The DVD Format War
How to choose the right format to fit your PC and your needs
January 24, 2003
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Different companies offer different recording formats |
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If you've purchased a PC in the last year or so, chances are you had the choice of adding a DVD recorder. Like CD burners, nearly every DVD recorder can create two types of discs: write-once ("R") and rewriteable ("RW" or "RAM") discs. At this point, it really doesn't matter what kind of DVD recorder you own, but it's good to be aware of the format war going on at your local electronics superstore: DVD+R and DVD+RW (including HP and Philips) versus DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM (including Pioneer, Panasonic and Toshiba).
Don't be afraid. The different formats don't mean big differences for most users. It is important to know that a finalized DVD+R or DVD-R disc will play in nearly all new DVD players, whereas the rewriteables (DVD+RW and DVD-RW) aren't always guaranteed to play. DVD-RAM, favored by Panasonic and several other companies because it can be manipulated like a floppy disk, won't play in many third-party DVD players, but it's nice for video editing. As you'll see below, Sony decided to walk straight down the middle, and now builds DVD recorders that take both DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW media.
In the end, it just comes down to what you've got: remember the format of your DVD recorder, and forget there ever was a format war.
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