What the difference between DVD-R and DVD+R?

Question

I went to the electronics store and there was 2 types of DVD disc's. DVD-R and DVD+R. (they were both the same price)

Whats the difference? All i wanna do is burn DVD's

Answer 1

DVD+R does both. DVD-R is originally just for one purose.  So easy choice.

DVD-DL (Double Layer) is another thing. Depends on your Recoder if that works

Answer 2

The DVD-R   'minus' discs can only be written to in one layer on the discs surface.

The DVD+R  'plus' discs can be written to in multiple layers, giving them slightly better quality and more disc storage than the 'minus' format. Because of this additional capacity, they are usually slightly more expensive than 'minus' discs.

They can both only be used once.

Answer 3

i believe dvd-r are eraseable, but dvd+r are not.

Answer 4

You need to buy the format supported by YOUR DVD drive.

Check the front of your drive for the Logos.  Most drives read BOTH but write in only ONE format.

Answer 5

Hi Ra Ra Razzle!! ,

The DVD+R and DVD-R are competing formats much like the old VHS and Beta formats in video tapes. Today most drives are Hybrid and handle both formats. They are usually labeled DVD+/-R

The market for recordable DVD technology never settled down in favor of either the plus or dash formats, which is mostly the result of the increasing numbers of dual-format devices that can record to both formats; it has become very difficult to find new devices that can only record to one of the formats. However, because the DVD-R format has been in use since 1997, it has had a five-year lead on DVD+R. As such, older or cheaper DVD players (up to 2004 vintage) are more likely to favor the DVD-R standard exclusively, and when creating DVD’s for distribution (where the playing unit is unknown or older) the DVD-R format would normally be preferable.

My personal experience has led me towards using the +R. It is slightly better at error handling so more tolerant of dirty or damaged media and also more tolerant to the subtle differences between players.

Norm