Does DVD-R quality depend on brand?

[Carlos Garcia]

I was wondering, does the quality of what we burn onto DVD-R depend on the brand of the disc we use? I mean, what exactly do we see differently in a disc burned on say...Optodisc, as opposed to the same program being burned on Verbatim? I was always under the impression that what we're burning onto a DVD-R are digital numbers that will be read as picture and sound. In other words, how can you tell if you have burned a program onto a bad disc? Will we see digital artifacts, breakups, and freeze on the disc? Also, since we're really copying digital numbers, if we burn a program onto a cheap no name disc, and it looks good for now...and we copy that disc onto a good brand disc, will that preserve the original quality of the program you copied onto the cheap brand the first time?

[gooki]

"what exactly do we see differently in a disc burned on say...Optodisc, as opposed to Verbatim?"

The chemical make-up of the dye is what effects the quality. Crap dye will reduce a discs ability to correctly store 1's and 0's in the density required for DVD discs which leads to large amounts of read errors. Crap dye also contributes to data loss due to it's inaility to cope with environmental stresses (sunlight, humidity etc). Crap dye will also reduce standalone DVD player compatibility due it it's less than optimal reflective properties.

"Will we see digital artifacts, breakups, and freeze on the disc?"

Yes

" Also, since we're really copying digital numbers, if we burn a program onto a cheap no name disc, and it looks good for now...and we copy that disc onto a good brand disc, will that preserve the original quality of the program you copied onto the cheap brand the first time?"

Provide the cheap discs is not suffering for excess data loss, or read errors then yes.

[boden11]

cmon, you should know better than to ask this, since the dawning of time (err removable media, esp. optical media) there have been different brands. haven't u noticed that bulk generics USUALLY don't last as long/work as good as top of the shelf stuff like sony/verbatim/pioneer/etc. there's a reason why compusa blank discs/cds/etc cost less. (you get what u paid for).

ill stick with my 3 suggestions, Apple -R for the $3.00 range, Taiyo Yuden -R for the low $2.00 range and Ritek G03 for the low $1.00 range (was $1.00 even, but with the shortages going on and high demand...prices go up). If you're looking for MORE expensive discs, than stick with TDK (make SURE they're real by buying from a reputable place) or Pioneer discs.

[Carlos Garcia]

"haven't u noticed that bulk generics USUALLY don't last as long/work as good as top of the shelf stuff like sony/verbatim/pioneer/etc."

If this is true, maybe it means the dye used on cheaper brands aren't made to last as long ad the ones used on name brands...This being the case, it seems that all brands are like ticking time bombs...maybe cheaper brands will work good for a few months before they go bad, and good brands will work longer, maybe a few years...but the bottom line is, if dye on cheap brands go bad, then all dye will eventually go bad...meaning, DVD-Rs are just a temporary solution, and the only real solution may be to have DVDs that are stamped...definitely not an affordable solution to a fast growing hobby.

CG

[gooki]

Yet Taiyo Yuden claim 100 years of data life with their DVD media, which in computing terms is a very long time.