I've never had much success with read/write DVD blanks. I've tried several makes, the current one being TDK. But they often generate write errors or sometimes compare errors. I use ImgBurn exclusively. Ordinary blanks work 99% of the time, my favourite being Maxell as they are dirt cheap from Wilkinson. But what are other people's experiences of read/write DVDs?
MM
RW doesn't stand for "read-writ" it stands for "re-writable" (i.e. erasable)
I find that the non-rewritable are cheap enough that I never bother with rewritable.
And I gave up with RWs years ago - never seemed to work properly when it was CD-RWs so never bothered buggering about with DVD-RWs.
I use them for checking out edited video indexes. Main problem I see is that not all DVD players will tolerate them but mine will. They are not as reliable as write once media but then they are reusable. The media is now so cheap that it hardly matters but old habits...
Sometimes you can find a firmware update to fix the drive or write at something less than absolutely flat out max speed (which is anyway lower for DVD-RW so depending on how you value your time sacrificing a DVD-R occasionally might still be worth it!)
Not had much bother with Verbatim DVD+/-RW on various drives. I have one old DVD drive that won't write *any* modern disks at any speed.
I favour DVD+R Verbatim or genuine Taiyo Yudon for final cut.
Most DVD (+r -r +rw -rw) blanks work fine for me but I'll echo the point that burning at a slower speed usually works if you end up with a batch of discs that don't appear to work properly when burned at max speed.
What I would suggest is that once you've found a burning software (and burning speed) and a brand of disc that writes and reads well in your various equipment, stick to it. Don't fiddle with the software settings either once it's working well.
In message , MM writes
I've had trouble with re-writable DVDs in my LiteOn LVW-5045 (Mk1). It started being reluctant to recognise the DVD, and if it did, took ages to burn it or erase it. I think it was only with a "+". but it might have been only the "-" (but is wasn't both). I guessed that it might be a dirty laser, and cleaning it manually (which took quite a bit of dismantling to get at it, and re-assembly) seemed to cure it. [I didn't try a cleaning disc.]
Samsung works better than Liteon when writing DVD-RW, for me. I have a Liteon drive which can write DVD-RWs successfully, but cannot read them; to read them I have to use another DVD-ROM drive!
The reflectivity of DVD-RW discs is lower than that of DVD-R discs, which in turn are worse than the stamped disks used to distribute videos, software, etc., and that is said to account for many problems.
The stamped disks use pits in the disk surface, but patterns are written on the other disks using some method of changing their reflectivity (light-sensitive dyes etc. - I'm sure Wikipedia has a detailed description).
At least one drive manufacturer has some kind of database of acceptable disk manufacturers (built, I suspect, into the drive firmware, though I'm not sure about that).
Before DVDs, in the days of CDs, I had very similar problems.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.