DVD Quality, Compression, Capacity, and Media types

DVDs are popular media for video content distribution.  DVD Author Plus allows you to backup your valuable data by burning, copying or creating ISO images.  Burn and copy your videos, audio files, pictures, documents to DVD and stop worrying about the loss of important data.

DVD stands for Digital Versatile Disc.  You need to understand different DVD media types before creating a DVD.

DVD+R and DVD-R are Recordable and write-once format.  Once recorded they cannot be edited, erased or changed for the rest of its digital life.  These disks are compatible with all DVD players, even older ones.  DVD+RW and DVD-RW are Rewritable DVD formats.  Data on these disks can be erased and recorded many times without damaging the medium.

DVDs have a fixed pre-defined dimension.  If you play them on your PC, they may seem to be distorted or stretched.  However, the video should look fine on your DVD player.  If you intend to burn your videos to DVD disc, the dimensions should be compliant with the dimensions listed in the table below.  This is usually handled by the DVD burning software’s.

Understanding DVD media can be puzzling at times.  There are four common DVD types based on file size:

DVD 5:- also called a Single Sided Single layered, with a capacity of ~4.7 GB.
DVD 10:- also called a Double Sided Single layered, with a capacity of ~8.75GB.
DVD 9:- also called a Single Sided Dual layered, with a capacity of ~7.95GB.
DVD 18:- also called a Double Sided Dual layered, with a capacity of ~17.95GB.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION:

Format
DVD 5
DVD 9
DVD 10
DVD 18

Resolution
NTSC
720×480
720×480
720×480
720×480

PAL
720×576
720×576
720×576
720×576

Maximum Storage Capacity
4.7 GB
7.95 GB
8.75 GB
17 GB

Recording Time
100-135 minutes
20-240 minutes
200-270 minutes
240-480 minutes

Video Compression
MPEG-2
MPEG-2
MPEG-2
MPEG-2

Quality
Good
Better
Very Good Quality
Excellent

Creating a DVD video with DVD Author Plus is a simple three-step process.  Organize the videos, select the format plus quality of DVD and burn it.

Go ahead and try DVD Author Plus for creating Professional DVDs.