DVD Physical Formats Explained

- DVD - Physical Disc Formats -

DVD Forum -- An industry consortium of international hardware manufacturers, software firms, and other DVD-related companies that developed the initial standards for the DVD physical disc and logical data formats.

DVD+RW Alliance -- An industry consortium developed the alternate recordable DVD formats, DVD+R and DVD+RW ("DVD plus"). See also DVD Forum.

DVD-ROM -- DVD Read-Only Memory. The DVD Forum-defined, read-only DVD format. Used for prerecorded audio and data. Also the computer-readable content on a DVD-Video disc. See also DVD-R.

DVD-R -- DVD Recordable. The DVD Forum-defined write-once DVD format. Because the data cannot be erased, the DVD-R is useful for making permanent backups. Recordable discs are more compatible with set-top DVD players than rewritable discs. See also DVD-R forAuthoring, DVD-R for General, DVD+R, DVD-RW.

DVD-R for General -- Recordable DVD format for general consumer use. Lower-cost discs that do not support the professional content-protection features. See also DVD-R for Authoring.

DVD-R for Authoring -- Recordable DVD format for professional authoring use. Higher-cost discs that support the professional content-protection features. See also DVD-R for General.

DVD+R -- Alternate DVD Recordable write-once format developed by the DVD+RW Alliance. See also DVD-R, DVD+RW.

DVD-RW -- DVD ReWritable. The DVD Forum-defined, re-recordable DVD format. Like CD-RW, rewritable discs can be reused, but are more expensive than recordable, and are less compatible with set-top players. See also DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM.

DVD+RW -- Alternate DVD ReWritable format developed by the DVD+RW Alliance. Intended to replace the capabilities of DVD-RW and DVD-RAM and also provide higher compatibility with set-top players. See also DVD+R, DVD-RW.

DVD-RAM -- DVD Random-Access Memory. The DVD Forum-defined, random-access DVD data format. Designed for data storage applications, with the capability to be accessed like a hard disk by reading and writing randomly, and with built-in error correction and defect management. Whereas DVD-RW discs can be overwritten 1000 times, DVD-RAM is designed to be written more than 100,000 times. See also DVD-R, DVD-RW.

DVD-Multi -- An umbrella DVD Forum-sponsored logo to identify DVD products, players and recorders, that support DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM formats.