Duplication 101

If you've been shopping for blank CDs or blank DVDs
recently, you may have found yourself a bit
confused by all of the choices - CD-R, CD-RW,
DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW.  Trying to
figure out the abbreviations between them can be
a bit mind racking indeed.

To make matters worse for those who aren't up on
the lastest marvels of technology is the rate at
which the industry of technology is evolving. 
Just when you think you've caught on to the
concepts of MP3s and burning CD and DVD media,
new twists on blank media hits the market and
you found yourself confused more than you were to
start with.

The "R" found in CD-R and DVD+/-R media stands for
recordable.  It will tell consumers that these
disks are blank recordable media.  You can record
movies, data, music, and photos on the disc, but
the discs cannot be erased.

The "RW" on CD-RW and DVD+/-RW media stands for
rewritable.  This lets you know that media with
RW on them can be recorded and erased several
times.  Even though the prices for blank CD and
DVD media is inexpensive, you can expect to pay
a bit more for RW type media.

The biggest source of confusion stems from DVD-R
and DVD-RW and how they are different from DVD+R
and DVD+RW media.  In order to avoid a long
technical speech on the differences, you simply
need to know that each DVD types can record
movies just like the next type.

DVD+R and DVD+RW are a newer more expensive
technology that offers a few technical advantages
over DVD-R and DVD-RW.  None the less, DVD-R has
greater compatibility with more DVD players than
any other format of blank DVDs.

If you have a newer DVD player or if you use your
computer to play back media, you should have no
problems with DVD+R/DVD+RW media.  Some say that
they provide a better range of quality, although
the quality is indeed similar.

Keep in mind that all recordable CD and DVD media
do the same thing regardless of their particular
brand or extension.  Because there is not an
industry standard that involves DVD technology,
not every DVD player is compatible with each and
every format you see on retail store shelves.

For this very reason, you should always check with
DVD player manual to see which type of recordable
media it will play back.  This way, you'll know
what to buy the next time you go shopping for
blank CD or DVD media.