What do you use when Burning DVD's? I edit wedding videos then burn DVD's for my clients. Some times my DVD's  will not play on their decks.. I know that some players will need Plus R and others need Minus R. Over All is it better to use Plus r or Minus R . And Is any brand that is better then others Memorex, Maxell. Staples ect....

ISTR that both types have a similar success rate. Given the cost of blanks, I used to just burn one of each. However, I now have a burner that supports Bit Setting. If I use Nero to burn the Video TS created by Studio, and +R discs, the Disc created is seen as a DVD-Rom, even though it isn't. This fools many players into playing it that otherwise wouldn't.

Taiyo Yuden discs seem to have the highest reputation for quality, with Verbatim coming a close second. There is a good website somewhere that shows you who really makes the discs, which I'll try and find again.

Yup - HERE IT IS 

Also this list is quite useful for checking player compatibility

 

"burner that supports Bit Setting..."

I just purchased a new burner.  Where/How would I find if it supports this 'Bit Setting?'  And if I found it, how would I turn it on??

 I've always wondered about -R and +R myself.  I've never had anyone who could explain it very well.  Then, throw in 'LightScribe' technology and my internal hard drive (the limited one between my ears) crashes.

Thanks for your time.

Jim Boyd
www.cooljim.com

There is a good explanation of bit setting HERE

You can search the videohelp burner list for your burner and it will tell you if it supports bit setting - and burners are so cheap nowadays, if your current one doesn't, it might be worth adding a new one to your system.

I've made a couple of DVD's in Nero and have it configured for Book Type DVD-ROM. When I examine one of these discs with the Nero Info Tool should'nt it be identified as a DVD-ROM? Because it still says DVD+R.

Yes - I get that with my bit-set DVDs as well. I'd guess that Nero Info tool looks at more than just the bits. I can confirm I've fooled at least one dvd player into playing +rs that it wouldn't until I used bitsetting.

Looking for a tool that is fooled! 

The best way to see if your drive supports bit sitting is to down load a program called dvdinfopro use it's free trail until the time expires. This program will list everyting your drive can and cannot do. It will also tell you a lot about in disk you put into your drive.

found here

 

JJN,

Thanks for the information and the links on bit setting. Excellent information, the heads-up on the subject is most appreciated.

Ghuck,

Thanks for the link on DVDinfoPro. The Nero Info Tool is free if you find yourself needing one after that trial expires.

I wonder how DVD-RAM writers fit into this picture?  From what I've gleaned they produce a much better quality and longer lasting disc but are less compatible and the discs more expensive. In other words, does DVD-RAM create a DVD-ROM?

From my reading of the subject, bit-setting won't work on DVD-RAM. However, I did discover that in some rare cases bitsetting might be applied to -R disc HERE

If you have Nero CD/DVD Speed, that shows book type as well as media type. Interestingly, the program Ghuck linked to show the correct information about book type, but under Region Information said "None - Not a DVD-Video disc"

I saw that about the -R's. It seems like a "long row to hoe" to make a -R a Booktype disc. But at least there is a way to do it

I have purchased only +R inkjet printables for the last 7 years or so.  I've used exclusively NEC drives so far, and have flashed their firmware with code that has the Booktype permenantly set to DVD-ROM.

Basically this results in every DVD I burn looking like a retail DVD to other players, and I've had almost zero problems with older player compatability.

Note that doing this will probably void your warranty...but on a $40 drive it was worth the risk.  Lots of info about hacked bitsetting firmware over on www.cdfreaks.com.

Here's another great utility from that site: http://dvdidentifier.cdfreaks.com - this tiny program will read a recordable DVD, tell you if it's a +R(W), -R(W) etc, what the booktype is, who made the media, and other tidbits of info.

 

Excellent tip stikle! I'll read up on this.

Another thread that shouldn't just "Go Missing"