Difference between DVD +R and DVD –R

When you prepare to write some videos or files on discs, you may search for DVD or disc on Amazon. The result page will surprise you that there are diversity disc formats on market. You may distinguish DVD and Blu-ray disc; but DVD-R and DVD+R will make you very confused. You may wonder: what are DVD-R and DVD+R? What are the differences between DVD-R and DVD+R? Should I buy DVD-R or DVD+R? Which one is compatible with my DVD player? Therefore, we will share the necessary knowledge related to the difference between DVD-R and DVD+R in this article. And you can get all the answers about these questions.

Part 1. Definitions and similarity

Both DVD-R and DVD+R are DVD formats and R means can be written once and read many times. The DVD-R format, also called DVD dash, was rolled out in 1997 and is approved by the DVD forum founded by Mitsubishi, Sony, Hitachi, and Time Warner. On the other hand, The DVD+R format, voiced DVD plus, appeared in 2002 and is approved by DVD+RW Alliance supported by Sony, Yamaha, Philips, Dell, and JP. Many discs were printed DVD-RW or DVD+RW now. Generally speaking, RW means rewritable. For example, DVD-RW discs can be written to approximately 1 thousand times. But sometimes, customers are confused by DVD+RW, because it is also the logo of DVD+RW Alliance. So, you'd better ask the seller whether the DVD+RW discs can be written multiple times.

There may be differences between DVD-R and DVD+R; but as DVD formats, their storage capacity is both 4488 MB for single layer and 8.5 GB for dual layer discs. And they are both 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm in thickness.

Part 2. The differences between DVD-R and DVD+R

Compared to similarity, there are more differences between DVD-R and DVD+R. Besides origin and industry support, DVD+R discs are usually more expensive than DVD-R discs. But as technology developing, the cost gap is closing. The price of Sony 50DMR47SP 16x DVD-R, for instance, is the same with Sony 50DPR47SP 16x DVD+R.

Recording

DVD-R discs have little marks in the grooves, which determine the way that the DVD reader processes the data on the discs; while, DVD+R does not have such marks, but measures the wobble frequency instead.

DVD-R and DVD+R have different industry supports and each one may be only readable on certain devices. Currently, more and more DVD drives support both DVD-R and DVD+R. The best way is to read the description of your DVD drive carefully before you purchase discs.

Part 3. The advantages of DVD+R recover

1. The capacity to record one DVD disc partially on television and partially on PC.

2. 100% compatibility with all other DVD players.

3. The ability to edit video and audio titles, filenames and menus.

4. Immediately eject without needing to wait for finalized formatting.

5. While the disc is being formatted, you can write on formatted parts of the same disc simultaneously.

Part 4. Troubleshoot

As time has gone on, the format war between DVD-R and DVD+R has become quiet. But there are still some questions to be solved.

Question 1: are newer DVD players can play all formats?

More and more DVD players support both DVD-R and DVD+R than before. But, there are still differences between DVD-R and DVD+R. And in some cases, the new players can only read one format. You should look at the DVD player and its manual book. Some players were marked DVD?R or DVD?RW, which means they can read both DVD-R and DVD+R discs.

Question 2: DVD+R disc did not work in my player, is it only compatible with DVD-R?

This problem is more likely to be a media problem, but not compatibility problem. There are many reasons could lead to disc unreadable, like region code and poor quality.

Question 3: Is DVD+R better than DVD-R?

Both DVD+R and DVD-R are playable DVD disc formats and having the same storage capacity. For average customers, they just need to confirm what formats their DVD drives support. The differences are not big enough to make customers to consider choosing which one.

Part 5. Burn DVD

No matter your DVD drive only supports DVD+R or DVD-R or both, you will need powerful DVD burning software to help you write videos and audios on discs. Tipard DVD Creator is a versatile DVD burner and able to bypass the differences between DVD-R and DVD+R. With DVD Creator, you can enjoy the features include:

1. Write digital files on DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL, DVD-5 and DVD-9.

2. Create DVDs with ISO images, DVD folders, various digital video formats, such as MP4, MOV, MPEG, FLV, WMV, MKV, AVI and more.

3. Create personalized DVD menu with plentiful menu templates.

4. Edit video files with crop, trim, watermark, video effects and filters tools.

5. Add audio tracks, subtitles and chapters to DVDs.

How to create playable DVD with Tipard DVD Creator

Conclusion

In this post, we introduced two DVD formats easy to confuse: DVD-R and DVD+R. Before you upgrade DVD drive or discs, you'd better learn the difference between DVD-R and DVD+R. Although ordinary customers do not concern about the differences involved DVD-R and DVD+R, the format war has lasted for a decade among industry. Now, as more and more devices are hybrid ones, the war between DVD-R and DVD+R gradually subsided. On the other hand, no matter you want to create a DVD-R or a DVD+R, you will need an appropriate program, such as Tipard DVD Creator. We share the tutorial about creating playable DVD with DVD Creator. You can learn what you need here.