All about CD-R and DVD-R Media

CD-R Media

A CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable) is an offshoot of the Compact Disc digital audio disc invented by Philips and Sony in the 1980s. A CD-R has all the abilities of a standard CD but adds the functionality of allowing you to store either music or data.

A standard CD-R is a 1.2-mm thick disc made of polycarbonate, measuring 120-mm or 80-mm in diameter. CD-Rs have a storage capacity of 74 minutes of audio or 650 MB (megabytes) of data. Today, most CD-Rs can store 80 minutes of audio and 700 MB of data, which they achieve by slightly exceeding the limits of the standard CD-R. New on the market are 99-minute and 870 MB discs, although they are a bit more expensive and harder to find.

Also available is the CD-RW disc, the "RW" standing for "re-writable." Many people find these discs quite handy because it is possible to erase the information on them and re-burn new information. Analogous to a VHS tape, you can record things on a CD-RW disc over and over.

Remember that in order to burn information onto a CD-R or CD-RW, you must have a CD or DVD burner. Note that a DVD burner can burn DVDs and CDs, but a CD burner can only burn CDs.

DVD-R Media

A DVD-Recordable (DVD-R) is an optical disc with a considerably larger storage capacity than a CD-R. A DVD-R typically holds 4.7 GB (gigabytes) of information, compared to 700 MB (megabytes) of a CD-R.

New to the market, Pioneer recently developed an 8.54 GB dual layer DVD-R, which appeared in 2005. A DVD-R can only be written to once, whereas a DVD-RW (DVD-rewritable) can be rewritten multiple times (just like a CD-RW).

The DVD-R format was developed in 1997 by Pioneer. It's playable in most modern DVD players, and in virtually all computers.

A competing format (which often confuses people) is the DVD+R (also DVD+RW for the re-writable version). Many argue that there is no difference between DVD-R and DVD+R (which people pronounce as "DVD minus R" and "DVD plus R"). However, some video enthusiasts claim that the DVD+R discs are more suited to burn videos and movies to.

Because of the two formats, "hybrid drives" that handle both formats (often labeled DVD±R) are very popular. Most modern DVD burners installed in computers or sold in stores are multi-format, hybrid drives.

More information on blank media