Article
DVD plus or minus?
by Juan Ruiz
Before you begin to read the rest of this article, I took the liberty of exchanging the - (dash) with an easier concept - (minus). It makes more sense to me to say, "minus, plus" than it is to say, "dash, plus." Most people say, "plus or minus," "mas o menos," "comsi, comsa." You get the point. (Or was that a period? Never mind.) With that in mind;
DVD - (minus) Vs. DVD + (plus) take your pick.This is the story of two different standards; much the same as it was in the 70's with BETA and VHS. We all know how that ended. In this article, I will explain the differences and similarities of DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW. A group of companies created a standard for DVD recordable media for consumers. It was simply known as DVD-R/RW which stands for Digital Versatile Disk - (minus) Recordable / Re-Writable. This standard was expensive to license so another group of companies got together and created the competing standard known as "+". That's it. Wow.
That was easy. Well, almost. You see, I researched large volumes of text (on the Internet of course) and all I got out of it without going too deep into the actual standards is that they are two different competing standards just as BETA and VHS are for video tape. Lucky for us, most DVD players are compatible with both standards. Therefore, either one will PLAY in our DVD players.
The only time you and I need to worry about the + (plus) or the - (minus) is when we buy media for our own creations. Take note of which DVD recorder you have and buy that type of media. If your computer came with a built in recorder, read the front of the cover. Know that if you have a - (minus) writer, you must buy - (minus) media. If you have a + (plus) writer you must buy + (plus) media. And last, if you have a -/+ (minus/plus) writer, you can buy either type and your recorder will burn which ever you feed it.
Market share of each standard is about 50/50 and player compatibility is about 90%. Each standard seems to be equally as good. If you are planning to buy a DVD recorder, you should not fret too much about your choice. The only consideration I may have is price.
I would recommend you buy a DVD Recorder that can record on both media types. Even though it might be a few bucks more expensive than a single type, you will have more choices when buying media. Plus or Minus. Either way, you win.
Terms:
DVD: Digital Versatile Disk. (The most accurate definition) Some think it stands for Digital Video Disk and for good reason. Most DVDs are Movies or Video programming. But, it truly is "versatile" since you can record almost anything to it. Like CD-Rs, you can record music, pictures, data, and (yes) video on a DVD (as long as it is an "R" recordable, or "RW" re-writable. You would be hard pressed to record on a-- well, hard pressed DVD.
DVD-ROM: "Hard Pressed" DVDs that are not recordable or re-writable. Most movies come in this format. Once you record on a DVD-/+R, it becomes a DVD ROM. DVD-R: Digital Versatile Disk Recordable. Meant to be recorded once. Supported by the DVD Forum comprised of hundreds of companies such as Pioneer, Panasonic, Toshiba, to name a few.
DVD+R: Digital Versatile Disk Recordable. Meant to be recorded once. Supported by the DVD+RW Alliance with companies such as Sony, Philips, Yamaha, HP, and others. DVD RW (minus or plus) Digital Versatile Disk Re-writable. Can be recorded onto multiple times. All DVD media described above has the capacity to hold 4.7 Gigabytes of information. The Movie DVDs you rent or buy prerecorded have a different standard altogether and can hold 4.7GB to 17GB of information. These are-- hard pressed.
