I currently use +R discs since they are more compatible with my burner...supposedly. I always used -R's in the past since they apparently have higher success rates in terms of being compatible with dvd players. (According to several sites like afterdawn: "Not surprisingly, the "minus" wins the compatibility test with a fairly large margin. CDR-Info has used various media brands, burners and popular DVD players for the comparison, and the result is that DVD-R was playable at 96,74% of times, while DVD+R resulted a 87,32% score."


Which would most DVD players be more compatible with:

DVD-R or DVD+R set to booktype DVD-ROM?

For example, with the Verbatim +R's that I use now (set to booktype dvd-rom)...my parents have 2 dvd players...a Panasonic and a Sony (both models made around the same time). Nearly EVERY disc I play on the panasonic i get tons of fragments, blocks, and skipping. The same discs on the Sony...flawless throughout the entire video.

More standalone players are compatible with DVD-R than any other format however that's primarily for historical reasons as DVD-R came out first.

Some older machines won't work with anything other than DVD-R but recent standalone players will in general cope with any format you can throw at them.


Wombler

I thought that DVD+R booktyped to DVD-ROM "tricks" dvd players into thinking it's a regular DVD-ROM disc...thus compatible with more dvd players than a DVD-R?

Could be true a few years ago, now not an issue.

I just found it so strange that the Sony downstairs in my parents house played all these booktyped to dvd-rom dvd+r's flawlessly and the Panasonic upstairs wouldn't play any without skipping/fragments...

The problem you mention here is not related to booktype or disc type but is more likely related to burn quality or problems on the Panasonic.

Probably with the DVD player as most of my quality tests are 90-95 with max PIF at 2.

So bottomline...buy -R over +R for best compatibility?

I think Verbatims +R are supposed to burn best on my dvd burner...

but the -R's always had good results too...hmm...

Since you guys have been so helpful...hopefully you can help me out with this problem as well after determing whether -R or +R and Verbatims would be best? :-)

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f48/sony-cd...ro-7-a-237069/

^ that problem!

Yes that's correct but with older players it doesn't always work.

I'd taken my lead from the way your original query was phrased but perhaps you've skewed things a bit by asking such a specific question.

Recent machines should be okay and presumably from a practical point of view this is all that matters to most people.


Wombler

But a lot of people still have players from a few years ago.

Mine's a Yelo 800 that's six years old and still going strong.

One of the very few machines that allows you to disable macrovision directly from the engineers menu.

It's still a good player even by todays standards so I won't be replacing it until it fails or I decide to upgrade.


Wombler

So back to my last post :-P

Why struggle?

you can buy a new dvd player at the supermarket for 20.00 that plays everything..
probably one of the cheapest elecronic devices you can buy today..

It's not my DVD player that was the issue...it was my one of my parents two. Mine plays them fine. I'm just more concerned about overall dvd player compatibility. Which is why I keep asking about -R vs +R vs +R booktyped to DVD-ROM!

Well without knowing what the compatibility of the players is I suppose the best answer is to try some DVD-R and see how you get on.


Wombler

In my experience, DVD+R booktyped to DVD-ROM is more compatible than DVD-R.

That's more than probable and I don't doubt your own personal experience but detailed research says otherwise.

There are too many players on the market for one persons experience to be statistically representative.

Here's one widely reported and very comprehensive test that was carried out a while ago by CDRInfo.

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Revi...ArticleId=7664

They tested over a thousand player/media combinations which in my mind is pretty representative.


Wombler

Well I have a really old APEX that accepts no written disks except DVD+R booktyped to DVD-ROM. It's in the guest room so doesn't get a lot of use and no doubt will eventually be replaced.

There are as many "tests" showing the opposite results, and many that show no difference. "tests" like these tend to show the results that were desired. Let's not even mention that that "test" is 5 years old, and none of the media or players used are available now.

Use Verbatim +R Book type to DVD-Rom and slow the write speed to 8X.

That's exactly what I have been doing...8X with booktype to dvd-rom :-)

And the point I was making was that firstly DVD-R is more compatible with older machines and secondly that these machines are still around. I thought that link was about as relevant as I could get in that context.

CDRInfo has no hidden agenda and is not affiliated with any supplier/manufacturer of standalone DVD players that I'm aware of. In any case it doesn't make sense that they would bother carrying out 1000+ combinations if they were attempting to show some predetermined result .

Anyway I'm not here to defend the motives of CDRInfo but merely cited this test as one that appears to be pretty comprehensive.

If there are any other group tests you're aware of that you think are more relevant then please post a link as I think it would add to what is already an interesting debate and I'd be more than keen to examine them.


Wombler

I fully agree with that statement.

Yes I agree also, but in my experience, I have found that DVD+ media booktyped to DVD_ROM is the best way to go, that old theory of DVD dash media being more compatible is old hat now.

If you want to stick with your old player stick with -r. Don't buy a crappy dvd player that plays everything that's like buying crappy media.

It should be noted that this test didn't take booktyping into consideration (unless I completely missed it). I agree that DVD-R is more compatible than "regular" DVD+R, but once booktyped to DVD-ROM, then I've never seen a player that would play DVD-R but wouldn't play DVD+R booktyped to DVD-ROM.

Nevermind what I said I have no idea whats more compatible. I do know I have not seen any problems with -r in any players unless it was from faulty ripping, or burning, encoding, analyzing, hardware ( drives, RAM, hardrive, mobo, ext.), software, cheap media ( Oh and cheap dvd players).