Burning is the process of writing your MPEG2 movie file onto a DVD. As mentioned before some authoring software titles will allow you to burn to a DVD. Some people like to burn with other programs like Nero.

Whichever method you choose I think it’s a good idea to create either a DVD VOB(Video Objects) or an image file on your hard drive first and then burn to the DVD. The reason I like to do this is in case I need to make multiple copies. It just seems to make subsequent burns go faster. I like to save the VOB to my hard drive so I can watch it with a DVD player on my PC.

Media Choices
In all the years I have been burning CD’s I never though about what brand of media I was using. Unfortunately it is not the same way in the DVD world.

+R or -R ?
Blank DVD’s come in two major flavors +R and -R. Overall there seems to be just about equal compatibility with players between the two formats. Ultimately I chose to use -R.

• It works on all the players in my house.
• It’s the format all local wedding and event videographers use to create disks
• I have created and sold hundreds of -R disks and have not received any complaints.

Quite honestly I wouldn’t hesitate to use +R either. It’s just that at this point I know what to expect with -R.
Media Brands
This is where things get crazy and honestly I wish ignorance was bliss. DigitalFAQ.com (by Kevin Pieper aka LordSmurf) maintains one of the most comprehensive pages on the subject.

The current list of decent quality disks from a recent post by LordSmurf at VideoHelp.com:
Sony DVD+R (made in Japan) = YUDEN media
Sony DVD+R (made in Taiwan) = SONY media
Sony DVD-R (made in Japan) = TY or SONY media
Fuji DVD+R (made in Japan) = YUDEN media
Fuji DVD-R (made in Japan) = TY media
Verbatim DVD-R (made in Taiwan) = MCC media
Verbatim DVD+R (made in Taiwan) = MCC media
Maxell DVD-R (made in Japan) = MXL media
Maxell DVD+R (made in Japan) = MAXELL media
TDK DVD-R (made in Taiwain) = TDK media

Each Brand uses different companies to manufacturer their disks. It’s not the label on the package important but the media code of the disk, which is usually not printed anywhere on the disk. You must insert it into your PC and read it from the disk with software. Some burning software titles have the ability to read the media code.

There is absolutely no consistency between brand and manufacturer. Sometimes the supplier of the disk is different between 25 or 50 packs of the same brand. The 25 pack of BrandX may be Made In Japan but the 50 pack is Made in Taiwan. Also brands frequently change their suppliers. You need to stay on top of the changes until the manufacturing becomes consistent.

If your in a bind and need to buy disks locally I would look for disks manufactured in Japan.

The one manufacturer that seems to consistently receive favorable reviews is Taiyo Yuden.

I mentioned a few weeks ago I I bought a Pioneer 111d and a NEC ND-3550A.

I just got done burning about 75 Dual layer discs and 75 single layer discs.
The dual layer discs were Verbatim 20 DVD+R Dual Layer Inkjet Printable. They are rated at 2.4X yet users on forums and Nero report they can be burnt at 8x.

I attempted a few burns at 6X and had two coasters on the Pioneer. I then burned at 4X on the NEC and the Pioneer.

I also burned a bunch of Taiyo Yuden 16X DVD-R White Inkjet Hub Printable at 8X. the TY’s burned perfectly at 8X in both burners. I printed the discs on my Epson R200.

Overall I am quite happy with both burners. I have a little more confidence in the NEC burner than the Pioneer. I have absolutely no justification for that statement. There were no controlled tests and I also did not attempt higher than 4X burns in the NEC. If I had maybe I would have gotten a few coaters as well.
You can’t go wrong with either burner.

As mentioned here I was preparing to burn a set of 60 dual layer discs. My old Samsung burner that cam with my HP computer could only burn dual layer media at 2.4X.

I was SHOCKED at how low prices were for state of the art DVD burners like the Pioneer 111D and NEC 3550. Current prices are between $35 & $40 dollars.

I initially ordered the Pioneer DVR-111D DVD burner from NewEgg. When I hooked it up it was not working. I panicked and then ordered the NEC ND-3550A burner.

Prior to the arrival of the NEC I had discovered that the jumper on the Panasonic was set to Master. I set the jumper to cable selct like my DVD ROM and the drive has performed beautifully.

I am going to keep the NEC ND-3550A burner and install it in another computer.

If you’re in the market for a DVD burner you can’t go wrong with either the Pioneer DVR-111D or NEC 3550 series burners !