Exactly what does it mean? -R or +R?

[Sepisllib]

I know - I know. One cannot help stupid, however for a long time I have always wondered (from time to time) just exactly what is the difference between the two.

I see CD's in their little cases and they usually have the -R or +R. I don't know the reason, and just because I always lean toward the +R (of course thinking I am getting more rather than less).....

Seriously - I don't know the difference.

Input (just pretend I am not stupid here).

God Bless

Bill

[texnet]

They are different technologies. Most CD writers made today will write to both + and - but the first writers that were made would only write to one or the other.

[barlin44]

Hey Bill,
I think it has to do with the CD being able to (R) read and (W) write, meaning one may be read only and one could be write or download data. So a R + W could mean you could read data already on it or download your own data like music, pictures etc...

If not then I will be watching this as well..

[Mr_D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by barlin44 Hey Bill, I think it has to do with the CD being able to (R) read and (W) write, meaning one may be read only and one could be write or download data. So a R + W could mean you could read data already on it or download your own data like music, pictures etc... If not then I will be watching this as well..

Nope, texnet has it right.

[Mr_D]

texnet has it right.

[Fred1609]

CD-R (for compact disc, recordable) is a type of write once, read many (WORM) compact disc (CD) format that allows one-time recording on a disc.
CD-RW can be re-written.

[genesimmons]

i never seen +r cd's only cd-r and rw,but they are dvd-r,+r,rw and ram

[wa8yxm]

CD's are either R or RW DVD's are +/- R or RW

Some burners can only handle one or the other, most handle both
Some players can only handle one or the other, Most (Today) play both
Some can't play either one (though I seriously doubt you will find any of those any more.. I used to own one.. Just one)

[smiller]

+R and -R are two different ways of formatting and writing data to the disk, -R being the original writable DVD format and +R being added later by a few manufacturers as an 'improved' format. The +R format has some technical advantages (somewhat better error management, etc.) but they aren't very significant from most users' perspective making the two formats essentially equivalent. Since these days almost all DVD writers/players support both formats it doesn't really matter which you choose.

[Sepisllib]

Thank you for helping me become "less stupid" because I certainly did not know the differences.

God Bless

Bill

[alvinc]

For lots of detail on this subject take a look at Optical disc recording modes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This page has a lot of links on the right hand side that provide more than enough reading for an evening.

The original reason for the + and - was competing companies releasing their own technology (much like Beta (Sony) and VHS (JVC) in the day of video tapes). The big difference with DVD's was that the media was the same size and used the same type of reading and writing hardware, so it was natural for the HW to support both.

Have fun reading, and NO you are NOT stupid. Now could someone explain quantum mechanics for me.

[hamguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sepisllib Thank you for helping me become "less stupid" because I certainly did not know the differences. God Bless Bill

Thanks for posing the question (... just exactly what is the difference between the two.), but notice NO ONE answered your question. I still don't know.

[smiller]

I thought I did answer the substance the question but if you want to know the gory details read the 'Technical Details' section here. Hopefully you will be duly satisfied.

[Arch Hoagland]

My research a couple weeks ago on this subject led me to believe the "-" can be read by more devices accurately. The price for the "-" was almost double than what the "+" cost.
I'm converting a bunch of VHS tapes to DVD for family and friends so I bought the "_" just to be sure there wouldn't be any problems.