DVD-and-Media.com glossary of terms relating to dvd products, and useful links

Whichever DVD, DVDR, DVD-R, DVD-RAM,DVD+RW, format you are describing they are all - Digital Versatile Disc - and the format has now come of age. We're surrounded with new products and new mass storage systems.

Read a funny experience of one of our customers comments regarding DVD media types

DVD-R recorders are becomming more affordable by the day.. this is the future for many of us. We have all seen the success achieved already by DVD video. DVD video recorders are still reasonably expensive but now dvd video is an industry standard piece of kit with Pioneer and Panasonic leading the way - prices will be in line with a high quality video recorder - and it won't be long before we are all recording dvd to our hearts content! DVD-Video domestic recorders are already available - initial price tags were as high as £750, digital quality video recording is now available for as little as £65. DVD-Video players for the home are now within the budget of most homes.

DVDR is the once only recording media for DVD. If you like it's similar to the concept of CD-R, a WORM (Write Once Read Many) digital storage device. But that's where the difference ends. With a DVDR you can store more information, making it ideal for multimedia presentations, movies and audio. These DVDR are also DVD-ROM compatible and with the advent of the home DVD recorder, VHS will finally have a replacement offer better quality both for audio and video.

There is of course a re-writeable form DVDR, DVD+RW and like it or not DVD will not go away. We are now being offered sub £20 players and the price of VHS recorders now start well less than £30. No wonder sales of both are doing well on the high street. But wait. Let's look at the quality aspect. No one will disagree that DVD gives pin perfect pictures. The sound is CD quality, with surround if you have the necessary amp and speakers. Let's face it once you've brought a DVD you'll only buy a VHS film because it isn't out on DVD and what isnt nowadays. Stunning Home Cinema has reached the masses, if only you could record on your DVD player... You can now but you have to go buy a home dvd recorder, but alot of these models now come with hard drives to allow you to pause live TV as an added bonus.

Now we've mention VHS. Do you remember Betamax or Video 2000? Well the DVD player manufacturers are up to their tricks again. There are three recordable formats now being promised for the UK. Kenwood, LG, Onkyo, Pioneer, Sharp and Sony are offering DVD-RW. Hitachi, Panasonic, Samsung and Toshiba are favouring DVD-RAM. Phillips are currently the only manufacturer offering +RW. So what's the difference and which system will 'rule the roost'. To make things even more interesting DVD-R discs will only work in DVD-R drives/dvd players. As of 2006 most players and recorders dont have a problem with either format so at last they are starting to converge.

DVD-RW offers a 6 hour recording time limit, 32 recording quality levels and will play in existing DVD players. Whilst this format will be about 33% more expensive than RAM no disc caddy will be required for recording. Downsides are only 1,000 rewrites, the first systems are already in the stores (2004).

DVD-RAM media offers a shorter recording time than RW at 4 hours. Costing less than the RW discs, they will offer an anticipated 3 levels of quality. Currently they will not play in existing DVD players, but the manufacturers seem to think that this can be got round. A caddy is required for recording but to balance the cost it should be noted that 10,000 rewrites are being banded around. DVD+RW was originally devolved by Sony and Phillips before Sony decided to go down the DVD-RAM path. This format is a halfway house between the two formats utilizing DVD-RW media. Here at DVD-and-MEDIA.com we sell the blank media for the DVDR drives.

So which format will win? RAM will reached us first with cheaper media and cheaper machine, now I wonder? With DVDR down to as low as 10p a disc it isnt going to get any cheaper? However DVD RAM looks like an overgrown floppy disk and we all know what comes out of a dvd video case - yes standard DVD discs (not DVD RAM)... remember BetaMax versus VHS - well we are now looking at the DVD RAM versus DVD R and that DVD R will win hands down - if you have any contribution to the debate it is most welcome - email me by CLICKING HERE and maybe your views will appear here over the next few months.

So what's all the fuss about? Arising from the need to store ever-larger amounts of data on an optical disc, the pre-recorded DVD-Video (Digital Versatile Disc) can store 4.7 gigabyte of information corresponding to more than two hours of high- quality digital video on a single-sided (CD-size) 12 cm disc. The high-density successor to the popular CD media family, DVD not only meets foreseeable capacity needs, it is also well-suited to the operating needs of the latest multimedia PCs and CE appliances using digitised audio, graphical and video information. Though pre-recorded DVDs (DVD-ROM and DVD-Video discs) have been around for a while, recordable and rewritable DVDs are a more recent but crucial development. Already, several rewritable formats exist: DVD+RW, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM. Of these, DVD+RW, developed in co-operation by Hewlett-Packard, Mitsubishi Chemical, Philips, Ricoh, Sony and Yamaha, provides a breakthrough in DVD technology: a rewritable format that provides full compatibility with existing DVD-Video players and DVD-ROM drives. As consumer and IT applications for DVD continue to converge, DVD+RW provides a disc format suitable for both real-time video recording and random data recording - the best of both worlds - in a system that also offers effective means to prevent unauthorised copying of copyright-protected content.

DVD+RW Video format
The pre-recorded DVD-Video market is booming, and Philips believes that DVD-Video will become the mainstream pre-recorded video distribution format. Adding recording capabilities to DVD players will further boost the appeal of the DVD system. Of course, for long-term success it is essential that both home-recorded and pre-recorded discs can be played on the same equipment. This is one reason why DVD+RW is a major breakthrough in rewritable DVD technology. Philips' DVD+ReWritable Video format, based on the recently announced 4.7 GB DVD+RW storage technology, provides compatibility with existing DVD-Video and DVD-ROM equipment, and allows media interchange between consumer electronic equipment and PC platforms.

Two-way compatibility
DVD+RW Video technology provides a unique advantage: Recorded discs can be played back on existing DVD- Video players. Recordings made with a DVD Video Recorder on DVD+RW discs can be played on DVD Video players as well as on PCs with a DVD-ROM drive and MPEG2 video decoding capability. DVD+RW discs offer up to 4 hours record/playback time per side, resulting in recording capacities of up to 8 hours for double-sided discs.

High-quality video at extended recording times
DVD+RW Video is encoded in MPEG2 with variable bit-rate, providing high bit-rates where necessary while no storage capacity is wasted in scenes with less dynamic video. This means that with the same disc capacity much longer recording times can be achieved, or the recording quality can be further improved without reducing the recording time. DVD-Video playback compatibility with real-time variable bit-rate recording is achieved by using 'Lossless linking', a technique developed specifically for DVD+RW.

Simplified editing
Philips' DVD+RW Video technology also offers easy-to-use-editing facilities. Whereas editing private camcorder material on conventional equipment generally requires two video devices, random access to a DVD+RW disc means editing can be done using a single DVD Video Recorder. This brings editing within reach of the average consumer and makes it quick and very easy to use. Because of its PC-compatibility, advanced editing of DVD+RW Video can be done on a PC. With the addition of DVD+RW to the DVD media family, consumers get the best of both worlds - pre-recorded high-quality recordings, plus home-recording capability. Without doubt, rewritable DVD will stimulate further growth of the DVD Video market, strengthening its long-term interest to both equipment manufacturers and the movie industry alike.

Latest Technologies
8cm DVDR for camcorders
Dual Layer DVD media

Regards, Simon Young - Partner DVD-and-MEDIA.com

Below are some useful links: -

Should you wish to see the up to date full DVD FAQ please click here you will be taken to dvddemystified.com where the industry FAQ resides.

Amusing customer comment

Digital Digest - DVD Video resource

The DVD Forum - News, Technology and Manufacturers information

Cnet.com - Technology and events news, DVD section

1. What is Blu-ray?
Blu-Ray is the name of the next generation disc recording and playback format.

2. What capacity will a Blu-ray disc have?
The single sided discs are expected to hold up to 27GB of data or 13 hours of film and will be available
in a recordable format. The recording technology works in the same way as current DVD players but the new Blu-ray drives will use a blue laser to read the discs. Blue lasers have a shorter wavelength (405 nanometer) than the red lasers used in DVD (650 nanometer) allowing them to focus on a smaller area. This means that more information can be stored onto the disc.There are plans that by utilising single sided dual layer technology the eventual capacity could rise to 50GB per disc.

3. Will there be writable, re-writable and read only versions just like CD and DVD?
Yes, BD-R write once, BD-RE re-writable and BD-ROM read only.

4. Will the Blu-ray recorders be able to play other disc technologies?
Despite the different lasers used it is likley that Blu-ray recorders will be made compatible and allow playback of CD's and DVD's.

5. Why the need for so much capacity?
Apart from the usual answer that technology always find some way to increase to the capacity available, the widespread introduction in Japan and eventually throughout the World of high definition broadcast
TV, means that DVD will simply not have the capacity to record for any length of time at this new 'data hungry' standard. A Blu-Ray disc would store 13 hours of standard definition TV but only 2 to 3 hours
of High Definition TV.

6. Who is behind the technology?
Sony, Matsushita, Hitachi, Pioneer, Sharp, Samsung, LG, Philips and Thomson have all pooled their rescources and hope to make this a definitive standard, unlike DVD which has two competing standards DVD-R and DVD+R. There is a another format being proposed by Toshiba and NEC called Advanced Optical Disc (AOD) but with such a large number of supporters in the Blu-ray camp it is expected that
Blu-ray will be the dominant and adopted standard.

7. Will the discs look similar to a CD or DVD?
Yes at 12CM diameter the same dimension but they are likely to be encased in a cartridge to protect them from dust and finger marks.

8. 27GB how long will it take to record?
At 1x speed recording it would take about 1 hour 35 minutes for a full disc but companies are already working on 2x speed recorders which would cut this time in half.

9. When are the recorders and discs likely to become widely available?
The hardware is still being developed and it is not expected to become available until 2005. Initially
Blu-ray is expected to be a complimentary technology to DVD and it's introduction will not simply force DVD out of the market. Eventually though it is expected that it will replace VCR and current DVD technology as well as becoming the standard format for PC data storage and high definition film.
Initial publicity quotes recorders at $3,800 and discs at $30 each.