DVD Recording Formats

Recordable DVD formats

A format war between manufacturing groups has not done much to help ease the confusion and frustration that some users encounter when using DVD recorders. Panasonic, Pioneer and Toshiba are behind the DVD Forum, which backs the DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-R DL (dual layer) and DVD-RAM formats. The hyphen is far from insignificant -- experts refer to these as "DVD minus R" and so on. The DVD+RW Alliance, which includes Sony and Philips, backs the DVD+R, DVD+RW and DVD+R DL ("DVD plus R," etc.) formats.

While current DVD recorders can read and write most (and occasionally all) formats, compatibility with older DVD players is much more variable. DVD-RAM is not compatible with most older DVD players, aside from some Panasonic models.

Recordable DVDs have different functions, and confusion about what each type can and can't do is another source of user frustration. DVD-R and DVD+R are the two most widely compatible disc formats. Both types of discs need to be "finalized" after recording and before you can play them in other DVD players. These are "write-once" formats, meaning you can't reuse the disc.

DVD-RW and DVD+RW are re-recordable disc formats. That means you can erase and reuse discs over and over. DVD-RW discs have two recording modes, Video and VR. The VR mode has more editing options and CPRM compatibility, but discs recorded in VR mode aren't usually compatible with other DVD players. DVD-RAM discs have the most recording flexibility. While recording on DVD-RAM, you can pause, instant replay or fast-forward on data being recorded live. You can also watch one program while recording another. The discs are CPRM compatible, but not all DVD players support DVD-RAM.