What is the Difference Between DVD-R and DVD+R Discs?

So what is the difference between blank DVD-R and DVD+R discs anyway? This is a question that we frequently get asked from clients all over Canada.  Upon appearance, there really doesn't seem to be any difference between the two discs at all. Although technically speaking, there are significant differences between the 'dash' and 'plus',  the biggest difference probably lies in the competing corporations behind each format handling the licensing and collecting royalities. DVD-R/-RW is approved by the DVD Forum, while DVD+R/+RW is supported by the DVD+RW Alliance.

Both DVD-R and DVD+R are single-write digital versatile discs that can store up to 4.7GB of data. They can also be used in home DVD players as DVD video discs.  DVD-R was first developed in 1997 by Pioneer; however, with the emergence of DVD+R, people began referring to the 'dash' as a 'minus'.

DVD+R became available to the buying public in 2002. Developed by such companies as Phillips, Sony, HP, Dell, Ricoh and Yamaha, their mandate was simple: to drive sales away from the DVD-R. At that time customers were forced to choose between the two formats unless they installed burners and readers for each.  This all changed in 2003 when Sony came out with a burner/reader that could accomodate both DVD-R and DVD+R. The drive soon became known as a DVD±R drive and took the worry out of consumers minds who, up to that point, had to be careful which disc format to use. 

Technical Differences

One of the differences between DVD-R and DVD+R discs lies in the fact that because DVD+R is a divergent format to the DVD-R, it has to first be formatted before data can be encoded onto it. This of course makes using a DVD+R more inconvenient from the start.  Each format also uses its own respective system to control speed and tracking during the encoding process.  The DVD-R system is call "Land Pre Pitt" (LPP), while the DVD+R system is call  "Address In Pregroove" (ADIP). The better of the two systems is ADIP, as it is not affected as much by interference and error, making it more accurate at higher speeds than the LPP system. This in effect, limits the speed at which a DVD-R can be burned. In addition, DVD-R has an inferior error tolerance which can result in a less accurate burn.

Although more differences exist between the two formats where DVD+R is superior, DVD-R has always been the reigning king in the marketplace, not only because it was the first introduced, but moreover because of its low price point. 

Western Imperial carries a wide variety of blank DVD-R and DVD+R discs from names such as JVC Taiyo Yuden, Verbatim, MBI Pro, Falcon Media and Microboards.