DVD

This is a storage medium on which the data is stored digitally. The DVD, pronounced Digital Versatile Disc, looks similar to a CD but was developed later. They come in several different formats and storage capacities. The most important formats such as DVD-R or DVD+R, DVD-R DL or DVD+R DL, DVD RAM, DVD RW, DVD ROM, HD DVD and Blue Ray should be mentioned here. There are different manufacturing methods, professional purchase DVDs are manufactured in so-called pressing plants and produced in large numbers. These are less prone to dust and scratches than self-made DVDs that are written to with a burner.

DVD-R / DVD+R

The DVD-R/+R has a capacity of 4.7 GB, ie 4700 MB, which is 6.7 times the storage capacity of a conventional CD. The different designations -R and +R come from the various companies involved in the development of these standards. However, today`s DVD burners can describe both formats and so it is up to the user to choose which blanks or data DVDs to use.

DVD-R DL / DVD+R DL

Since 2004 there have also been the so-called DVD-R DL and DVD+R DL with a capacity of 8.5 GB, i.e. 8500 MB, which corresponds to around 12.1 times the size of a conventional compact disc. The higher capacity is achieved by using two layers (double layer). When the first layer is full, the writing laser jumps over the so-called layer brake and writes the second layer of the blank.

DVD RW

The additional abbreviation RW stands for "Rewritable". This technology makes it possible to rewrite the DVD up to 1000 times. So you can delete and add to the data. This is recommended for temporary storage of the data, i.e. if no long-term storage is necessary. This can save a lot of costs. In the beginning there were still compatibility problems with different drives, but today`s drives can write to, erase and read from this medium without any problems.

DVD ROM

The DVD-ROM can be seen as the direct successor to the CD-ROM, this medium is only used to read data. The abbreviation ROM also stands for this.

DVD RAM

This abbreviation stands for "Random Access Memory", so you have the option of reading and writing data.

HD DVD

Successors to the DVD are currently being sought because the storage capacity is no longer sufficient for high-definition videos, for example. One of the possible successors is the HD-DVD (High Density Digital Versatile Disc), which has a storage capacity of between 15 GB and 30 GB. The technology is based on a blue-violet laser, which is required to read the stored data.

Blu-ray Disc

Another possible successor to DVD is Blu-ray Disc, developed by Blu-ray Group (Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Sony, Thomson, LG Electronics, Hitachi, Sharp and Samsung). Their storage capacity is between 25GB and 50GB.