DVD Writer's: (+) vs. (-)

[Guest]

For those of you with experience saving your edited video onto a DVD:

Ultimately, I'd like to be able to send my edited videos to family and friends in a high quality digital format (DVD) so that they can sit on their couch and watch it on their TV.

- Is it best to buy a DVD Writer that will burn both "+" and "-" format?
- Will a DVD written in "+" format play on an old "-" format DVD player?
- Do you have to keep records of which people on your distribution list are able to play which format?
- Why is it that a movie on DVD rented or purchased from the store will play on all DVD players?

 

[Aloke Prasad]

For those of you with experience saving your edited video onto a DVD:

Ultimately, I'd like to be able to send my edited videos to family and

friends in a high quality digital format (DVD) so that they can sit on their
couch and watch it on their TV.

- Is it best to buy a DVD Writer that will burn both "+" and "-"

format?

Yes. Sony and Plextor make good writers. I use Sony DRU501 at work and
Plextor 708 at home.

- Will a DVD written in "+" format play on an old "-" format DVD

player?

Maybe. Depends on media and players used. Using DVD-R will be a safer bet
to work across most set-top players.

- Do you have to keep records of which people on your distribution

list are able to play which format?

Yes, unless you use DVD-R most of the time ..

- Why is it that a movie on DVD rented or purchased from the store

will play on all DVD players?

That's DVD-ROM. It is a different beast than any recordable media. It has
different optical properties.

http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#4.3