DVD+ or DVD-?

[AlphaDog]

I've managed to hold out for years without needing to burn a DVD. Now I want to buy some blanks for slideshows that hopefully can be viewed on the TV. Which to get? And, if I buy a couple of DVD rewriteables, will I be able to use them to test my project before burning it to a non-rewriteable disk?

Yes, I know I'm very behind the times, but let's try to ignore that for right now, OK?

Thank you!

[Doc]

> Which to get?

Buy one of each and test them on your DVD player. Compatibility varies. If the player has been made in the last couple of years, it should play both -R and +R discs, but it's best to try before you invest a lot in the media.


> And, if I buy a couple of DVD rewriteables,
> will I be able to use them to test my project
> before burning it to a non-rewriteable disk?

'Same problem. 'Depends upon the player. The +RWs are pretty widely compatible. Modern players should work fine with the media. Try before you commit.

BTW: Most DVD players will play a slideshow from JPEG images burnt onto CD-R in ISO9660 format. Do you actually need to go with DVD media?

[AlphaDog]

Thank you, Doc. I figured I'd need the DVD because of size. I have some projects that have been on the old "To Do" list for years, including scanned slides from a couple of cross country trips. There are several hundred images in each set, although I probably could reduce the resolution of the files for slide shows.

OK, off to Office Depot to get a selection to use for experimenting. The DVD player is a fairly new, but cheap, Coby. Wish me luck, because I'm way out of my comfort range here.

[Lew Zealand]

Assuming you can play + in all your players, it is supposed to be the better format as it has twice the error correction bits available.

[AlphaDog]

I just got home with some DVD+RWs. Office Depot is close, so I figured I'd start with those and see how it goes. At worst, I can use them for backing up files, even if I can't use them for my photos.

Now to master iDVD so I'll have something to burn.

[rz]

I like using +RW's in my Lite-On recorder because you don't need to finalize them in order to play them in other machines. That way, I can see whether there were any problems before I copy the VIDEO_TS folder over and burn a -R.