Have you been confused by the different choices available for blank cd or DVDs recently? There are so many abbreviations such as CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVR+R etc. So how do I know which type of cd or dvd is suitable for my use?
I will provide a brief description of the different types of blank cd and dvd currently available on the market.
For cd and dvds, the “R” that is found in CD-R or DVD+/-R stands for recordable. This means you can record data such as photos, files, database etc. Basically anything digital can be recorded. These types of cd or dvds can only be recorded once. So it’s important you record all the data you want transferred to a CD-R/DVD-R in one session.
The “RW” means the media is rewriteable. You can erase and record data on the cd or dvd multiple times. Think of it as a portable hard disk. The cost of a CD-RW and DVD-RW is more expensive more than a normal CD-R/DVD-R
One of the biggest confusion comes about because of DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW. What is the difference? In a nutshell, there is no major difference except the standards were created by 2 different organisations. It is however important to know whether dvd burner supports them. Most dvd burners support both formats but make sure you check with the dvd manufacturer or the manual about the types of dvd formats that are supported.
There’s another type of dvd format known as DVD-RAM and it is not as common as the other 2 formats. Again, make sure to check your dvd manual to ensure you can use this format.
DVD media can typically hold up to 4.7 GB of data whereas CD media can hold up to 700 MB. As a result, dvd media are usually more expensive than CD media since it can hold more data.
There also a new type of DVD media called dual-layer DVD and it can store twice the size of a normal DVD. However, it is pretty expensive at this time and most current DVD burners do not support this format.
This is a basic explanation of the more common types of CD/DVD media on the market. Regardless of which media you use, it is important to make sure your CD or DVD burner support that format.
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