Posted by joeu2004 on 07/05/06 00:44

Rick Merrill wrote:
> joeu2004@hotmail.com wrote:
> > My DVD recorder (Sony RDR-VX530) can record DVD -R/-RW in either
> > "Video" or "VR" mode. What are the internal differences?
> [....]
> VR mode, AFIK, cannot be used on DVD players.

As I stated, the Sony RDR-VX530 DVD recorder/player supports reading
and writing VR mode (DVD-R and DVD-RW). That is fact, not supposition.
I have the user manual in front of me, having just bought the device.

Perhaps what you meant to say is: that is not a common feature -- at
least, not a common feature of older DVD recorder/players. (VX530 was
released in June 2006.) Or perhaps you meant to say: VR mode was not
originally intended for DVDs.

That would be useful information to know, if you could clarify it. But
it might also help my understanding if you could explain what "VR mode"
is and what is was originally intended for, if not for DVDs.

And I am still interested in knowing the internal format differences.
I would like to know if VR mode is backward compatible with Video
format or vice versa, or if they are mutually compatible. Notably, I
would like to know: if I write a DVD in VR mode, is it not likely to
be readable on most DVD players -- most older DVD players, or even most
newer DVD players? [1]


-----

[1] A Google search did turn up the following thread circa June
__2004__:
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/88857 . It states that
support for DVDs in VR mode was a presumably recent feature of (then)
only some Sony, Pioneer and Emerson DVD recorder/players. It also
states that, then, VR-mode DVDs was incompatible with most DVD players.
But that was 2 years ago in a fast-changing industry.

Another article circa 2005(?) --
http://archive.avsforum.com/avs-vb/history/topic/487418-1.html -- adds
Toshiba to list of DVD recorders that support VR mode. But it notes
that, at the time, Toshiba "VR" DVDs are not compatible with some other
"VR" DVD players, namely Pioneer. This article notes some of the added
features of VR mode. But it does not describe the internal format,
which is what I am interested in.

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