I'm interested in buying a DVD Writer, and I recently discovered Sony offers a DVD+R DL writer for a price within my budget. Sony’s Double Layer DVD+RW Drive
My only concern is what DVD players are able to read DVD+R DL, I haven't found any that have DVD+R DL support. I'm interested in the new 8.5 GB discs because I want to make full back-ups with zero quality loss and the orginal extras. I want to avoid having the transcodes DVDs alltogether Is this a wise investment or will better writers, media, and players be availble in the near future?
Full Version: Some basic questions about DVD+R DL
Most DVD players can play it, as long as you change the Booktype setting to DVD-ROM. Sony doesn't offer a tool to change the BookType-Field, but luckily, Lite-On's tool for their DL burner works with the Sony as well, since the only difference between them is a different firmware. That tool is available here: http://www.liteonit.com.tw/ODD/English/e_d...s/e_utility.asp
For +R, it's crucial to set field that to DVD-ROM, it greatly improves playability on standalone players.
And of course there will always be better burners later. Mostly they'll have faster writing speeds... but we'll see about the quality.
For +R, it's crucial to set field that to DVD-ROM, it greatly improves playability on standalone players.
And of course there will always be better burners later. Mostly they'll have faster writing speeds... but we'll see about the quality.
Read this first.
You can get a LiteOn 4x drive and make it double layer through a modified firmware.
I still don't think you will be able to do any major backing-up of DVDs anytime soon. Dual-layer media is not likely to come out of factories in quantities good-enough for prices to drop to a cost-effective solution. Would you pay 15 dollars to back up a 18 dollar movie? Hardly.
I think single-layer media still has a long way to go. Dual-layer is the future indeed, so why don't you get the best of both worlds and get one of those LiteOns (I did)?
You can get a LiteOn 4x drive and make it double layer through a modified firmware.
I still don't think you will be able to do any major backing-up of DVDs anytime soon. Dual-layer media is not likely to come out of factories in quantities good-enough for prices to drop to a cost-effective solution. Would you pay 15 dollars to back up a 18 dollar movie? Hardly.
I think single-layer media still has a long way to go. Dual-layer is the future indeed, so why don't you get the best of both worlds and get one of those LiteOns (I did)?
QUOTE(AtaqueEG @ Jul 19 2004, 06:41 PM)
The fact that the drive accepts another firmware doesn't make it a safe thing to do. Some older BenQ drives also accept newer firmwares, but the hardware is different. I doubt that it will produce good quality results. I mean, even production deviations can make one drive burn with worse quality than another identical one. I imagine it's much worse with different models.
QUOTE
Dual-layer media is not likely to come out of factories in quantities good-enough for prices to drop to a cost-effective solution. Would you pay 15 dollars to back up a 18 dollar movie? Hardly.
Price will be 4 to 5 Euros, according to c't 11/04.
I quote from C0deKing, administrator/coder of the Codeguys web site (don't let the "leet" name fool you, check out their site, they are as serious as any dev here):
I have also tried this. It works.
I wouldn't know about other brands, but you now that LiteOns have always been very "malleable".
QUOTE
Q: And what about regular single-layer?
A: C0deKing (who, BTW, deserves much applause for all this) and I actually do not own 812S drives. We have both been using various 812S and 832S firmwares on our 451S drives for our regular day-to-day burns for over two months now. We have not encountered any problems during this time, and we have both been getting excellent results. Any 812S/832S scans that we have posted throughout the forum have actually been burned with our 451S drives.
A: C0deKing (who, BTW, deserves much applause for all this) and I actually do not own 812S drives. We have both been using various 812S and 832S firmwares on our 451S drives for our regular day-to-day burns for over two months now. We have not encountered any problems during this time, and we have both been getting excellent results. Any 812S/832S scans that we have posted throughout the forum have actually been burned with our 451S drives.
I have also tried this. It works.
I wouldn't know about other brands, but you now that LiteOns have always been very "malleable".
Accidental firmware substitution often leads to disaster, but where the hardware and firmware have been examined in detail and foubd to be virtually identical, and the substition proven, it's a different matter.
You DO void your warranty, of course!
The 812S@832S hack of the single layer Liteon 8x8 to the DL versiuon, is far more established than this recent tweak to include the 451S and 851S - but even those seem to be producing quite acceptable results.
The NEC 2500A to 2510A DL hack is another well known one.
To be honest, the idea of burning 9.4 Gb at only 2.4x speed, on media that costs many times more, is not greatly appealing.
You DO void your warranty, of course!
The 812S@832S hack of the single layer Liteon 8x8 to the DL versiuon, is far more established than this recent tweak to include the 451S and 851S - but even those seem to be producing quite acceptable results.
The NEC 2500A to 2510A DL hack is another well known one.
To be honest, the idea of burning 9.4 Gb at only 2.4x speed, on media that costs many times more, is not greatly appealing.
QUOTE(Matth @ Jul 19 2004, 05:54 PM)
To be honest, the idea of burning 9.4 Gb at only 2.4x speed, on media that costs many times more, is not greatly appealing.
This is already progressing....Asus (and I think Philips) will soon be releasing 16x DVD+RW drives that burn DL media @4x.
................... Patience people, Patience............. 
always wondered about the book-type setting... is this done AFTER you burn the disc, or before you burn anything to it?
I have a NEC 2510a d/l burner, but I only bought that version rather than the 2500a because the extra cost was minimal. d/l media is available in the UK now at around £8/12euros each!! d/l media will have to fall to about £1/1.50euros before it will attract any interest from me. 
QUOTE(plonk420 @ Jul 23 2004, 09:12 AM)
always wondered about the book-type setting... is this done AFTER you burn the disc, or before you burn anything to it?
You set it once in the drive, before you burn anything. Then the drive will always write DVD-ROM in the booktype field of the media, it can't be changed afterwards. Of course you can set the drive's setting back to DVD+R and it would write DVD+R booktype again, but who would want that. The DVD-ROM booktype has better compatibility and introduces no problems. So make sure that the DVD+R burner supports it before you buy it, and set it to DVD-ROM before the first burn.
I don't see the point in 'overclocking' an older DVD burner to faster or DL capability... IF you don't have a burner beforehand.
If you already have a older model, by all means go for it if you are adventourous (but remember, stuff can go *poof*)
Newer +8x with DL cost the same as an older model anyways, so it's just as easy just to buy the new model.
Regarding all the people that have 'success' in flashing drives to DL capability, very few of them have made actual tests with DL media.
edit: spelling
If you already have a older model, by all means go for it if you are adventourous (but remember, stuff can go *poof*)
Newer +8x with DL cost the same as an older model anyways, so it's just as easy just to buy the new model.
Regarding all the people that have 'success' in flashing drives to DL capability, very few of them have made actual tests with DL media.
edit: spelling
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