DVD drives come in different speeds and formats. The main factor to consider when buying is its purpose. Advanced options include burners, DVD-R and DVD+R support, and dual DVD drives. DVD-R was the first format, while DVD+R has the same capacity. DVD-RAM offers more storage capacity but requires a specialized drive. A dual DVD drive with DVD-RAM is versatile and can read and write all formats.
DVD drives come in many different speeds with a variety of options and formats. The main factor to consider when buying a DVD drive is its purpose. Usually, a DVD drive is designed to play DVD movies and audio CDs, as well as read DVD-Rom and CD-Rom discs.
Consumers interested in getting a more advanced DVD drive will need to consider other options, such as burners, drives that support DVD-R technology, and drives that support DVD+R technology. The only difference between the two formats is how the DVD drive determines the position of the laser on the disc. DVD-R discs are read by the DVD drive through special grooves on the disc known as land prepits, while DVD+R measures a disc’s oscillation frequency. A consumer can also purchase a “dual DVD” drive that supports both DVD-R and DVD+R formats, generally known as DVD±R.
The DVD-R format, introduced by Pioneer in 1997, was the first to hit the market. DVD-R is a single read-only and write-only optical disc that allows the user to copy movies or data with a capacity of 4.37 GB using the DVD drive. The DVD-RW format can be written and rewritten many times.
The DVD-R format was split into two types in 2000 for security reasons. These types are DVD-R for Authoring, or DVD-R(a), and DVD-R for General, or DVD-R(g). While these types of DVD-Rs can read each other, they cannot write to each other’s format.
In 2002, Sony and Phillips introduced the DVD+R format. All DVD+R formats are compatible with each other. DVD+R has the same capacity as DVD-R e
DVD+RW works exactly like DVD-RW. This format also offers DVD+RW DL. the DL
stands for dual layer, a technology that allows a single drive to hold up to 8.5GB of information. DVD-RAM offers more storage capacity, but requires a specialized DVD drive which is more expensive.
The DVD-RAM format allows the DVD drive to rewrite the disc up to 100,000 times compared to only about 1,000 times for the average DVD-RW. It can be double-sided, allowing up to 9.74GB on a single DVD-RAM disc. This drive is ideal for users with mass portable storage needs.
A “double DVD” or DVD±R drive with DVD-RAM is very versatile, as it reads all formats of DVD technology and is capable of writing to all forms. Typically, a user will achieve 16x write speeds for DVD+/-, 8x write speeds for DVD+ DL, and 5x write speeds for DVD-RAM, as well as the ability to write regular CD-Rs at 48x with this type of DVD drive. This ensures that any disc format will work when using the dual DVD drive.
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