History

• It all began with the appearance of floppy disks in the 1970s. The need to transfer data from one computer to another was a basic need, and although computer networks did just that, mobile solutions were needed to be discovered. Philips and Sony worked together to pull out the first CD in the early 1980s. In the race to create the DVD, Sony and Philips faced some serious competition from Toshiba. Both teams released a version of DVD, but the refuse of software giants like IBM, Apple and Microsoft to support multiple standards got Sony, Philips and Toshiba working together to deliver one final product by 1996. The first DVD player was released in the same year, and the first burner was released in 1997 by Pioneer.
  
  

Types

• Even though there are three main types of DVDs available, most DVD players and burners can handle all of them. DVD-R and DVD+R are basically the same thing, but coming from different manufacturers. DVD-R was released by the DVD Forum, formed by Hitachi, IBM, Intel, LG, Microsoft, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Sony and other companies, and the DVD+R was created by the DVD+RW Alliance formed by Dell, HP, Philips, Sony and others. DVD-RAM is the third format, offering write and rewrite capabilities like DVD-RW and DVD+RW, but not as widely used as the other two. Sony released the first DVD burner capable of handling both the + and -- standards in 2003, making it compatible with DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R and DVD+RW. However, it lacked the DVD-RAM writing feature.
  
  

Connectivity

• DVD burners use the same connectivity like hard disks and other optical drives. IDE and SATA cables are used for internal DVD burners, while external DVD burners use USB or FireWire connectivity.
  
  

Advantages

• DVD burners have the advantage of allowing the user to save large amount of data onto a single disc. Compared to CDs which can store 700 mb of data, a standard DVD can hold up 4.7 gigabytes, almost seven times more. Also, DVD burners can also record to CDs, so they represent an all-in-one solution for playing and recording both CDs and DVDs.
  
  

Considerations

• DVDs also use regional codes. That is a feature implemented especially by movie producers to prevent DVDs destined for one market to reach another market. DVD burners also feature these codes, and although the burning capabilities are not affected, these affect playback features. A DVD burner having a certain code cannot playback a DVD that has a different code. Code 0 means that a DVD can be played everywhere. Some DVD drives come with no code assigned, and need to have one set before being able to play certain discs. The code can be changed five times, the last setting being permanent.