Pioneer DVR-105 reads DVD+R or not?

[Chibi Jasmin]

I just stumbled across some older reviews of the Pioneer DVR-105 burner with older firmwares than mine (I got it shipped with newest V1.21 already). In these reviews they have older firmware and claim, the drive can read DVD+R and DVD+RW, also showing screenshots from Nero InfoTool that confirms, what they say...

My burner with latest firmware shows DVD+R and DVD+RW unchecked in Nero InfoTool, so it reports not being able to read these discs...

I have no access to DVD+R at the moment, but I'd still like to know, can it read them or not...or did they disable DVD+R read support only in later firmwares or what's the deal?

[atreides93]

Definitely not!! Pioneer supports the DVD-R DVD-RW standards approved by the DVD FORUM. They do not support +R +RW as those are not approved by the DVD FORUM. I have no idea why those old reviews were so clueless.

Why not just look a the manufacturer's own web page?


http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/Pioneer/CDA/Industrial/IndustrialProductDetails/0,1444,92281,00.html

[Chibi Jasmin]

Well, several reviews claim something else...at cdrinfo.com they actually have some performance charts reading dvd+rw (comparing the 105 and 104 pioneer burners)...and cdrinfo.com and dvdwriters.co.uk both show nero infotool screenshots with dvd+r(w) support. dvdwriters.co.uk actually has screenshots from nero dvdspeed doing transfer rate test on a dvd+r and a dvd+rw ...strange...I wouldn't be surprised if Pioneer doesn't support it anymore, though...

[SomeJoe]

vcdhelp.com lists user comments and user-collected drive specifications, and says that this drive will indeed read DVD+R.

This is not surprising, since any DVD-R/DVD+R, once recorded, is supposed to be read-compatible with anything as long as the laser of the device can handle the lower reflectivity of the "R" media vs. a real pressed DVD.

If indeed the Pioneer drive is refusing to read +R media, it is likely specifically programmed that way in firmware (i.e. Pioneer wants to force you to use -Rs). There is no physical reason why the drive wouldn't read a +R disc - the organic dye is the same as a -R disc.

If someone tries it and it doesn't read, you may want to write another DVD+R that has the "compatibility mode" turned on on the DVD+R writing drive. This causes the disc to be identified as "DVD-ROM" instead of "DVD+R", which may bypass Pioneer's firmware programming that may be rejecting +R discs (if indeed that is the case, which we don't know).

Bottom line is that someone with a 105 drive needs to try it to be sure. :)

[Chibi Jasmin]

Originally posted by SomeJoe
vcdhelp.com lists user comments and user-collected drive specifications, and says that this drive will indeed read DVD+R.

This is not surprising, since any DVD-R/DVD+R, once recorded, is supposed to be read-compatible with anything as long as the laser of the device can handle the lower reflectivity of the "R" media vs. a real pressed DVD.

If indeed the Pioneer drive is refusing to read +R media, it is likely specifically programmed that way in firmware (i.e. Pioneer wants to force you to use -Rs). There is no physical reason why the drive wouldn't read a +R disc - the organic dye is the same as a -R disc.

If someone tries it and it doesn't read, you may want to write another DVD+R that has the "compatibility mode" turned on on the DVD+R writing drive. This causes the disc to be identified as "DVD-ROM" instead of "DVD+R", which may bypass Pioneer's firmware programming that may be rejecting +R discs (if indeed that is the case, which we don't know).

Bottom line is that someone with a 105 drive needs to try it to be sure. :)

I think so, too...someone, please try :)

BTW: My old DVD-ROM Pioneer DVD-115 with Firmware 1.33 (latest, but quite old) also claims not to be able to read DVD+R (but DVD-R)...

[markrb]

BTW: My old DVD-ROM Pioneer DVD-115 with Firmware 1.33 (latest, but quite old) also claims not to be able to read DVD+R (but DVD-R)...
Most of this is pure marketing. Right now Pioneer has a big print campain out there about the A05 drive. If you read the ad it states that "OFFICIALLY" only XXX percent of DVD player support DVD+R. Now this number is extrememly low and I know that my Pioneer stand alone DVD player does not officially play DVD+R, but has no issues with them at all. Companies have huge amounts invested in the format they are behind. It only makes sense to ask others to not officially support a format.

I just grabbed a copy of the ad in the current issue of PCMAG. According to this ad by Pioneer less then 5% of stand alone DVD players "officially" support DVD+R/DVD+RW, while greater then 68% "offcially" support DVD-R/DVD-RW. Now we all know this is pure bull from real life testing.

Mark

[Gil T Pleasure]

Agreed.

On July 2002, IntelliKey Labs ran a compatibility test sponsored by Pioneer, which showed that DVD+R and DVD-R were both rated 78% compatible.

Sorry, but the direct link to the test above is no longer working; I got the numbers here (http://www.dvdplusrw.org/cgi/forum/ikonboard.cgi?;act=ST;f=3;t=15).

[atreides93]

I think if it does read those disks then its by accident and not design. It would be pretty stupid for them to puposefully make them read dvd+r disks. Its like how my Sony set top player will play CD-RW's but not CD-R's. It only plays cd-rw's by accident, not because they intended to support cd-rw's.

[Kennyshin]

It has been the same with practically ALL DVD products (PC drives, PC writers, standalone players, standalone recorders, etc.) from LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics in Seoul.

None of them officially supports anything to do with DVD+RW format. They just pretend as if there were only DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM.

Of course, most of their drives and players DO read both DVD+R and DVD+RW media.

SOME firmware versions of latest LG and Samsung PC drives, such as LG GCC-4480B and Samsung SM-348B, say they cannot read DVD+R and DVD+RW in Nero InfoTool. Some other versions say they can. Different versions of Nero InfoTool can also display different information.

[Chibi Jasmin]

Yeah, they probably just changed the displayed information...can't anyone try out a dvd+r in the pioneer? I have none at hand...

[alexnoe]

If it does indeed not read dvd+r any longer, then they've probably blacklisted the book type => writing a book type of dvd-rom should fix it ;)

@Gil: What you have pointed to is not a test (unless you want to call some conjecture, made of 8 players, a "test")

The C'T has once found that
- 93% percent of their players read dvd+r
- 95% read dvd+r when booktype was set to dvd-rom
- 95% read dvd-r

Crap disc results are ignored

[Kennyshin]

The C'T has once found that
- 93% percent of their players read dvd+r
- 95% read dvd+r when booktype was set to dvd-rom
- 95% read dvd-r

What an enlightening information. There are still people who say "I'm waiting for the time when there is a standard for DVD recordables" when there have been already TWO standards on the market that work with most DVD players and PC drives.

I'll try to get an IO DATA branded Pioneer DVR-A05 which costs now under US$200 in Tokyo since it's a 4x DVD-R writer and reads DVD+R so fast (with an older firmware)! :D

[Gil T Pleasure]

Originally posted by alexnoe
The C'T has once found that
- 93% percent of their players read dvd+r
- 95% read dvd+r when booktype was set to dvd-rom
- 95% read dvd-r


Even better results!! :)