There is a lot of confusion between DVD-R and DVD+R as they have similar names, and they also have the same function and a lot of other similarities. Till now, many of you thought that both DVR-R and DVD+R are the same; while they can have a lot of things in common but they are not the same.
DVD-R vs DVD+R
The main difference between DVD-R and DVD+R is between their formats and how they control the laser beam’s location on the disc.
DVD-R is an optical disc recording technology or DVD recorder. It gives higher storage capacity. Pioneer developed this in 1997. This format is supported by standard DVD players and in approved DVD forums. DVD-R provides broad playback compatibility more with old players. It is more like a CD-R, but it has more storage capacity.
DVD+R stands for Vertical Disc Recordable; it looks more like a standard DVD. The “R” format in the disc is suitable for retaining data such as video, audio, pictures. Both DVD-R and DVD+R look quite similar.
Comparison Table Between Between DVD-R and DVD+R (in Tabular Form)
| Parameter of Comparison | DVD-R | DVD+R |
|---|---|---|
| meaning | It is an optical disc recording that can record video, audio, and pictures. | DVD+R stands for Vertical Disc Recordable, which is suitable for retaining data such as video, audio, pictures. |
| Function | DVD-R uses land-PrePits to control the location of the laser position. | It does not use land-PrePits to regulate the position of the laser; instead, it uses wobble frequency. |
| Design | Pioneer designed it in 1997 | Sony and Philips designed it in 2002 |
| Used | Companies use it like Pioneer, Toshiba, Hitachi, and Panasonic. | It is used by a company like Sony, Philips, Hewlett-Packard, Ricoh, and Yamaha. |
| Cost | DVD-R is usually less expensive than DVD+R. | It is costlier than DVD-R. |
| Dual-layer | Both single and dual-layer are available in the market, but they have less variety and availability of discs as compared to DVD+R. | It has more variety and availability of dual layers in the market. |
| Abilities | It does not have the ability to record DVDs partially on TV and partially on PC. | It has the ability to record DVD disc partially on TV and partially on PC. |
| Features | It does not have the features of rename the file name, movie playlist, and song titles. | It has the features of rename the file name, movie playlist, and song titles. |
| Capacity | A DVD-R mostly comes with a capacity of 4 706 074 624 bytes(4488 MB) for single layer; 8.5GB for dual-layer discs. | A standard DVD+R comes with a storage capacity of 4 706 074 624 bytes (4488 MB) for a single layer; 8.5GB for dual-layer discs. |
| Pronunciation | DVD-R is pronounced DVD dash | DVD+R is pronounced DVD Plus R. |
| Supported | Almost all DVD players support playback for DVD-R media. | Almost all DVD players can support playback for DVD+R media also. |
What is DVD-R?
DVD-R is also known as a digital versatile disc recordable. It looks like the same as a regular DVD; it records data just like CD-R. If the DVD-R gets burned, then you can’t use it to rewrite the data again. A single-sided, single-layer disc has a storage capacity of 4.7GB of data, and a double-sided or double-layer disc has a storage capacity of 8.5GB.
It is the most common format of a writable DVD. DVD-R can be read mainly by all DVD players and DVD ROM. You can use DVD-R for the backup of gigabytes data on your PC and can make your own video DVD. The Apple company computer also supports the DVD-R format.
Its format is very similar to CD-R. DVD-R can record data once, which is permanent in a disc. You cannot record on that disc for the second time. Two additional DVD-R standards are DVD-RG, which is useful for general purpose, and DVD-RA, which is useful for mastering DVD video, generally not available for the normal public.
Worldwide famous companies such as Panasonic, Toshiba, Apple Computer, Hitachi, NEC, Pioneer, Samsung, and Sharp support this format type. It is also supported in the DVD forum. This format is cheaper than DVD+R.
What is DVD+R?
DVD+R stands for versatile disc recordable. It looks the same as a standard DVD, there is no physical difference between them, but it can record data. Single-sided and single-layer DVD+R has a storage capacity of 4.7GB of data, and on the other hand, double-layer discs have a storage capacity of 8.5GB, and double-sided have 9.4GB.
This format is not very common like DVD-R, but there are many DVD players and DVD-ROM drives, which still supports it. It is one of the expensive formats which was made by Sony and Philips and used by companies like Sony, Philips, Hewlett-Packard, Ricoh, and Yamaha.
Drive that reads both DVD+R and DVD-R is known as DVD?R drives. DVD+R has the ability to record DVD disc partially on TV and partially on PC, and this format can also rename the file name, movie playlist, and song titles. It is a rewritable disc that can erase data and rewrite it.
Main Differences Between DVD-R and DVD+R
- Both DVD-R and DVD+R are recordable disks supported mainly in all devices.
- DVD+R is one costlier recordable disc as compare to DVD-R
- In DVD-R, you can only write it once, while on DVD+R, you can rewrite the data.
- DVD-R does not check errors while recording. On the other DVD+R, check the error while recording.
- DVD-R has more risk of interference and error.
- DVD-R does not provide users to record and format at the same time. On the other hand, DVD+R provides the users to record and format at the same time.
- In terms of storage capacity, DVD-R has a capacity of 4 706 074 624 bytes(4488 MB) and it is just for single layer; 8.5GB for dual-layer discs. On the other hand, DVD+R has a storage capacity of 4 706 074 624 bytes (4488 MB) for a single layer, 8.5GB for dual-layer discs.
Conclusion
As the prime difference between DVD-R and DVD+R is classified, we can tell that they are very different. They both have different functions and features, plus it is very difficult to tell which one is better.
In today’s world where the internet is a trend, therefore DVD and CD’s popularity has been less as people think they are a waste of money nowadays. If you have to choose between two, I will recommend you to go with DVD+R.
References
- https://www.journal.csj.jp/doi/abs/10.1246/bcsj.75.2067
- https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/1263960/