Topic: DVD-R Media Quality and Compatibility

[Battousai]

Those "CD-R King" dual layered discs are OK and reliable for back-up or data storage purposes of downloaded contents as well as Office files, pics, videos etc. All of the files I placed were burned OK naman on these dual layered discs and accessible when I placed them on another computer's DVD-ROM/RW.

[evo69]

Those "CD-R King" dual layered discs are OK and reliable for back-up or data storage purposes of downloaded contents as well as Office files, pics, videos etc. All of the files I placed were burned OK naman on these dual layered discs and accessible when I placed them on another computer's DVD-ROM/RW.

Say that in around 2-3 years time. Just don't burn anything on CD-R King-branded discs that you'd want to keep, you'll regret it for sure. The single-layer DVDs are still the most consistent and reliable for backup, I'd only recommend dual-layers for short-term use. And even CD-R King single layer discs crap out after a year or two.

I know it's hard to believe a rookie in the forum, but believe me when I say I've burned more than four times the number of DVDs in the last 5 years than the number of days in those years. Go figure.

[allanmandy]

I got some dual-layer DVD's from CD-R King for 35 bucks a pop. One type has a brownish-gray bear disc art (says "Dual Layer") and the other one has a white floral art (says "RW DVD+R DL" and "RW DVD+R DL" )

Anyway, I already burned some documentary videos on them and I don't seem to have any problems. Having just tumbled into this thread recently, I decided to inspect these two types of CD-R King Dual Layer DVD's using Roxio's Toast 9 Titanium (which is better than that Japanese DVD Media Inspector app for Mac). Using digitalFAQ.com's table as reference, I got the following results:

For both types of DVD artwork:
Manufacturer ID: RITEKD01
Manufacturer: Ritek
Country: Taiwan
Format: DVD+R DL
Notes: Reflectivity and degradation concerns, DL has layer break issues
Rating: 2ND CLASS MEDIA - OKAY DISCS (Mixed quality media, average 75-90% of discs tend to be good. These discs are not suggested for archival data or video masters. These are best suited for data that can be replaced easily, such as secondary backups or data/video distribution. In bulk, these tend to be less expensive than 1ST CLASS media.)

All of the DVD's I made burned successfully, except for about four instances of failed verification. Maybe that's the manifestation of the layer break issues reported for this DVD.

I will ultimately have to transfer the contents to a Blu-Ray disc, once the burner and disc becomes more accessible. The files I put in these CD-R King dual layer DVD's are documentary videos, most of which are not available as retail DVD's. It would be a shame to lose them since they're really good archival and instructional materials.

[evo69]

A failed verification means it's not a 1:1 copy of the prepared image. As for layer break issues, you can use ImgBurn (windows) - a free and great utility for burning DVD images and does an excellent job at DL media/layer breaks. I use it under VMWare Fusion when I'm using my Mac, or might as well run Bootcamp for safety's sake.

The two DVD+R DL you're referring to are more commonly known by the CD-R King staff as "Bear Double Layer" (yeah, more like 'dobol') or "Vine Dual Layer". I wouldn't trust them even if you paid me enough to buy 10. On the other hand I bought 3xMKM 003 Made in Singapore media (8x Verbatim DVD+R DL) at 120 a pop. Not one problem.

I've been also avoiding Ritek media ever since they've created that horrid G-series dye (RitekG03, G04, G05) for SL DVD-R discs, terrible longevity - had discs degrading to an unreadable mess just a few weeks after burning. And since DL media is less reliable than SL... I stay away from it.

Usually with blank media - you get what you pay for. It might be better for you to use Toast 9's disc-spanning feature to save your raw documentary files on multiple SL DVDs rather than one DL disc that could implode any minute - also much cheaper to do multiple backups. For backup freaks I'd also suggest the use of DVDisaster, a utility that adds ECC data on a disc to help the recovery of its contents when it becomes problematic on playback due to age or physical damage. It's also free.

[ralfy]

For DL, I think TDK is OK, too, but it's around PhP 60.

[evo69]

For DL, I think TDK is OK, too, but it's around PhP 60.

Yes they're ok if you use the right burner - those discs are made by Ritek (Ritek S04-066) and I've used about 50, BUT I'm still unsure about their longevity. I'm checking them every 3 months to make sure So far (after ~5 months of use) they look decent naman. But the burn quality is highly dependent on the burner talaga, unlike Verbatim MKM001/003 2.4x/8x that I could burn on any drive and have no worries.