Re: DVD-R: need expert opinion!

I don't know that the manufacturers should be reprimanded, but there is definitely is a need for more education about the shortcomings of the desktop DVD recording. Go into an electronics store and I doubt you'll find too many DVD players that advertise "DVD-R" compatibility and even if they do you would have a hard time finding one that plays all DVD-R's regardless of DVD-R brand, bitrate or other factors. I suspect that you don't see to many players advertising DVD-R capability because the manufacturers know it's an iffy medium. When I needed a player for DVD-RW's, I tried my disks in four that did say "DVD-RW" on the box: it played in just one of them.

I think the education message needs to be, and this is mostly something that many desktop DVD producers need to learn since they're the ones making DVD-R's: DVD-R is not a mass distribution medium.

I blame the shortcomings of DVD-R on Hollywood, whose fear of duplication and pressure on technology producers resulted in us getting DVD-R General, a crippled form of DVD.