DVD-R -
There are two write-once DVD-R categories - Authoring and General use. Although both types of DVD-R media can be read by nearly all DVD drives and players, technical differences make it impossible to write to DVD-R Authoring media using a consumer DVD-R General system and vice versa. DVD-R General recorders use a 650 nm recording laser wavelength while DVD-R Authoring use a 635 nm laser. In addition, the General Use media contains content protection technology to prevent users from making bit-for-bit copies of CSS- encrypted entertainment titles.

DVD-R for Authoring was designed to meet the needs of professional content developers and software producers. The media is primarily used to create master discs that will be mass produced by software houses, multimedia/video post-production facilities and archiving.

DVD-R for General Use was developed for business and consumer applications - data archiving and one-time video recording. Delivering 16X write performance, the media provides secure recording for volumes of information that cannot be accidentally or intentionally altered. The low storage cost, 100-year data life and broad compatibility also make DVD-R General media ideal for small-scale distribution of DVD content. The media can be recorded using DVD-R General drives from Pioneer, Apple, Sony, Panasonic and other leading manufacturers. Recorded DVD-R general discs can be played back by the vast majority of the DVD-ROM drives and video players in use today.

DVD+R -
The write-once DVD+R specification is an extension of the DVD+RW format supported by the DVD+RW Alliance: Dell, HP, Microsoft, Philips, Ricoh, Sony, Thomson, Verbatim/Mitsubishi Chemical, and Yamaha. Similar in functionality and compatibility to DVD-R General, DVD+R was designed to provide widespread playback on DVD-ROM drives and DVD video players. DVD+R/+RW drives write +R media at speeds of up to 16X, so a full 4.7GB can be written in around 5 minutes. DVD+R drives and media provide a reliable, low-cost storage solution for archiving home videos, photos, mixed media presentations and data that require protection from alteration or erasure.

DVD-RW -
Officially referred to as a "re-recordable" format by the DVD Forum, DVD-RW is commonly known as a rewriteable format. Available with a capacity of 4.7GB, DVD-RW media is recorded sequentially, making it ideal for streaming video applications. DVD-RW media can contain protection technology that prevents duplicating copyrighted content. Users can write to the disc in multiple sessions as long as the disc has not been finalized, but DVD drives and players can only read DVD-RW media after the disc has been finalized. Currently offering up to 8x write performance, DVD-RW discs can be overwritten 1,000 times. Most legacy DVD-ROM drives and DVD players will read DVD-RW media. DVD-RW discs are used by drives and video recorders from Pioneer, Sony and other manufacturers.

DVD+RW -
A rewriteable format that offers 4x recording and 1,000 rewrites, the 4.7GB DVD+RW technology is used by consumers for both audio/video and data storage applications. DVD+RW incorporates lossless linking technology, allowing the drive or video recorder to accurately stop and start the writing process, or to replace individual 32kB data blocks. Lossless linking improves compatibility, performance and ease of use, and permits support of drag-and-drop applications like the Mount Ranier specification (similar to CD-RW functionality). For PC applications, DVD+RW hardware can optionally support CAV (constant angular velocity) recording to enable fast, random-access reading of the disc. With multi-session writing technology, users who have not finalized the disc can quickly add documents, data and video segments without having to open and close write sessions. By incorporating the +RW specification for defect management, manufacturers ensure that data is accurately written to and read from the disc.

DVD-RAM (DVD-Random Access Media) --
A rewriteable format that features random write/read suppor