| A DVD recorder (or, colloquially, a DVD | | | | less, with even lower "street prices". Early |
| burner) is an optical disc recorder that | | | | units supported only DVD-RAM and DVD-R discs, |
| records video onto blank writable DVD media. | | | | but the most recent units can record to all |
| Such devices are available as either | | | | major formats DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, |
| installable drives for computers or as | | | | and DVD+R DL. Some models now include hard |
| standalone components for use in studios or | | | | disc-based digital video recorders (DVRs) to |
| home theater systems. | | | | improve ease of use. Standalone DVD recorders |
| | | | generally have basic DVD authoring software |
| Technical information | | | | built in; however, the appearance of the |
| | | | finished DVD is very basic and usually |
| Originally, DVD recorders supported one of | | | | completely under the control of the unit. |
| three standards: DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW, | | | | |
| none of which are directly compatible. As a | | | | Some believe that DVD recorders will |
| general rule, however, most current drives | | | | supersede the videocassette recorder (VCR), |
| support both the + and - standards, while few | | | | while others believe that they will remain |
| support the DVD-RAM standard, which is not | | | | specialty items as digital video moves to |
| directly compatible with standard DVD | | | | network distribution. |
| readers. | | | | |
| | | | DVD recorders have several technical |
| Recording speed is generally denoted in | | | | advantages over VCRs, including: |
| values of X (similar to CD-ROM usage), where | | | | |
| 1X in DVD usage is equal to 1.321 MB/s, | | | | Superior video and audio quality |
| roughly equivalent to a 9X CD-ROM. In | | | | |
| practice, this is largely an issue confined | | | | Easy-to-handle and smaller form-factor disc |
| to computer-based DVD recorders, since | | | | media |
| standalone units generally record in real | | | | |
| time, that is, 1X speed. | | | | Random access to video chapters without |
| | | | rewinding or fast-forwarding |
| DVD recorders use a laser (usually 650 nm | | | | |
| red) to read and write DVDs. The reading | | | | Onscreen multilingual subtitles and labeling |
| laser is usually not stronger than 5 mW, | | | | not available on VCRs |
| while the writing laser is considerably more | | | | |
| powerful. The faster the writing speed is | | | | Reduced playback wear and tear |
| rated, the stronger the laser is. DVD burner | | | | |
| lasers often peak at about 100 mW in CW (225 | | | | High-quality digital copying, with little or |
| mW pulsed). Some laser hobbyists have | | | | no generation loss |
| discovered ways to extract the laser diode | | | | |
| from DVD burners. | | | | Improved editing, at least on rewritable |
| | | | media |
| Computer-based DVD drives | | | | |
| | | | Playlisting |
| DVD recorder drives have become standard | | | | |
| equipment in many, though not all, computer | | | | No risk of accidentally recording over |
| systems currently on the market, after being | | | | existing content or unexpectedly running out |
| initially popularized by the Pioneer/Apple | | | | of space during recording |
| SuperDrive; aftermarket drives as of late | | | | |
| 2006 can be US$50 or less. DVD recorder | | | | Easy to find recordings due to chapter menus |
| drives can be used in conjunction with DVD | | | | |
| authoring software to create DVDs near or | | | | However, an inconvenience exists in which |
| equal to commercial quality, and are also | | | | DVDs recorded with DVD recorders must be |
| widely used for data backup and exchange. As | | | | finalized to view in other DVD players. (This |
| a general rule, computer-based DVD recorders | | | | disadvantage does not apply to DVD-RAM discs, |
| can also handle CD-R and CD-RW media; in | | | | which require no finalization due to their |
| fact, a number of standalone DVD recorders | | | | 'random access' nature.) Also, the |
| actually use drives designed for computers. | | | | implementation of MPEG-2 compression used on |
| | | | most standalone DVD recorders is required to |
| Most such devices are designed with parallel | | | | compress the picture data in real time, |
| ATA interfaces; however, external drives | | | | producing results that may not be up to the |
| using USB 2.0 or IEEE 1394 are also widely | | | | standard of professionally rendered DVD |
| available. | | | | video, which can take days to compress. |
| | | | |
| DVD recorder drives are required to respect | | | | A number of manufacturers have combined DVD |
| DVD region codes when reading a disc, but do | | | | recorders with hard disc-based digital video |
| not impose a region code on written discs | | | | recorders, allowing for simple recording to |
| unless the code has specifically been written | | | | large fixed disks, and the ability to spool |
| into the disc's content. | | | | these recordings off the DVD at a later date. |
| | | | |
| DVD duplication systems are generally built | | | | 8cm miniDVDs are widely used on some digital |
| out of stacks of these drives, connected | | | | camcorders, primarily those meant for a |
| through a computer-based backplane. | | | | consumer market ("point and shoot"); such |
| | | | discs are usually playable on a full-sized |
| Standalone DVD recorders | | | | DVD player, but may not record on a |
| | | | full-sized DVD recorder system. Though |
| When the standalone DVD recorder first | | | | popular for their convenience (in the manner |
| appeared on the Japanese consumer market in | | | | of VHS-C), DVD camcorders are not considered |
| 1999, these early units were very expensive, | | | | suitable for more than casual use due to the |
| costing between $2500 and $4000 USD. However, | | | | much higher level of compression used |
| as of early 2006, DVD recorders from notable | | | | compared to MiniDV and the difficulty of |
| brands are selling for $150 USD and L69 or | | | | editing MPEG-2 video |