Fragile DVD media...

[JohanHj]

I think many DVD's are fragile and can't stand any minor scratches like CD-R. Which DVD media is most reliable?

I'm looking for cheep, good & reliable media, where to buy and which one to use?

[Psychotourist]

I've had VERY good luck with Ritek G03 discs burning at 1X and 2X. I normally get them from Supermediastore.com. They are pretty durable too, my nephews are hard on their movie and XBox backups but I've yet to have them totally trash one.

[Kedirekin]

Like CDs, the optics for DVDs can be pretty forgiving of scratches. I've had plenty of DVDs that looked like they'd been sandblasted, and they still played and ripped just fine.

Look through a screened window, then focus on the screen, and you'll get some idea why the optics are so forgiving (when you're not focused on the screen, you can barely see it).

I believe most ±R media is made of the same type of polycarbonate plastic as mastered DVDs are. As long as you avoid tangential or excessively deep scratches I think you should be fine.

[JohanHj]

Have DVD+R better quality than DVD-R?

[Gil T Pleasure]

The armor plated TDK DVDRs (http://www.tdk.com/tecpress/armordvd.html) are said to be "100x more scratch resistant than standard DVD media."

The drawback is, they also cost 100x more than standard DVD media :D

[Chu]

Just like CD's, it's the back of the DVD you really got to watch out for. Those REALLY cheap DVD-R's with no protection are begging to make someone's life miserable :mad:
Anoter vote for Ritek media though. G04's are down to $1ea shipped over at newegg.com. Absolutely no reason to go with el-crappo media at that price.

-Chu

P.S. Most long term DVD-R degregation, the decay most of us really worry about, is due to oxidation of the organic layer. All plastic is to some extent permiable to oxygen, so this problem will effect all DVD-R's eventuially :( What really scares me is the "blue" CD-R dye, the type of dye that seems to be the most popular among DVD-R's seems most succeptable to this problem. Informative links here (http://www.cd-info.com/CDIC/Technology/CD-R/Media/Longevity.html).

[timekills]

Have to third the Ritek suggestion. I've used G03s and 04s for backups of kids' Disney flicks, and they've survived longer than the originals did before I started making the backups.

As long as you don't use labels...

[mrbass]

best deal right now which has been going on for about a month is 25 pack of Memorex 4X DVD+R or now you can even get DVD-R if you prefer that for $29.99 free shipping / no tax. It's $1.20/each.

search on amazon for:
Memorex DVD+R 25 Pack Spindle 4x

[JohanHj]

Timekills: Why not use labels?

[rhayman]

Originally posted by JohanHj
Timekills: Why not use labels?

Dont use labels on your dvd-media, i had to throw away about 50 because of this, its okay to use on cd-r's though, i cant remember the reason it screws up dvd-r but it does.

I recommend Ritek also, burned through about 250 of these with no problem at all. G04 that is, i had a couple of problems with some g03 discs.

[Kedirekin]

The most likely reason labels cause such a problem on DVDs is vibration. Even the slightest imbalance in the DVD (i.e. off-center label) will cause vibration when the DVD spins up.

The tolerances on the DVD read mechanism are very tight, and even a small vibration (imperceptible to a human) will result in read errors.

CDs are less susceptible because the tolerances on their read mechanisms isn't as tight.

[MackemX]

is there a spray you can get to protect discs?

why not spray them with car laquer or hairspray?, lol :D


not so sure on hairspray with heat but I can't see the car laquer doing anything, but I'm probably wrong anyway :)