With the evolution of DVD technology, certain DVD formats kept on introduced in the market having advance characteristics. Though all DVDs look alike but there are significant technical differences that set these apart from others. These differences exist because there are many DVD manufacturers in the market. Every manufacturer selects a different DVD format and support different manufacturing standards. The variations of DVD terms like +R, -R, -RAM illustrates the way data is stored on the disc. Let’s have a look on the DVD formats and the main functionalities they offer.

DVD -R/+R

These discs can be written only once and the data becomes permanent on the disc. Most home DVD players support this format. DVD-R is the better choice if you want to have a dvd copy of your favorite movie only once.

DVD –RW/+RW

These discs can be written numerous times without damaging the medium. These discs are helpful in dvd backup and restore of any valuable data as many time as desired.

DVD + R DL and DVD –R DL (Dual Layer)

These DVDs have two layers enabling it to store double about of data than a regular DVD.

DVD-RAM (Random Access Memory)

These discs can be written to 100,000 times in a format different than DVD-R/+R. The data is made reliable by plastic encasing. These discs are useful for applications requiring multiple rewrites, edits or backups.

DVD-ROM (Read Only Memory)

This is the format followed by commercial stamped DVDs. DVD renters copy dvd movies using this format.

There are many other DVD formats available like HD-DVD, Blue-ray Disc (BD), and Advanced Optical Disc (AOD) supporting latest technologies and providing extensive storage capacity. So whenever you went to buy a DVD from the market, first check its compatibility with your disk driver and be assure that your dvd copying software supports it.