there different formats , most newer plays play both .howevewr you can booktype the DVD plus R to DVD-ROM which is your best bet. i use the DVD dash R(Taiyo Yuden) and they play on everything.the most important thing is to use good media like Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim burning no faster than 8x. read this
The difference is that DVD-R is a write-once, dye-based recording format intended for video when the DVD Forum approved DVD recording formats. ram.cfm" class="forum_link" target="_blank">DVD-RAM is the DVD Format for data. DVD-R uses pit marks in the sections between tracks ("land pre-pits")to keep track of addresses. After a DVD-R is manufactured, it is initialized in a special burner to add information that works with copy protection schemes.
When the DVD Forum decided to approve a rewritable DVD-RW with the same sequential recording format as DVD-R but use it for data, too, HP, Philips, and Sony revolted. They saw the limitations in a sequential data format--erasing a file did not add any capacity; it just erased the address of the file. The revolution led to the DVD+RW and finally to the DVD+R, write-once dye-based disc. Instead of using land pre-pits for addresses, the DVD+R/+RW uses a high frequency signal modulated onto the wobble track to keep track of information. The DVD+R also avoids the initialization process that takes time and costs more.
Some DVD Forum members, notably Panasonic, whose DVD-RAM was in jeopardy, decided to "fix" the DVD+R/+RW challenge by preventing their drives, recorders, and players from reading such discs. When DVD+R DL discs appeared, most older players could not read them because they did not understand how "recordable" and "double layer" could be combined. The solution was to falsify the disc identification from "recordable DVD+" to "DVD-ROM," the designation for molded DVD discs set by the Philips specification books. Falsifying the book type to "DVD-ROM" als got around the Panasonic prohibition for all +R/+RW products. There is no need to falsify DVD-R discs because they correspond to the DVD Forum rules while DVD+R/+RW does not. (Panasonic finally wized up: they dropped the cartridge from DVD-RAM and began to include DVD+ discs in their firmware.)
Most people don't understand the political intrigue that led to booktyping, the + format revolt, and the intentional restrictions to the use of Taiwanse manufactured media by Japanese drives. This misunderstanding has convinced many people to actually believe:
1) DVD+R is better than DVD-R because of book typing. (DVD+R is theoretically better because the HF modulation may be better than land pre-pits and because initialization is a pain in the neck.)
2) "Made in Japan" media are better than any disc made anywhere else (except Verbatim discs made by CMC in Taiwan).
