DVD Demystified

DVD Overview
Figure 4.1
The DVD family
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took more than 2 years before compatible DVD-Video players began to slowly
trickle out. DVD+RW, championed by Philips, Sony, and Hewlett Packard, is
not an official member of the DVD family. Similar to DVD-RW, it has about
the same level of compatibility, although competing manufacturers may be
hesitant to modify their drives and players to accommodate DVD+RW.
Manufacturers of DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW claim that specific
features make their format better or more suited for particular uses,
but the reality is that the technical distinctions make little difference, especially
as drives get faster and buffers get bigger. They all record data on a
rewritable disc.
Beyond the various physical formats of DVD, there are logical formats, or
application formats, that define how data are organized on the disc for a
specific purpose. DVD-Video was the first application format, designed for
video and audio. DVD-Audio, with specific features aimed at extra-highfidelity
audio, was launched as a separate format, but after a few years, it