Some information for those new, and new to DVD burning

[savageamusement]

We have had quite a few new users online- New to trading, some older traders, but new to DVD.

SO I compiled a few things.
Consider it a "how to " Welcome Basket.
Although I bet it will be beneficial to more than just new burners!

I think it would be great it some other advice that I might have missed can be tossed in from some of our community, as there are a lot of people who can benefit from this right now.


***
Burning DVD/CD for a beginner can be very stressful and confusing. The DVD or CD burning process are unnecessarily complicate. Below are a few practical and easy tips that will help you in solving common DVD burning and playback problems.

* The Quality does matter.

Do you ever burn a CD that just keep skip songs itself on your cd player, or often your DVD Player won't even read the DVD-R that you just burn? Though there could be other reasons that might caused the DVD burning errors, but always burn DVD-R with good quality bands or buy them from a reliable merchant store.


* Examine every disc before burning.

Every now and then, defective discs can slip through the quality control inspection of even the most reputable manufacturers. Before burning, you might want to examine the underside of each DVD-R media for cracks, scratches, spots and blotches. Physical defects, especially those on the disc’s photosensitive layer, will cause burning errors and playback problems.
* Clean your DVD burner.

Burning DVD-R discs from unclean hardware or media can cause burning errors. Dust the external part of your DVD burner regularly to prevent contaminants from reaching the laser eye. Also handle and store discs with care. Keep them dust-free, and aside from grime or grease that may result in imperfect and unplayable DVD-Rs.
* Choose user-friendly software and hardware.

Think using a professional level of burning software and hardware will also brings your blank DVD-R disc professional playback quality? You may want to rethink on that, look for user-friendly software that you can easily follow through. If your software has a complicated interface, you will easily make mistakes that can interrupt the burning process. Also make sure that both your DVD burner and software have good technical support or warranty services. Then when things go wrong, it always helps to consult with the experts.
* Update software regularly.

Software does have expiration date too. Burning DVD-R errors are sometimes due to software's incompatibility. Most of time, the software designers will release the newer version that you need to check and install them regularly. If you register your burning application and regularly install updates, you could save yourself a lot of unnecessary trouble.
* Focus on one application.

For more efficient DVD burning, you may want to close all other programs, including anti virus software, internet browsers and even your screensavers. The burning process is resource sensitive. If you have other applications running at the same time with the burning application, the procedure may take longer than usual. By over loading your application systems, you also lead yourself open to all possible burning errors.
* Don’t speed up.

Don't rush up the burning process, burn DVD with slower speeds. Doing so will decrease the possibilities of recoding errors. If you’re willing to take few more minutes of waiting, burning at slower speeds can brings you more stable and higher quality DVDRs.
* Label with care.

Believe it or not, how you label your DVDs can also affect their performance. If you are plan to buy a new hardware that can print directly onto blank discs, you may want to choose the following alternatives.
o Write on your disc.

The quickest and easiest way to label your DVDs is to use an oil base marker pen to write, but be sure to write lightly. Sharp writing instruments may scrape through the topmost stratum of the disc and damage the fragile recordable layer underneath it.
o Use stick-up labels.

Make the full, donut-style stickers that cover the entire DVDs. Avoid small piece of stickers (such as mailing labels) which will affect the balance and performance of your DVDs as it spins in your player. Small labels can also easily come loose and damage your player during playback.

DVD burning problems are often the result of a compendium of mistakes, many of which can be avoided using good old common sense. As the above steps mention, if you don’t overlook the obvious, burning can be a really easy and stress-free.




DVD glossary

1. Difference between DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM and other formats.

What format does your burner burn on? DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, or DVD-RAM? [Download DVD-Identifier to Check]

DVD-R Media definition:

A write-once, recordable format. DVD-R drives can write DVD-R discs, which can be written only once, as opposed to a DVD-RW drive, which can write and rewrite to RW media. The authoring use drive (635nm laser) was introduced in 1998 by Pioneer, and the general use format (650nm laser) was authorized in 2000. DVD-R offers a write-once, read-many storage format akin to CD-R and is used to master DVD-Video and DVD-ROM discs.

DVD-RW Media definition:

DVD ReWritable. A rewritable DVD format that is similar to DVD+RW, but its capability to work as a random access device is not as good as +RW. It has a read-write capacity of 4.7 GB.

DVD+R Media definition:

Short for DVD+Recordable, a recordable DVD format similar to CD-R. A DVD+R can only record data once and then the data becomes permanent on the disc. The disc can not be recorded onto a second time. DVD+R and DVD+RW formats are supported by Philips, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Ricoh, Yamaha and others.

DVD+RW Media definition:

The DVD plus RW Alliance is a group of companies, including Philips and Sony proposing a standard of recordable and rewritable DVDs

DVD+R DUAL/DOUBLE DL LAYER Media definition:

Double Layer DVD+R media has an amazing 8.5GB of storage capacity. This incredible capacity is enough for up to 4 hours of DVD quality video, 16 hours of VHS quality video or over 120 hours of MP3 audio. Compatible with all current DVD video players and DVD-ROM drives as well as new DVD+R DL drives, the disc is ideal for virtually any business or household application.

Dual-layer DVD-R media offers genuine advantage over the current single layer 4.7GB DVD. The new dual-layer recordable DVD-R disc allows users to read, write or view almost twice the amount of data that is currently possible with the single layer and the advanced technology means that material can be read or recorded on one layer without affecting the other. No need to flip sides or change discs.

DVD-RAM Media definition:

DVD Random Access Memory. A rewritable DVD disc endorsed by Panasonic, Hitachi and Toshiba. It is a cartridge-based, and more recently, bare disc technology for data recording and playback. DVD-RAM bare discs are fragile and do not guarantee data integrity. The first DVD-RAM drives had a capacity of 2.6GB (single sided) or 5.2GB (double sided). DVD-RAM Version 2 discs have double-sided 9.4GB discs. DVD-RAM drives typically read DVD-Video, DVD-ROM and CD media. The current installed base of DVD-ROM drives and DVD-Video players cannot read DVD-RAM media.



Expanded Glossary-Everything you might come across

Matte Finish:

Dull finish on coated surface, which lacks gloss or luster. No fingerprints.

Silver Matte:

Same as Matte Finish - Dull finish on coated surface, which lacks gloss or luster. No fingerprints.

Shiny Silver:

Surface is of a reflective, lustrous white, ductile, malleable metallic element.

Inkjet Printable:

Surface is capable of being printed on using inkjet printers that have the capability to load CD/DVD's.

Thermal Printable:

Surface is capable of being printed using high end Printing Hardware where dots are selectively heated and cooled and impressed on a heat sensitive surface

Hub Printable:

That means you can print all the way to the center hub of the disc and personalize your CD/DVD in a more stylish and unique way!

No Stack Ring:

Always in conjunction with Hub Printable - No stack ring means that the center of the CD/DVD ring is not present, which means you can print all the way to the center. The stacking ring refers to the small ridge around the inner plastic center ring on the disc. Its purpose is to keep the discs slightly separated when stacked on a spindle. If you look at a standard disc, you will see the stacking ring. When a disc is to be hub printable, there is no stacking ring so that the printable surface can be applied all the way to the center hub. Also, for discs that are to be thermal printed, there is an advantage to not having a stacking ring. The stacking ring sticks up and interferes with the thermal printer head. A thermal printer cannot print any closer than 1/4" or so from the stacking ring. When there is no stacking ring there is no restriction on the thermal printing area.


5. What does the DVD Media speeds mean? 4X, 8X, Dual Layer, etc.

This is the speed in which the DVD Media can burn up to. For example 8X media, means it can burn at speeds of 1X, 2X, 4X, to 8X. Dual Layer media are media that can store up to 8.5GB of Data (called DVD9 format), doubling the size of regular DVD5 formats discs.

Curious what Brands peopel prefer?
Check out this recent poll

What DVD media do customers like the most?

Poll Question: Currently I prefer discs from the following manufacturer:

Answers:

Taiyo Yuden (749 votes - 39.82%)

MCC (309 votes - 16.43%)

Ritek (209 votes - 11.11%)

Other (86 votes - 4.57%)

Ricoh (85 votes - 4.52%)

CMC (81 votes - 4.31%)

Maxell (73 votes - 3.88%)

Fuji (63 votes - 3.35%)

Linkyo (59 votes -2.79%)


Brands that were voted most likely to have problems with playback, firmware upgrades or unstable playback

Optodisc (60 votes - 3.19%)

Prodisc (40 votes - 2.13%)

Daxon (26 votes - 1.38%)

Philips (24 votes - 1.28%)

Princo (20 votes - 1.06%)

[BeefyBoyGod]

Prodisc is now sourced from MCC/Verbatim, so they're the same discs now.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by savageamusement

We have had quite a few new users online- New to trading, some older traders, but new to DVD.

SO I compiled a few things.
Consider it a "how to " Welcome Basket.
Although I bet it will be beneficial to more than just new burners!

I think it would be great it some other advice that I might have missed can be tossed in from some of our community, as there are a lot of people who can benefit from this right now.


***
Burning DVD/CD for a beginner can be very stressful and confusing. The DVD or CD burning process are unnecessarily complicate. Below are a few practical and easy tips that will help you in solving common DVD burning and playback problems.

* The Quality does matter.

Do you ever burn a CD that just keep skip songs itself on your cd player, or often your DVD Player won't even read the DVD-R that you just burn? Though there could be other reasons that might caused the DVD burning errors, but always burn DVD-R with good quality bands or buy them from a reliable merchant store.


* Examine every disc before burning.

Every now and then, defective discs can slip through the quality control inspection of even the most reputable manufacturers. Before burning, you might want to examine the underside of each DVD-R media for cracks, scratches, spots and blotches. Physical defects, especially those on the disc’s photosensitive layer, will cause burning errors and playback problems.
* Clean your DVD burner.

Burning DVD-R discs from unclean hardware or media can cause burning errors. Dust the external part of your DVD burner regularly to prevent contaminants from reaching the laser eye. Also handle and store discs with care. Keep them dust-free, and aside from grime or grease that may result in imperfect and unplayable DVD-Rs.
* Choose user-friendly software and hardware.

Think using a professional level of burning software and hardware will also brings your blank DVD-R disc professional playback quality? You may want to rethink on that, look for user-friendly software that you can easily follow through. If your software has a complicated interface, you will easily make mistakes that can interrupt the burning process. Also make sure that both your DVD burner and software have good technical support or warranty services. Then when things go wrong, it always helps to consult with the experts.
* Update software regularly.

Software does have expiration date too. Burning DVD-R errors are sometimes due to software's incompatibility. Most of time, the software designers will release the newer version that you need to check and install them regularly. If you register your burning application and regularly install updates, you could save yourself a lot of unnecessary trouble.
* Focus on one application.

For more efficient DVD burning, you may want to close all other programs, including anti virus software, internet browsers and even your screensavers. The burning process is resource sensitive. If you have other applications running at the same time with the burning application, the procedure may take longer than usual. By over loading your application systems, you also lead yourself open to all possible burning errors.
* Don’t speed up.

Don't rush up the burning process, burn DVD with slower speeds. Doing so will decrease the possibilities of recoding errors. If you’re willing to take few more minutes of waiting, burning at slower speeds can brings you more stable and higher quality DVDRs.
* Label with care.

Believe it or not, how you label your DVDs can also affect their performance. If you are plan to buy a new hardware that can print directly onto blank discs, you may want to choose the following alternatives.
o Write on your disc.

The quickest and easiest way to label your DVDs is to use an oil base marker pen to write, but be sure to write lightly. Sharp writing instruments may scrape through the topmost stratum of the disc and damage the fragile recordable layer underneath it.
o Use stick-up labels.

Make the full, donut-style stickers that cover the entire DVDs. Avoid small piece of stickers (such as mailing labels) which will affect the balance and performance of your DVDs as it spins in your player. Small labels can also easily come loose and damage your player during playback.

DVD burning problems are often the result of a compendium of mistakes, many of which can be avoided using good old common sense. As the above steps mention, if you don’t overlook the obvious, burning can be a really easy and stress-free.




DVD glossary

1. Difference between DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM and other formats.

What format does your burner burn on? DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, or DVD-RAM? [Download DVD-Identifier to Check]

DVD-R Media definition:

A write-once, recordable format. DVD-R drives can write DVD-R discs, which can be written only once, as opposed to a DVD-RW drive, which can write and rewrite to RW media. The authoring use drive (635nm laser) was introduced in 1998 by Pioneer, and the general use format (650nm laser) was authorized in 2000. DVD-R offers a write-once, read-many storage format akin to CD-R and is used to master DVD-Video and DVD-ROM discs.

DVD-RW Media definition:

DVD ReWritable. A rewritable DVD format that is similar to DVD+RW, but its capability to work as a random access device is not as good as +RW. It has a read-write capacity of 4.7 GB.

DVD+R Media definition:

Short for DVD+Recordable, a recordable DVD format similar to CD-R. A DVD+R can only record data once and then the data becomes permanent on the disc. The disc can not be recorded onto a second time. DVD+R and DVD+RW formats are supported by Philips, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Ricoh, Yamaha and others.

DVD+RW Media definition:

The DVD plus RW Alliance is a group of companies, including Philips and Sony proposing a standard of recordable and rewritable DVDs

DVD+R DUAL/DOUBLE DL LAYER Media definition:

Double Layer DVD+R media has an amazing 8.5GB of storage capacity. This incredible capacity is enough for up to 4 hours of DVD quality video, 16 hours of VHS quality video or over 120 hours of MP3 audio. Compatible with all current DVD video players and DVD-ROM drives as well as new DVD+R DL drives, the disc is ideal for virtually any business or household application.

Dual-layer DVD-R media offers genuine advantage over the current single layer 4.7GB DVD. The new dual-layer recordable DVD-R disc allows users to read, write or view almost twice the amount of data that is currently possible with the single layer and the advanced technology means that material can be read or recorded on one layer without affecting the other. No need to flip sides or change discs.

DVD-RAM Media definition:

DVD Random Access Memory. A rewritable DVD disc endorsed by Panasonic, Hitachi and Toshiba. It is a cartridge-based, and more recently, bare disc technology for data recording and playback. DVD-RAM bare discs are fragile and do not guarantee data integrity. The first DVD-RAM drives had a capacity of 2.6GB (single sided) or 5.2GB (double sided). DVD-RAM Version 2 discs have double-sided 9.4GB discs. DVD-RAM drives typically read DVD-Video, DVD-ROM and CD media. The current installed base of DVD-ROM drives and DVD-Video players cannot read DVD-RAM media.



Expanded Glossary-Everything you might come across

Matte Finish:

Dull finish on coated surface, which lacks gloss or luster. No fingerprints.

Silver Matte:

Same as Matte Finish - Dull finish on coated surface, which lacks gloss or luster. No fingerprints.

Shiny Silver:

Surface is of a reflective, lustrous white, ductile, malleable metallic element.

Inkjet Printable:

Surface is capable of being printed on using inkjet printers that have the capability to load CD/DVD's.

Thermal Printable:

Surface is capable of being printed using high end Printing Hardware where dots are selectively heated and cooled and impressed on a heat sensitive surface

Hub Printable:

That means you can print all the way to the center hub of the disc and personalize your CD/DVD in a more stylish and unique way!

No Stack Ring:

Always in conjunction with Hub Printable - No stack ring means that the center of the CD/DVD ring is not present, which means you can print all the way to the center. The stacking ring refers to the small ridge around the inner plastic center ring on the disc. Its purpose is to keep the discs slightly separated when stacked on a spindle. If you look at a standard disc, you will see the stacking ring. When a disc is to be hub printable, there is no stacking ring so that the printable surface can be applied all the way to the center hub. Also, for discs that are to be thermal printed, there is an advantage to not having a stacking ring. The stacking ring sticks up and interferes with the thermal printer head. A thermal printer cannot print any closer than 1/4" or so from the stacking ring. When there is no stacking ring there is no restriction on the thermal printing area.


5. What does the DVD Media speeds mean? 4X, 8X, Dual Layer, etc.

This is the speed in which the DVD Media can burn up to. For example 8X media, means it can burn at speeds of 1X, 2X, 4X, to 8X. Dual Layer media are media that can store up to 8.5GB of Data (called DVD9 format), doubling the size of regular DVD5 formats discs.

Curious what Brands peopel prefer?
Check out this recent poll

What DVD media do customers like the most?

Poll Question: Currently I prefer discs from the following manufacturer:

Answers:

Taiyo Yuden (749 votes - 39.82%)

MCC (309 votes - 16.43%)

Ritek (209 votes - 11.11%)

Other (86 votes - 4.57%)

Ricoh (85 votes - 4.52%)

CMC (81 votes - 4.31%)

Maxell (73 votes - 3.88%)

Fuji (63 votes - 3.35%)

Linkyo (59 votes -2.79%)


Brands that were voted most likely to have problems with playback, firmware upgrades or unstable playback

Optodisc (60 votes - 3.19%)

Prodisc (40 votes - 2.13%)

Daxon (26 votes - 1.38%)

Philips (24 votes - 1.28%)

Princo (20 votes - 1.06%)

After reading all of this, I rather just copy DVD's REAL TIME once I get my recorder-lol

[gilligan fanatic]

thanks for posting that. I usualy but Fuju but after reading that I think I will start getting Taiyo Yuden, I read about how good those are.

[Lamont]

Originally Posted by TVResearcher

After reading all of this, I rather just copy DVD's REAL TIME once I get my recorder-lol

burning dvds in real time is a realllll bad choice

1. if u want to trade 3 copies of a 2 hour disc, then u have to burn for 6 hours for 3 discs? VS popping the master disc into a duplicator, wait 8 mins and POP out come the 3 discs--- 6 hours vs 3 minutes

2. if u use a dvd recorder to make a copy of a vhs, EVERY time u play the vhs tape it degrades slightly, NOT A LOT but its like those vhs tapes u get from a rental store that have been watched 100X, they are nowhere near as good as they should be-- vhs degrades over time, i have some vhs tapes from the 80s that are all messed up from time

3. u can buy a cheap dvd recorder from walmart for like $90, and u can get a duplicator a 1 target for only a couple hundred, i have seen them on ebay used for $125 or so

4. if u have a computer u can get cheap dvd burner drives for about $35, and then duplicate on the computer

so its your call, but doing everything real time is a real obstacle

[loren]

Originally Posted by gilligan fanatic

thanks for posting that. I usualy but Fuju but after reading that I think I will start getting Taiyo Yuden, I read about how good those are.

good choice

i have used ty a majority of the time

they cost more, but its not a problem in my book

note that some fuji and some sony are actualy ty as well

but packages on the same store shelf may vary from one to the next, as to manufacture,

[loren]

Originally Posted by TVResearcher

After reading all of this, I rather just copy DVD's REAL TIME once I get my recorder-lol

the speed you burn at is totaly up to you

but from my minor experiences, theres no difference in the final result , if you use high quality media

ill run all day long on my 3540 and 3550 nec burners, with 4x and 8x taiyo yuden blanks, and run them at 16x, with no problems

just make sure the firmware is current for the discs you use, and no just becasue you have a new machine, doesnt mean the firmware is correct and current

there is a little messing around on these machines at times, unlike the old vhs machines where you just jam a tape in and press the button

[savageamusement]

Well - I was going to Sams Club
Getting 100 blank 16dvd fors 41.00 after tax.

SuperMediaStore has TY for about 35.00 PER 100, and most of the time if you buy at least 100 shipping is free, ground shipping.

Right now, they have a Memorial Day special 10 percent off any order.

Either way, my average DVD bill for 200 a month is about 60.00 after shipping.
Which is way cheaper than most stores, for lower quality media.

No tax, usually on internet orders
and their shipping- i always get my stuff within 7 days.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by loren

the speed you burn at is totaly up to you

but from my minor experiences, theres no difference in the final result , if you use high quality media

ill run all day long on my 3540 and 3550 nec burners, with 4x and 8x taiyo yuden blanks, and run them at 16x, with no problems

just make sure the firmware is current for the discs you use, and no just becasue you have a new machine, doesnt mean the firmware is correct and current

there is a little messing around on these machines at times, unlike the old vhs machines where you just jam a tape in and press the button

Looks like there should be a Course for DVD Burning-lol

[loren]

Originally Posted by TVResearcher

Looks like there should be a Course for DVD Burning-lol

when i first started this mess

i read a lot

i read that equipment and media could make all the difference in end results

i spent the extra funds and went with nec equipment, and used ritek and ty discs for the most part

i learned that my sony vaio computer came with a junk pioneer 107 burner

that also told me that sony wasnt a good burner either, since why wouldnt sony use their own product in their top of the line vaio desktop computer

interesting question i thought

i also found that you keep learning all the time,

[BeefyBoyGod]

Originally Posted by gilligan fanatic

thanks for posting that. I usualy but Fuju but after reading that I think I will start getting Taiyo Yuden, I read about how good those are.

Fuji discs typically are Taiyo Yudens. Check the media code on your comp to see.

[YouSankMyBoat]

I have the First season of 8 Simple Rules on VCD. Is there a way I can transfer those episodes to DVD?

[gilligan fanatic]

Originally Posted by BeefyBoyGod

Fuji discs typically are Taiyo Yudens. Check the media code on your comp to see.

how do you do that?

[padre]

DVDInfoPro, or even DVD Decrypter will show you the Manufacturer code.

[padre]

Originally Posted by BeefyBoyGod

Fuji discs typically are Taiyo Yudens. Check the media code on your comp to see.

They WERE using TY for alot of their OEM dvd-r and dvd+r , but not much anymore.