difference between dvd-r general purpose & authoring?

[msuiter]

i've seen this on several media sites. anyone know what the difference is and when to use each?

[dolphinius_rex]

I don't remember the specifics, but DVD for authoring uses a different laser frequency, so it is incompatible with any other format of recordable DVD, even DVD-R for general use. Physically speaking the DVD-R for authoring is closer to a DVD+R then a DVD-R for general use, becasue unlike the DVD-R for general use, it does not have a portion of the disc pre-burned. This allows both DVD+R and DVD-R for authoring to be much more likely to work for making backups of new copyprotected DVDs. Of course DVD-R for authoring is not supported anymore by anyone as far as I've seen, which is probably good because things are confusing enough.

Does that help?

[Justin42]

Isn't DVD-R For Authoring just that, what people who are actually mastering discs able to use? It has no pre-burned region lock or "disc type" info on it (the DVD-R for General is region free automatically, no way around it)..

I think it is more a way to force the big entertainment companies to pay more than anything. I think it's pretty much identical to DVD-R for General except for the laser frequency issue, otherwise (phyiscal structure of the data on the disc)

It's still used; look around for media on the web, it's expensive, and finding a burner that supports it is REALLY ridiculous. (I looked into buying one once figuring it'd give me more freedom in what I burned.. then I saw the cost and forgot that idea.)

[dolphinius_rex]

DVD+R offers all the same advantages, but doens't use the same laser frequency. So just buy a dual format drive and you can keep the DVD+R media for authoring and the DVD-R media for archiving (since it's cheaper).

[jase]

Really?

My work colleague sent some +Rs out for professional (stamped) duplication for a piece of software developed in-house -- the duplicators flatly refused it. The ONLY format they would accept was DVD-R authoring. The drives for these cost around $2000.

That wasn't just one company either -- 4 out of the 5 refused the +R disc. +R is a consumer standard, as is -R general purpose.

[dolphinius_rex]

I know a place that will do it with anything other then DVD-RAM, but they are here in Canada (B.C. to be a little more exact).