DVDs or Digital Video Discs try to solve the biggest problem facing most people out there: backing up more and more in less and less! A single layer DVD can backup 4.3GB of data which is more than six times of what a CD will hold, and with the prices hitting rock bottom there was never a better time to get your hands on one.

In this article, we will explain to you the various aspects of buying a DVD writer, which you must consider before putting your money down.

In or Out:

The first and foremost decision you need to make is whether you want an external DVD writer or an internal one.

The difference between the two isn’t really that much except that the external writer will connect through the USB/FireWire port.

The internal DVD writers are like the CD-Rom drive in our everyday computers except that it can read/write on DVDs as well.

The Sizes and Standards:

DVD-5: A regular DVD + R/+RW/-R/-RW media will allow you to store up to 4.7GB of data but there is also a concept of Dual Layer (DL) media. The DL media will let you store double the capacity of a DVD-5 standard media.

DVD-9: This is a slightly more complex procedure as media of this kind are single sided but dual layered and store the entire 8.5GB of data on the same side.

DVD-10: This is a simple concept where both sides of the disc are writable and therefore the disk can store 9.4 GB of data, which is more than the DVD -9 format.

DVD-14: This is a mixture of 9 and 10 where one side is Dual Layered and the other is single layered and hence it can store roughly six hours (13 GB) of video. The usage so far has been that the DL side contains a movie in 16x9 format with all the goodies while the other side contains the movie in the regular format, so depending on the screen format you require, you insert that side into the player.

DVD 18: The obvious continuation is of course dual layered double-sided media, which is known as DVD 18. This can store roughly 8 hours (17GB) of video and is very rare, as a lot of players can’t read these discs properly.

Media Formats:

Unlike CD Roms, where every thing plays everywhere else (barring problems arising out of burning at high speeds) DVDs have multiple standards backed by different vendors. There are enough of them to make your head spin and the worst part is that mostly, they are not inter-compatible! So if you burn a DVD+R, it probably won’t play in a player supporting DVD-R.

DVDs come in the following formats:

DVD + R/RW
DVD – R/RW
DVD + R/DL
DVD – R/DL
DVD – RAM

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