DVD Recorder

A DVD recorder, which is also known as a DVDR, is an optical disc recorder that records video onto blank writeable DVD media. Originally, DVD recorders supported one of three standards, e.g. DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, using DVD-VR and DVD+RW, using DVD+VR, none of which are directly compatible. As a general rule, however, most current drives support both the + and - standards, while few support the DVD-RAM standard, which is not directly compatible with standard DVD readers. DVD recorders use a laser (usually 650 nm red) to read and write DVDs. DVD burner lasers often peak at about 100-400 mW in continuous wave (some are pulsed). Some laser hobbyists have discovered ways to extract the laser diode from DVD burners. DVD recorder drives can be used in conjunction with DVD authoring software to create DVDs near or equal to commercial quality, and are also widely used for data backup and exchange. As a general rule, computer-based DVD recorders can also handle CD-R and CD-RW media; in fact, a number of standalone DVD recorders actually use drives designed for computers. DVD recorder drives are required to respect DVD region codes when reading a disc, but do not impose a region code on written discs unless the code has specifically been written into the disc's content. DVD duplication systems are generally built out of stacks of these drives, connected through a computer-based backplane.

In practice, this is largely an issue confined to computer-based DVD recorders, since standalone units generally record in real time, that is, 1X speed. When the standalone DVD recorder first appeared on the Japanese consumer market in 1999, these early units were very expensive, costing between $2500 and $4000 USD. Early units supported only DVD-RAM and DVD-R discs, but the more recent units can record to all major formats DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, and DVD+R DL. Some models now include hard disk-based digital video recorders (DVRs) to improve ease of use. Standalone DVD recorders generally have basic DVD authoring software built in; however, the appearance of the finished DVD is very basic and usually completely under the control of the unit. Some believed that DVD recorders would supersede the VCR as the standard television-recording device; however, with the rise of DVR's and competing media formats like Blu-ray, the DVD recorder's future seems limited.

DVD recorders have several technical advantages over VCRs, i.e. they are superior video and audio quality, these are easy-to-handle smaller form-factor disc media, and more durable than magnetic tape. This disadvantage does not apply to DVD-RAM or DVD+RW discs, which require no finalization due to their 'random access' nature. An ATSC-capable DVD unit can also serve as a more-powerful alternative to ATSC converter boxes, which convert existing NTSC analog television receivers to digital operation. Unlike the more common digital television adapter boxes, the DVD recorder units are able to tune both analogue and digital signals - an advantage when receiving low-power television and foreign signals. A DVD recording of an over-the-air HDTV broadcast is at DVD resolution, which is far inferior to the 1080i resolution of the broadcast original. 8cm mini DVDs are widely used on some digital camcorders, primarily those meant for a consumer market ("point and shoot"); such discs are usually playable on a full-sized DVD player, but may not record on a full-sized DVD recorder system.