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Dual Layer DVD's - What's the
Scoop?
by Andrew Lock
I suspect that this issue is on
the minds of many videographers. Firstly, let's clarify that Hollywood
movies are produced by replication, a mass production process, pressed from a
glass master. Recordable DVD-R's are created by a different process - manually
'burning' them in a PC or standalone recorder, so they do not share the same
level of compatibility - although this is improving all the time.
Most Hollywood discs store more than 8GB of data, and up until now, that has
been a major limitation with writable DVD's. Now that dual layer DVD's are
available, we are now able to record around 8.5GB of data. Since this is a
relatively recent development, there are a number of issues that you should be
aware of:
1. At the time of writing, dual layer discs are very expensive - $10 or more per
disc! Obviously they will come down in price, but that will be a slow process,
it's not going to happen imminently. If you are thinking about copying
Hollywood movies, apart from the fact that it's illegal, it's cheaper to go out
and buy the original!
2. When looking at the ability of consumer DVD players to play back dual layer
discs, they are not as compatible as 'Hollywood' discs and at this point they
are not even as compatible as single layer writable DVD's.
3. At current speeds, it takes about 45 minutes to burn a full dual layer disc,
compared to less than 10 minutes for the latest single layer DVDR's.
In view of this, you may wonder why there is so much hype about these dual layer
discs? There are certain situations that benefit from this technology
immediately. For example, post production houses can produce a single sample
copy of a DVD movie, using these new dual layer discs. Previously they had to go
through the expensive process of producing a glass master just to check the
finished program on dvd players. Also, the large storage capacity is attractive
simply for data backups, and as long as the disc is read by the same machine it
was recorded on, compatibility is not an issue in that situation.
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