What Are the Best Formats for Video, Music, and Data Discs?
As a rule of thumb, write-once media–be it DVD or CD–is your best choice for compatibility with consumer electronics devices, be it your high-end audio CD deck or your $50 Costco-special DVD player. Write-once discs have a higher reflectivity, which tends to make it easier for the devices’ laser to read the data. Use DVD-R or DVD+R for video projects. It shouldn’t matter which you choose–although some players (Toshiba models, for example) don’t officially support DVD+R, so it’s a crapshoot as to whether the disc will play. My advice is to check online and see if you can find sites that note whether other folks have had success with DVD-R or +R on your player–and then go with that media. Long-term, either format should be fine for archiving; I believe both formats are entrenched enough that you’ll find support for them long after your $50 player conks out. For audio projects, pick CD-Rs. CD-Rs are the best way for you to create audio CDs, the format recognized by CD and DVD players.
