On Thu, 2005-07-28 at 22:31 -0500, Paul wrote:
OK same tech as the Panasonic PD drives that stored 650MB/side ...
Yes, hence why DVD-RAM support in Linux was almost since day 1.
of course I'm starting to wonder about my memory now. Either way you can't stick them in a normal DVD drive and read them.
Some drives you can, but yes, they are limited to Masushita/Panasonic data drive licenses. A lot of that has to do with the advanced error correction and MO design, things that are _not_ in CD-RW, DVD-RW and DVD +RW. The error rates are much lower in comparison, hence why I still recommend DVD-RAM.
FYI, +R/+RW compatibility wasn't very good until recently, especially on consumer players. Yes, better than -RAM, but -RAM was designed for optical archiving and longevity, and it does it well. People forget that +R/+RW/-RW do _not_ physically look like -ROM/-R at all, so there are compatibility issues as well.
And yes, -R is the ultimately compatible format when written in Disc-At- Once (DaO) mode, which requires byte-by-byte (character) record. And since DVD-R(G) came out, I adopted it as well. But for prior archiving, as well as some archiving since, DVD-RAM gets the call.
I avoid DVD+RW/-RW like I did CD-RW (and CAV/zone-CLV CD-RW, or what I retroactively call CD+RW). The error rates are too high. DVD+R isn't like DVD-R either, so I avoid it, especially with the fact that it wasn't until late 2003 that even Sony/Philips players/licenses weren't always DVD+R compatible.