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

CDFreaks.com has published a few articles comparing the two leading DVD formats.

Please reference the articles here:
http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/113 <- most indepth article by Spath
http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/110
http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/122

Discussions regarding this topic are welcome in this thread.

Is there any advantage of +R over -R media?

I have read quite a few posts where people are having problems setting the booktype of +r media to DVD-Rom which I believe increases standalone compatability. Why not just use DVD -R instead?

Personally, I tend to burn a film to a DVD+RW first and once I have watched it and checked it is ok then I copy it to a DVD-R if I want to keep it. Luckily all 4 of my standalones will play -R/RW and +R/RW so I don't need to bitset anything anyway.

Just curious as to why people use +R over -R?

As you can probably tell, I'm new to this

One reason is better burn quality in combination with a certain burner model. I have a Lite-On 851 which burns +R quite a bit better than -R; this preference seems universal among Liteys. I don't know if any other brands behave similarly, but I wouldn't bet against drives made by pioneering members of the DVD-R standard setting committee burning -R better than +R. Maybe someone can confirm or deny.

Thanks for the quick reply!

Also, you will need to change your Avatar - they are called Baked Beanz now!

*edit* Just realised they are called Beanz in the UK only!

i don't seem to be able to find a thread regarding this issue, if it already exists i'm sorry.

I would just like to know which is better DVD+R or DVD-R

DVD+R, just 'cause my DVD decks supports the format. Check here and see what your DVD deck supports.

what do they really mean by using DVD+R on a computer there are extra features compared to DVD-R. Currently i'm using DVD-R to store some mpeg movies which i only play in on the computer, is it better for me to switch to DVD+R or i'm fine using DVD-R

is it true that DVD+R has better data protection compared to DVD-R

Bottomline, except for standalone player compatability, you won't notice ANY difference between equal quality DVD+R/DVD-R media from an end users perspective.

No kidding ?!

Why DVD+R(W) is superior to DVD-R(W)

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

Actually the biggest issue I've heard is that a most dvd players will moe often PLAY dvd-r but not as likely dvd+r. To me compatability of the media with the drive is most important. I've got 3 dvd players and 3 will play dvd-r, 2 will play dvd+r, and (the cheapest one) will play PAL, mpg, avi, and even jpg!

As for the difference there is little. If someone hands you a dvd+r disc you can easily burn it to a dvd-r with a +/- burner if you have an issue with your player. Just know what your dvd players like before you buy a spindle of dvd blanks. And of course have a dual format burner so you have the flexibility of choosing +/- media as well.

Dvd+r w/ the booktype setting to dvd-rom useing a bitsetting tool will be the most compatable.

at the moment I use dvd-r because

a) theyre easier to get hold of in the UK
b) They are slightly cheaper
c) anywhere that has a decent selection of +r charges a fortune to deliver to northern ireland
d) I own a nec 3500 which is an excellent dvd-r burner (though i hear its also brilliant with +)

When the availability of 8x dvd+r increases i'll probably switch (ive got bitsetting on my drive so no compatibility issues). But at the moment from my perspective its dvd-r

ops sorry for not being able to find those threads i'm quite new over here but thanks a lot for the info

My experience has been that a good quality DVD-R has the best compatibility. While it isn't much of an issue on set-top DVD Players it is definitely a big issue if you use DVD Recordables on your Videogame consoles. There definitely is an edge for -R media in this department. I realize that in terms of writing, ect. that DVD+R seems to be higher quality but in the end if it doesn't work on your machine then who cares. A large part of it is that there are so many more manufactuerers that are widely used on DVD-R so there is so much more variation in the quality. Stick to quality discs and you won't have any issues. While I realize they aren't the best discs (still great discs for the money though), I have burned well over 200 movie, XBOX, PS2 and data backups on to Ritek G03 and G04 DVD-R discs and outside of one defective disc in my first batch I have never had a coaster with any of them. Some of my discs are approaching 2 years of age and they still all play without a hitch. Also, make sure you read the responses to that article above as they make some good arguments against it.

I have a NEC3500AG with 2.18 upgrade. I'm using exclusively DVD+R right now...but what's the diff between DVD-R and DVD+R? Is the -R is any better/worse?

-R is recognized by all players as being a recordable DVD and in order for stand alone players to recognize it the firmware has to be programed to do this.

+R is recognized as a store bought retail DVD so most, if not all, players can play these discs because the player doesn't see it as anything other than a standard DVD. My player works with all of them just fine but I find that the +R discs load faster.

This is true if your burner is capable to do bitsetting, ie burn DVD+R with booktype DVD-ROM. If your burner cannot do bitsetting, then the booktype is the standard DVD+R. DVD-ROM booktype increases compatibility.

So when picking between the two, DVD-R is better (if must pick one)???

Read in the hardware NEC forum to find out about bitsetting for your drive. You need to flash your firmware to do bitsetting, it's not hard to do, just read a little. I also have the 3500, bitsetting works, sets your burned discs as DVD-ROM. Store bought DVD's are DVD-ROM, so it makes your burns more compatible as Zevia said. Players recognize them as a regular DVD.

If you don't bitset, then - discs are more compatible, especially with some older DVD players. But bitset, the + become the more compatible.
But a majority of new DVD players I think are compatible with - , + , and DVD-ROM, among other formats. Hope that helps you.

Personally, I'll only be going with + discs with bitsetting. I've only burned a few - discs, and may not ever burn anymore.

Hello All,

I have read a ton of info about DVD-R and DVD+R but cannot seem to determine which os better and which will be the mainstream product most likely to be supported in the future. Any info would be most appreciated.

I currently have a Sony DVP-NC615 5-Disk DVD Player. The documentation is unclear whether it will play DVD+R. The documentation says "DVD-R/RW (In Video Mode) DVD+RW, & MP3 Playback.". This is the only reference I can find to DVD+ anything. It will play VCD's & CD's also although they are not listed in the above line. Can anyone tell me if this unit will play DVD+R's?

Thank you very much for any info or assistance,

Brad

Well, first off you should have done a "SEARCH" this topic has been beat to death.
Now, I will give you my opinion. Most all modern dvd players could care less. There are a few older ones out there and a few newer ones that are picky when it comes to the plus format. For those players, the media can have the book type set to DVD-ROM and then most of them will read it without a problem. Not all drives will allow you to set the book type, but there are a number that will and several hacked firmwares that will allow you to as well.
As far as the media itself, I compare it to the Ford vs. Chevy debates. You will get people that are hard core either way. I personally use them both, depending on what I am doing. That is because some discs are only available in one or the other when you get into printable, hub printable, matte top, etc. I have noticed that there seems to be more DVD-R "garbage" out there than there is in the DVD+R format. There are still some crappy plus discs out there, don't get me wrong, I just think the people who make the lower quality media tend to stick to the minus format.
These opinions are mine alone, your mileage may vary etc. etc.

Reason being it is easier to make good quality +R than it is to make good quality -R hence why you see more crappy -R knockin' about, and aslong as he general public keep buying the cheapest possible crap we will see more posts on "why aint my Princo workin durrgh???"

But, I may be wrong, i dont think nero burns +r's so I usually get -r's

Nero does burn +R - burning one as we speak.

Cheers
WDA