A CD-R and CD-RW is basically a recordable CD. However, whether or not a DVD player capable of playing a regular CD can play a CD-R depends on the quality of the CD-R. Some CD-Rs recorded on higher quality CD burners can play perfectly. However, if you used a lower quality CD burner to make your CD-Rs and CD-RWs, then there's a chance they won't play. Also, a CD-RW (as opposed to a CD-R) have lower light reflection, so CD-RWs are even less likely to play.

If you want to play back CD-R and CD-RW discs that have MP3 audio files, look for a DVD player that is CD-R and/or CD-RW compatible and features MP3 decoding. You can use our DVD player comparison charts (specifically the Basic Features comparison chart) to look for such DVD player models. Here's how: (1) click on this link, (2) look for "Yes" under the "MP3" column, and (3) look for the "CD-R" or "CD-RW" designation under the "Audio CD" column.

While the DVD Movie and Game discs you buy or rent in the stores appear to be "silver" or "gold", they are usually made from aluminum coatings, over a clear layer that has been mechanically pressed with pits or holes to encode the data that the lasers in the DVD players decode into music and video signals. DVD Video discs that are made this way do not require the light sensitive dye layer used in DVD-R discs, and so they appear clear on the bottom, or nearly so. They never have to be "burned".

The only discs that a DVD player is guaranteed to read are DVD discs. Support for CD-ROM, CD-R, and CD-RW may be included, but is by no means guaranteed. CD-R was designed to be read by an infrared 780nm laser. DVD uses a visible red 635nm or 650nm laser, which aren't reflected sufficiently by the organic dye polymers used in CD-R media. As a result, many DVD players can't read CD-R media. Some DVD players come with two lasers so that they can read CD-R.

It is very difficult to estimate the life of a CD-R or CD-RW because there are many factors such as temperature and humidity, exposure to light, dirt and contamination, and handling and scratches, which can affect the life of a disc.

All of our CD recorders work with either blank CD-Rs or CD-RWs, so you won't be locked into exclusive use of one or the other by your hardware. Choosing between the two formats really comes down to your intended uses for the discs you're burning. Although the "R" in CD-R stands for "recordable," this is a "write-once" technology. That means anything you record on a CD-R is permanent.

Generally, CD-RW discs can only be played back in CD-RW drives, "MultiRead" CD-ROM drives, and specific DVD players carrying the CD-RW compatibility logo. CD-RW drives, on the other hand, can read and write CD-Rs and read CD-ROMs and Audio CDs.

After a hard day at work, one of the favorite preoccupations of our times is to insert a DVD in the player, get hold of a drink and a few munchies, and let the stress built through the day melt away in front of the latest flick or an old, sentimental hit. DVDs are an affordable medium that capture good picture and sound quality and can be enjoyed from the comfort of one's home, so DVD players are a significant entertainment asset in the present times.

The new DVDs will be compatible with the vast majority of existing consumer electronics DVD players worldwide. This process requires discussion and testing in addition to the development of a new video specification from the DVD Forum. For example, a study had to be undertaken to confirm the compatibility with existing DVD players. It also takes time to complete physical disc specifications for the new recordable DVD media.

A VCD is basically the for-runner to DVD but uses a standard CD. Fortunately most DVD players will support VCDs. There are two types of VCD, the original (which uses mpeg1 compression) and SVCD (which uses mpeg2 compression). However, VCDs are more widely supported. Virtual Edit cannot directly output mpeg1 data, however, you could render a high quality AVI and then use a VCD burning tool that supports AVI video data (for example Sonic - MyDVD) to burn the VCD data onto CD.

Yes, the content on the DVDs is organized in such a way that it is easy to create your own CD-Rs from DVD. However, there are some things that must be paid attention to: Keep the path identical. For example, if the path to Windows XP Professional on a DVD is \English\WinXP\Pro\, be sure to put all of the files on the CD-R in the same path. CD-Rs can only be created and used in accordance with the MSDN Master End-User License Agreement (EULA).

Retiring a disc: I don't need that directory of MP3s backed up any more, etc. Or maybe I was using that cd-r to temporarily shuttle a bunch of OTR shows from place to place. Dent and Ding sale: maybe I closed the disc before I wanted to and re-burned that session again on a fresh disk. Maybe I put the same file on twice or something else goofy like that. These are like "cosmetic damage" - the CD will work just fine, the contents are just not what I wanted them to be for my own usage.

We've read that they last from six months to eighty years, but the shorter duration involved storage in the sun and sandpaper - not a pretty idea. We've had no trouble so far - we've had one return which was quickly remedied (and that may have been a blank disc that crept in) and another one with a glitch that we sorted out. These CD-Rs play well on all but the oldest CD player - our home player is from the mid-1990s and they play fine.

Although the DVD-R specification is standard, there is a small variations in the manufacturing processes of both discs and players which prevent some discs from playing on some devices. We do not guarantee if discs purchased cannot be played on your player/pc DVD rom, except for normal manufacturing defect(s).

Yes. They are region free and will play on your DVD player. They will play on any DVD worldwide! Our DVD's even play on Playstations and X-Boxes that can play DVD's.

The DVDs are playable in any DVD player on the market today. The DVD is "region free" enabling worldwide compatibility. The DVDs will also play on your home computer (with a DVD-ROM), Sony Playstation, XBox and Nintendo wii.

DVD-R "minus" COMPATIBILITY - 2204 of ALL 3688 TOTAL DVD PLAYERS (click to check your model of DVD player for Minus or General compatibility) DVD+R "plus" COMPATIBILITY - 1731 of ALL 3688 TOTAL DVD PLAYERS (click to check your model of DVD player for Plus compatibility) In practice, as shown on the pages linked here, about 53% of today's DVD players don't work with either DVD+R or +RW discs, a number which is substantially more than the "minority" they admit to on the page above.

Some of our DVD players do have the ability to play CDs. Consult the specifications on each model to find one suitable for you.

To prevent the latest movies from reaching countries where a particular film has not reached the theaters yet, Hollywood film studios imposed an encoding technique. This regional coding is a digital flag on the disc that tells the DVD player where a particular DVD comes from. This is supposed to prevent the disc from being used by an incompatible player in another country. A normal DVD player can only play discs designated for the player's own particular region.

It is possible, but unless you're an engineer, it's not recommended. Far too many people attempt to do this and end up damaging their DVD players. Also, by attempting to modify it yourself, you void any manufacturer's warranty.

Most DVD-Video players are capable of playing audio Compact Discs. Most DVD-ROM drives are capable of playing audio Compact Discs and CD-ROM discs. DVD stores data in a manner similar to CD's: microscopic data-storing pits are embedded in a disc during production and, when played, a laser beam reflects light from the surface, detecting pitted areas and converting the information to an electrical signal.

Initially no, because the DVD-A spec was written after the first generation of DVD players were already on the market so they are unprepared for the encoding. The video portion of a DVD-A may play on a current player but the audio will not. In the near future (after the DVD-Audio spec is released) there will be two new DVD players introduced; a universal player and a DVD-A only player. The universal player will play both DVD-A and DVD-V.

Your DVD is burned using professional brand DVD-R media, which plays on approx 98% of all DVD players today.

This problem is inherent in the CD-R medium. There is nothing we can do to insure that a CD-R will play on all CD players, except to select CD players which are known not to have problems in this regard. (Among the worst: older NEC and Kenwood players.) You probably wont see this information on many of our competitors pages but we want you to know the pluses and the minuses of CD-R Duplication. The biggest problem with CD-R Duplication is compatibility.

Problem 1: Dirt, fingerprints or scratches on the playback side of the DVD/CD is causing problems. DVD's are more susceptible to this problem than CD's. Solution: If a CD or DVD isn't playing back right, first look at the shiny surface. Are there fingerprints, scratches (for DVD's, it can only take one decent scratch to stop it from working) or dirt on the surface? This is often the case if some parts of the DVD/CD work, and some parts don't. If so, then first try cleaning it.