Thanks,
BB
 
What formats are the typical movie DVD's in that you buy or rent? Are
they -R, +R, or some other type?
Click to expand...

I'm guessing that they must be "something else," as there are DVD
players (on the list below) that cannot play DVD-R, and others that
can't play DVD+R discs, but can presumably play production discs.

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers

Just a WAG, though.
 
What formats are the typical movie DVD's in that you buy or rent? Are
they -R, +R, or some other type?
Thanks,
BB
Click to expand...

The DVDs you buy are totally different. They actually hold way more
data. Store bought DVDs may encompass a variety of formats for all I
know but they used to say it was DVD 9 around 8.5 gigs I think.

The writables DVD+/- hold way less. Thats why you have to usually
use something like DVD shrink etc to compress the files to fit on
writable unless you rip only a few files. Sometimes you can just rip
the main movie and itll fit on a writable w/o compressing.

You know people are still saying DVD-Rs are vastly more compatible
than +Rs but back when DVD players really were more less compatible a
few tests at some sites showed that the gap wasnt exactly huge between
+/- and Im sure the more recent players are far more compatible with
both. Frankly from my old 2.4x speed Memorex to my Nec burner now Ive
used +/- and they both work on every players Ive tried them on -- a
really old Panasonic, Apex, Lennox, Proton, Pioneer , Sony etc.

However I do see people posting from time to time that they cant get
any player to play their disks.
 
The DVDs you buy are totally different. They actually hold way more
data. Store bought DVDs may encompass a variety of formats for all I
know but they used to say it was DVD 9 around 8.5 gigs I think.

The writables DVD+/- hold way less. Thats why you have to usually
use something like DVD shrink etc to compress the files to fit on
writable unless you rip only a few files. Sometimes you can just rip
the main movie and itll fit on a writable w/o compressing.

You know people are still saying DVD-Rs are vastly more compatible
than +Rs but back when DVD players really were more less compatible a
few tests at some sites showed that the gap wasnt exactly huge between
+/- and Im sure the more recent players are far more compatible with
both. Frankly from my old 2.4x speed Memorex to my Nec burner now Ive
used +/- and they both work on every players Ive tried them on -- a
really old Panasonic, Apex, Lennox, Proton, Pioneer , Sony etc.

However I do see people posting from time to time that they cant get
any player to play their disks.
Click to expand...

Somewhat unrelated to the type of media, but a question that has been
unanswered in my mind:

I know that most DVD burners do not burn Dual Layer media today, and
many written DVDs that are bought are dual layer. That is why programs
that strip away unwanted portions of the DVD a person is wanting to copy
are popular. My question is just how is the second layer on a DVD read?
Does the reader read all of one layer before reading the second layer,
or does it alternate between layers on a DVD when reading it?

The answer is just to satisfy a curiosity, and nothing more. Thanks.
 
Somewhat unrelated to the type of media, but a question that has been
unanswered in my mind:

I know that most DVD burners do not burn Dual Layer media today, and
many written DVDs that are bought are dual layer. That is why programs
that strip away unwanted portions of the DVD a person is wanting to copy
are popular. My question is just how is the second layer on a DVD read?
Does the reader read all of one layer before reading the second layer,
or does it alternate between layers on a DVD when reading it?

The answer is just to satisfy a curiosity, and nothing more. Thanks.
Click to expand...


Actually I think most or a lot of the new burners are dual layer now.
Mine is and I got mine cheap (NEC) a while ago its pretty old hat now
to get a burner with that ability, The problem is no one is hardly
doing it so it hasnt caught on at all because the media is grossly
expensive compared to DVD-R single layer media which has been falling
like crazy. In fact since compressing it a bit or ripping only the
main movie etc is so easy and popular --- it maybe the case that Blu
Ray or the competing format may be on the mkt and actually start
catching on bypassing dual layer if the media doesnt start falling in
price reasonably soon.

I am no techie when it comes to the formats I only know what I read.

Heres some info from one site:

The two layers on a dual-layer DVD are a reflective layer called Layer
0 and a semi-reflective layer called Layer 1. Layer 0 is always
written first, and generally, the data that doesn't fit on Layer 0
goes on Layer 1. All DVD players are equipped to read dual-layer
(DVD-9) discs. The read laser refocuses when switching layers.

According to LaBarge, it's advisable, whenever possible, to place
layer changes at inconspicuous points in the video, when the screen is
dark or the audio silent, so viewers won't notice if the player pauses
to refocus the laser. (Some older players with smaller read-ahead
buffers will pause no matter what; my 1999-vintage Pioneer DV-414,
which trumps cheap new players on media compatibility and playing high
bit-rate video from recordable media, pauses noticeably on every layer
change). LaBarge also recommends lowering the video bit rate just
prior to the layer change to allow the data buffer to store more
frames. This tip only applies to authors using variable bit rate
encoding, a feature not available in popular consumer tools. But it
certainly applied to anyone authoring DVD-9s for replication when DVD
Authoring & Production was published—a high-end professional
audience—and will apply to most early adopters of dual-layer writable
DVD technology.


http://www.emedialive.com/Articles/PrintArticle.aspx?ArticleID=8421
 
Actually I think most or a lot of the new burners are dual layer now.
Mine is and I got mine cheap (NEC) a while ago its pretty old hat now
to get a burner with that ability, The problem is no one is hardly
doing it so it hasnt caught on at all because the media is grossly
expensive compared to DVD-R single layer media which has been falling
like crazy. In fact since compressing it a bit or ripping only the
main movie etc is so easy and popular --- it maybe the case that Blu
Ray or the competing format may be on the mkt and actually start
catching on bypassing dual layer if the media doesnt start falling in
price reasonably soon.

I am no techie when it comes to the formats I only know what I read.

Heres some info from one site:

The two layers on a dual-layer DVD are a reflective layer called Layer
0 and a semi-reflective layer called Layer 1. Layer 0 is always
written first, and generally, the data that doesn't fit on Layer 0
goes on Layer 1. All DVD players are equipped to read dual-layer
(DVD-9) discs. The read laser refocuses when switching layers.

According to LaBarge, it's advisable, whenever possible, to place
layer changes at inconspicuous points in the video, when the screen is
dark or the audio silent, so viewers won't notice if the player pauses
to refocus the laser. (Some older players with smaller read-ahead
buffers will pause no matter what; my 1999-vintage Pioneer DV-414,
which trumps cheap new players on media compatibility and playing high
bit-rate video from recordable media, pauses noticeably on every layer
change). LaBarge also recommends lowering the video bit rate just
prior to the layer change to allow the data buffer to store more
frames. This tip only applies to authors using variable bit rate
encoding, a feature not available in popular consumer tools. But it
certainly applied to anyone authoring DVD-9s for replication when DVD
Authoring & Production was published—a high-end professional
audience—and will apply to most early adopters of dual-layer writable
DVD technology.


http://www.emedialive.com/Articles/PrintArticle.aspx?ArticleID=8421
Click to expand...

Excellent article, thanks. Wow, there really is a lot to dual layer
DVDs. The article answered in great detail how the different types are
read.
 
What formats are the typical movie DVD's in that you buy or rent? Are
they -R, +R, or some other type?
Thanks,
BB
Click to expand...

DVD-Video, which is may be considered a DVD-ROM type. (The dash is
optional, but is officially present, as defined by the DVD forum). It
may also be referred to unofficially as a "pressed DVD", as that's how
they're made, and the data is stored as physical pits, rather than
variations in opacity in an intermediary layer as with the writeable
formats (see below).

Look under the DVD bluebooks section:

http://www.dvdforum.org/tech-dvdbook.htm

DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM all refer to writeable formats.
The -/+ rubbish doesn't apply to the DVDROM variants.
 
Practically speaking an Apple will not read a DVD+, but will read a DVD-.
Commericially produced movies appear to be DVD- cause those propriatory
Apple machines read'em.
 
Practically speaking an Apple will not read a DVD+, but will read a DVD-.
Commericially produced movies appear to be DVD- cause those propriatory
Apple machines read'em.
Click to expand...

The reasoning behind your statement is flawed. If I followed your
line of reasoning then if I find a drive that doesn't read DVD-R discs
very well, but does read DVD-ROM without problems, then DVD-ROM must
be a DVD+. By the way, the BenQ 800A DVD+R burner is one such drive.

All DVD drives have to be capable of reading the DVD-Video in order to
be a DVD drive. Further, all DVD-ROM drives have to be capable of
reading DVD-ROM by definition. DVD burners are backwards compatible
with DVD-ROM drives.

That's not to say that your statement is totally false. It's half
true, in that the DVD-ROM and DVD-Video formats are endorsed by the
DVD forum, which is the same group that originated the DVD-R format.
However, that doesn't mean that your statement is right either. The
problem is that the Alliance vs Forum (- vs +) rubbish only applies to
writeable formats. The Alliance is an offshoot from the Forum group.
The pressed DVD standards were never in dispute among those companies,
otherwise there would be a DVD+ROM format out there somewhere (which
there isn't).
 
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