Can I play back my recordings on any DVD player?
Where can I check if my player/drive will play DVD+R/+RW discs?
How can I improve chances of compatibility?
What are compatibility bitsettings?
Why do my DVD+RW discs play, but my DVD+R discs don't?
Why don't my edits/chapters play from my DVD+RW discs?
Why don't my edits/chapters play from my DVD+R discs?
Why is video displayed in zoom mode on my DVD player?
Why can't I fast forward or reverse easily on my DVD player?
Why is my anamorphic/widescreen recording displayed sqeezed when played on a DVD-Video player?


Can I play back my recordings on any DVD player?
In general: yes. The DVD+R/+RW format was designed to be compatible with existing DVD-Video players and DVD-ROM drives. It shares as much characteristics of the DVD-Video and DVD-ROM formats as possible (both on a physical level, as wel as on a logical file/video level). However, there are a number of factors that affect compatibility. By it's nature, a recordable disc has a slightly lower laser reflection than its factory-pressed cousins. This will confuse some players as they try to initialize a particular disc. Another factor is related to the identification of a recorded disc. When a player checks the disc-type field that is stored on each DVD disc and finds that it's not a "read-only" or pressed DVD, it might have troubles playing it. Luckily, both issues only come across with a minority of players and drives, and both issues can be resolved by updating the firmware of the player (as they are not related to hardware issues). In case of the wrong identification of the disc, this can also be changed by changing the identification on the disc itself (see below).


Where can I check if my player/drive will play DVD+R/+RW discs?
This site contains extensive listings of DVD-Video players and DVD-ROM drives that have been tested by visitors of the site on correct playability of DVD+RW and DVD+R discs. Refer to Compatibility List.


How can I improve chances of compatibility?
There are a number of things you can do to increase the likelyhood of your DVD+R or DVD+RW disc to be succesfully played on your DVD-Video player or DVD-ROM drive. One of the best tips is to make sure that the disc is sufficiently filled up. When a disc contains too little data, some players can not succesfully calibrate the laser on them and fail to initialize the disc. Furthermore, when you create a disc on the PC, make sure the DVD authoring software is creating discs that fully conform to the DVD-Video standard. Just creating a DVD-Video file system is not enough (this was a problem with some versions of Nero). Then check various brands of DVD+R and DVD+RW media. As with CD-R and CD-RW, quality can greatly differ between the various brands, and some discs might work better in your player than others. Finally, you might want to change the compatibility bitsettings as explained in the question below.

For a more comprehensive overview of these tips, refer to the Compatibility Issues article.


What are compatibility bitsettings?
For a DVD player or drive to identify what kind of disc is loaded, it queries some identifier info found in the lead-in section of each DVD disc. These few bits, commonly referred to as "compatibility bitsettings" tell the drive which specification the media conforms to, such as DVD-ROM (also used for normal DVD-Video discs), DVD+R or DVD+RW. Most DVD players will read a DVD+RW or DVD+R disc without any problems, however a small minority of them report a disc error when a disc is loaded that is not marked as a "DVD-ROM" disc in the compatibility bits.

When the manufacturer of a DVD-Video player or DVD-ROM drive that suffers from this problem does not provide a fix (for example by offering a firmware upgrade), you might try to "fool" the player into thinking that a DVD-ROM disc is loaded by changing the compatibility bits on the disc. Refer to the Compatibility Bitsettings article for more information on what bitsettings do, and how to change them using a DVD+R/+RW video recorder or a DVD+R/+RW PC drive.


Why do my DVD+RW discs play, but my DVD+R discs don't?
Ususually, when a player plays DVD+RW discs, it is very likely that is will also play DVD+R media (as they have even more DVD-like characteristics than DVD+RW discs). In most cases when a owner of a DVD+R/+RW video recorder experiences this problem, he or she had forgotten to "finalize" the DVD+R disc. This operation, which is not needed for DVD+RW discs, needs to be applied on a DVD+R disc once you've finished recording it in order to make it DVD compatible. Check the manual of the recorder to see how to access this option in the recorder's menu screens.


Why don't my edits/chapters play from my DVD+RW discs?
When you make edits on a DVD+RW disc using a DVD+R/+RW video recorder (such as chapter stops you made in a title after recording it, or creating linear playlists by defining some chapters as "hidden during playback"), you can access these chapter stops or play the edited title on any DVD player. However, although the edits are immediately effective when you play the disc on the recorder itself, you need to apply the "Make edits compatible" function of the recorder in order to make the edits also DVD-Video compatible. This operation needs to make some changes in the video stream to write the chapter stops and hidden markers, and since this can be a time-consuming process (up to a few minutes), the recorder will not automatically do it for you after each edit you make. Check the recorder's manual to see how to apply the "Make edits compatible" feature in the recorder's menu screens.


Why don't my edits/chapters play from my DVD+R discs?
Contrary to edits you make on DVD+RW discs (see the question above), edits on a DVD+R disc can not be made DVD-Video compatible. Due to the nature of a write-once disc, the video stream on a disc can not be updated to write DVD compatible chapter stops, hence they can not be accessed on a regular DVD player. Consider these chapter stops and edits as convenience features for playback on the recorder itself. As an exception, chapter stops you make during recording (by pressing the Edit/FSS key on the remote control) are DVD-Video compatible, as they can immediately be inserted in the video stream while the disc is being recorded.


Why is video displayed in zoom mode on my DVD player?
A DVD+R/+RW video recorder uses different resolutions for the various recoring modes. The HQ (1 hour), SP (2 hours) and SP+ (2.5 hours) modes use full D1 resolution (720 x 576 for PAL, 720 x 480 for NTSC). LP (3 hours), EP (4 hours) and EP+ (6 hours) use half D1 resolution (360 x 576 for PAL, 360 x 480 for NTSC). Both resolutions are perfectly well defined by the DVD-Video spec, and both are allowed on DVD-Video discs (see DVD Video specification). Although recordings made in both resolution should be played fine on all DVD players, a very small minority of players (most notably some Toshiba and Pioneer models) have problems displaying video in half D1 resolution. They will play these discs in a "zoomed" or "stretched" way. This would also happen with pressed DVDs containing video in this video mode. You should request for a fix for this problem at the player manufacturer.


Why can't I fast forward or reverse easily on my DVD player?
On some players, it will be harder to fast forward or reverse trough video recordings made on a DVD+R or DVD+RW disc. This is due to the nature of real-time MPEG encoding. Pointers that are included in the MPEG stream that allow for searching trough the video are placed at less regular intervals than in MPEG streams which are encoded in a non-realtime environment, such as on pre-recorded DVD-Video discs. Some players are known to react slightly more explicit on real-time recorded discs, such as the ones you make on a DVD+R/+RW recorder.


Why is my anamorphic/widescreen recording displayed sqeezed when played on a DVD-Video player?
When you make an anamorphic recording, for example from a DV camcorder in "wide screen" mode, or from an anamorphic encoded DVD-Video disc, the recording will be stored on the disc in its original anamorphic format, preserving the original detail of the picture. Signalling info to set a widescreen TV into "wide 16:9" mode are included for playback on the DVD+R/+RW recorder itself, so the TV will automatically adjust the aspect ratio at playback on the recorder. Since mixing of anamorphic widescreen and normal 4:3 video within a single title is not permitted by the DVD-Video standard, but recording of both 4:3 and 16:9 video in a single title by a DVD+RW video recorder is (think of a movie broadcasted in anamorphic widescreen which is interrupted by 4:3 commercials, all recorder in one title), the video will not include standard DVD-Video anamorphic signals that allows DVD-Video players to scale down the video to widescreen letterbox format for playback on 4:3 TVs. To view these anamorphic recordings, you need either a wide screen TV or a 4:3 with a 16:9 option. In both cases, you need to set the TV to 16:9 wide screen mode manually when you play the disc trough a normal DVD player.