I bought a DVD-VCR Recorder the other day, I am planning to use it for recording my VCR family movie tapes over to DVD. I found out that not all DVD players use the same format, the one I bought uses the DVD-R and the DVD-RW. The DVD players that my family have won't reconize the DVD's that I recorded to. Are there DVD-VCR Recorders that will record to the -R's and -RW's in addition to the +R's and +RW's? any suggestions? How do the DVD's that you buy that are prerecorded (such as movies) work on both types?

QUOTE (Lou W @ Apr 7 2005, 12:27 PM)

I bought a DVD-VCR Recorder the other day, I am planning to use it for recording my VCR family movie tapes over to DVD. I found out that not all DVD players use the same format, the one I bought uses the DVD-R and the DVD-RV. The DVD players that my family have won't reconize the DVD's that I recorded to. Are there DVD-VCR Recorders that will record to the -R's and -RV's in addition to the +R's and +RV's? any suggestions? How do the DVD's that you buy that are prerecorded (such as movies) work on both types?

I have a DVD/VCR recorder so maybe I can help. There are two main competing formats for DVD media (think Beta and VHS). You have the "minus" format (DVD-R, DVD-RW), the other is "plus" format (DVD+R, DVD+RW). There is a third less common format DVD RAM.

"Minus" media is widely available, reasonably priced and has good compatiblity for playback on other machines.

You probalbly know this, but just in case - "R" media is Recordable, once only. "RW" media is Re-Writable, you can record and erase over and over, like a video tape.

DVD-R media is generally more compatible for playback in other DVD players. Most newer players will play back DVD-RW as well, but almost all players can play -R disks. There are a variety of DVD recorders that can record on both and even all three media types, but generally not in the DVD/VCR combo decks.

So once you have your DVD Media sorted out, there are also two recording formats that most DVD recorders support, one of which is more compatible with other players than the other (although it offers less editing control through the recorder). Check your owners manual regarding this, I don't remember the detail off hand.

The last and most important thing is that you must "Finalize" a recorded DVD on your recorder before playing it on a different DVD player. This is what makes it compatible and is often overlooked. Look at your owners manual on how to do this. It is usually a step in the on-screen setup or disc menu.

You'll be swapping DVDs with your friends in no time...

Ah, I forgot to "Finalize"... man, this new technology gets confusing. thank you.