VIDEO
MEDIA GUIDES ->
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quality guide & FAQ
This page appears as the front page of www.nomorecoasters.com.
If this is your first visit to digitalFAQ.com, then welcome.
This guide originally started out as a single-page reference
for those who wanted to buy high quality DVD media, with
information on which discs are good and which discs are not
so good. As time
has gone on, and a few years have passed, the subject has
grown more and more complex. We have also been asked several
times to include articles on CD and VHS/S-VHS media. In
order to include all of this new data, and to make this
complex topic easy to understand, as well as keep the
information up to date, the guide has been broken down into
several sections, each on on its own page.
DVD Media ID Quick list:
1ST CLASS (A): PVC, MXL,
TY/YUDEN, MCC/MKM, TDK/TTG/TTH, SONY
2ND CLASS (B): RICOHJPN,
PRODISC, RITEK, FUJIFILM, OPTODISC, INFODISC
3RD CLASS (C): CMC, LEADDATA,
DAXON, INFOMEDIA, MBI, MAM-E/A, PRINCO, ONID, GSC, PHILIPS
4TH CLASS (F): LONGTEN,
YIJHAN, AN/ANWELL, AML, INFOSMART/ISO, VDS, UME, WFKA
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DVD media quality guide
Not all media is
good. In fact, with the high influx of cheap media from
Taiwan, China and Hong Kong, I'd venture to say most media is
bad (the best media comes from Japan). This review guide section is meant to shed some light on who
manufactures and brands quality DVD
media, both single layer and dual/double layer
discs.
Advanced
concepts of blank DVD media quality
There are a number of mitigating factors that can affect
typical media quality as discussed in the prior guide
section. Disc manufacturing outsourcing, overprinting, dye
grades, burner firmware issues and several other variables
are explained in this section. Be aware that this section
is NOT an easy read, and folks who are new to disc quality discussions may want to skip this for now.
How
to test the burn quality of CD or DVD media
The creation of optical media is a fairly complex process
with little room for variance or error.
There is no single test out there which can state the
quality of a disc, at least not with any kind of legitimate
accuracy. However, it is possible to get a fairly reasonable
assessment by performing several different tests and
analyzing the results.
How
long do discs and tapes last?
There are a number of misinformed folks out there scaring
people much in the same way Chicken Little screamed that
"the sky is falling." Your DVDs and CDs are not
dying on the shelf, your VHS tapes are not disintegrating.
This guide section will shed some light on the various
aspects of longevity and what you can do to insure a long
media lifespan.
Where
to buy DVD media
This guide section lists many online sites and
brick-n-mortar stores in the USA and Canada. It tells both
who is good and who is not so good. Other worldwide sites
(Europe, Australia, Asia, etc) will be added when they are
reported.
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CD and VHS/S-VHS quality guide
Even with its usage shrinking a bit due to DVD, CD media
and VHS/S-VHS tapes are not going anywhere anytime soon.
Although the choices in these media have been greatly
diminished as the era of DVD grew more into its prime,
there are still a number of good brands that exist, and a
number of bad brands to avoid.
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DVD format and sizes FAQ
DVD-R or DVD+R? Single-layer or double-layer? When it concerns DVD-Video playback on DVD players, the
quickie answer here is that DVD-R works more often than
DVD+R, and that DVD+RW works more often than DVD-RW or DVD-RAM.
But this topic can get complex, and there are several
factors to consider when deciding what type of media should
be used.
DVD media also comes in
different "sizes" for storing data.
the following questions have no expanded articles, just
the short answers...
What's
difference between a burned disc and a "store
bought" disc?
"Hollywood" doesn't burn media. "Real" discs are pressed metal, mechanically made media. The presses are precise. Burning is a sloppy method to recreate the process, using dyes that can have pits and grooves "burned" into the chemical, making an illusion of how a "real" disc would look and work.
If you compare a pressed media and a burned media under a microscope, you can see that the pressed media is fairly precise, while the burns are fairly erratic, and it's almost a miracle that burning works at
all.
What's
a coaster? Why is this page called NoMoreCoasters.com?
For those that
are new to CD or DVD media, a "coaster" is a
reference to "drink coaster"... the thing you put
your cup on in a restaurant or your mother's coffee table.
When a disc goes bad, it has no other use. They become
coasters, Frisbees, trashcan liners ... maybe even practice
pigeons for NRA members. In this context, this page is aimed
at helping you to make "no more coasters".
Where
are some more sites to learn about media?
The topics of media
quality and media longevity are largely confusing and online
user forums often make this situation even worse. The blank
media information on this site is compiled by a select
handful of knowledgeable individuals that have experience
with countless thousands of pieces of blank media, and is
put online for the sole goal of helping people like you to
make smart choices. We want you to have a good buying and
burning experience. The same cannot be said for individuals
found in forums, as many of them jump to wrong conclusions,
have bad attitudes when confronted or questioned, and their
experiences are far from advanced (or even intermediate).
Please be careful out there. Do not be misled by a shill or
by somebody that has no more experience than yourself.
Page
last updated or content confirmed as up-to-date:
March 19th 2008
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