IMATION'S DVD MEDIA FORMATS

Considerable confusion exists concerning DVD media formats. As DVD media catches on, new drives are becoming increasingly compatible with multiple types of media. Still, today's DVD uses tend to dictate the type of media you should consider when making drive and media purchasing decisions.

DVD-R
Today, there are two DVD-R categories-authoring and general use. The first category of DVD-R-authoring-was designed to meet the needs of professional content developers and software producers. The general category DVD-R was developed for business and consumer applications: Data archiving and one-time video recording. Both authoring and general media can be read by all DVD drives.

DVD-RW
DVD-RW is officially referred to as a "re-recordable" format but is commonly called a "rewritable" format. The general-purpose media contains protection technology that prevents copying of CSS-protected discs-in other words, from duplicating commercially purchased DVD movies and audio. DVD-RW media is a sequential read/write media. DVD-RW discs can be overwritten 1,000 times and have a data storage life of 30-50 years.

DVD-RAM
DVD-RAM (DVD Random Access Memory) is the official DVD Forum-approved rewritable format. DVD-RAM provides 4.7 GB per side storage capacity and uses phase-change technology for recording. Data on the media can be accessed in the same fashion as a hard drive and discs can be overwritten 100,000 times. The 4.7GB single-sided disc is available in a removable cartridge for reading by a growing number of shipping DVD-ROM readers, DVD players, and DVD-R recorders.

DVD+RW
DVD+RW is an alternative rewritable format that has a capacity of 4.7GB per side and is ideal for real-time video recording and random data recording. DVD+RW media is the DVD+RW Alliance's standard media. Each disc can hold 4.7GB of information, which translates to more than two hours of high quality MPEG2 DVD video with excellent picture quality. Designed to be used for both data and video content across PC and entertainment applications, the discs are compatible with both DVD-Video and DVD-ROM equipment. DVD+RW also offers the possibility to combine digital video and digital data in a single file system as required for multimedia recording systems.

DVD+R
DVD+R extends the functionality of DVD+RW in a unique write-once format. The media provides permanent storage of up to 4.7GB of data, and is compatible with both DVD-Video and DVD-ROM equipment.