|  | Posted by joeu2004 on 07/02/06 23:25 
These are probably just an academic newbie questions, with littlepractice use.  But I'm curious....
 
 Are there any physical differences between "-" and "+" DVD media of the
 same type (R or RW)?
 
 Are there any physical differences between R and RW DVD media of the
 same type ("-" or "+")?
 
 I understand (that is, guess) that there are differences in recording
 format -- that is, the content and/or the encoding format.  But is
 there any physical reason why, for example, I could not record +RW
 format onto -R media, if my equipment permitted it?
 
 The motivation for my question is....
 
 I often find price differences between "-" and "+" media of the same
 type (R or RW) and between R and RW media of the same type ("-" and
 "+"), all of the same brand.  Is there a legitimate reason for the
 price difference?  Or is the industry taking advantage of my ignorance,
 presuming that I will assume that "+" should cost more than "-" and RW
 should cost more than R because of an illusion of increased capability
 (due to the format, I presume)?
 
 On a practical level....
 
 If there are no physical differences, is there any way to coerce my
 equipment (Sony RDR-VX530) into writing a particular format onto media
 that is marketed for a different format?  For example, writing -R onto
 +RW media or vice versa.
 
 It does not seem so.  The DVD recorder seems to automagically recognize
 the media type and formats it accordingly.  The only choice seems to be
 between VR and Video formats for -R/-RW DVDs.  But I am new to all of
 this, and perhaps I overlooked an option or a trick.
 
 Finally....
 
 I believe that some DVDs of the same (+RW, for example) are marketed as
 "2x", "4x", "16x", etc.  I guess this refers to the supported maximum
 recording speed.  Right?
 
 Is this yet-another marketing ploy ("the naive customer will pay more
 for the illusion of greater capability")?  Or is there truly something
 physically different between, say, a 4x and a 16x DVD?  If so, what is
 the difference?
 
 TIA.
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