and dvd rw?

DVD-R is just your standard basic format that movies come on.DVD+R are black DVDs that you can buy and record on, only once though.DVD RW are blank DVDs that you can buy and record on, and then re-record over later over and over.

Hi anonymous312,The DVD+R and DVD-R are competing formats much like the old VHS and Beta formats in video tapes. Today most drives are Hybrid and handle both formats. They are usually labeled DVD+/-R. The RW suffix on either -R or +R means they can be erased and used again. They are ReWriteable.The market for recordable DVD technology shows little sign of settling down in favor of either the plus or dash formats, which is mostly the result of the increasing numbers of dual-format devices that can record to both formats; it has become very difficult to find new devices that can only record to one of the formats. However, because the DVD-R format has been in use since 1997, it has had a five-year lead on DVD+R. As such, older or cheaper DVD players (up to 2004 vintage) are more likely to favor the DVD-R standard exclusively, and when creating DVD's for distribution (where the playing unit is unknown or older) the DVD-R format would normally be preferable.My personal experience has led me towards using the +R. It is slightly better at error handling so more tolerant of dirty or damaged media and also more tolerant to the subtle differences between players.Norm

DVD-R and DVD+R competing formats. Both can only be writen to once.Some DVD players can read only DVD-R and some can only read DVD+R and some can read both. If you want to burn DVDs that can be read by your DVD player you will have to find out what format your DVD player reads. Go here to find out....http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers Most newer DVD writers can write in both DVD+R and DVD-R. Do a search on your DVD writer model to find out if yours can. You just need to buy the media (DVD-R or DVD+R) your DVD player will read from link above.DVD+/-RW is a re-writable format. Theses DVDs can be burn, erased, and reburned over and over again. As with the above two formats, some DVD players will read this format and some won't check in the link above to find out if yours can.