[chatam]

It appears that a bit of confusion exists as to recordable DVD media types, apart from the basic +R or -R and burning speed options.

Some retailers are specifying the compatibility of media offered with burners brands and sometimes with firmware versions.

Is there any point of reference to use as a guide somewhere?

[Fothb]

Searching for "DVD media FAQ" on Google should help you out to some degree with results like these:

Complete DVD FAQ

DVD Media FAQ

As for questions such as "which particular brand of media works the best with my recorder / player?" and "which firmware version do I need to use?", I usually find those answers directly from the media supplier. For example, I buy media from Shop4Tech, and they offer lots of information on media compatibility and firmware requirements. While browsing a specific type of media, the site will tell you which purposes that media is best for, which drives are known to be compatible, and which firmware "gotchas" (if any) exist. They also allow customers to leave feedback and comments that also contain some good info. When all else fails, they also have a great phone based customer service line that will answer questions. I'm sure that there are other media suppliers that offer these things too, I just happen to use Shop4Tech because they came highly recommended to me both before and after I started using them myself.

[chatam]

Thanks a lot.

Both links are very interesting indeed.

My impression is that the more sophisticated the media is the wider is the margin of error: progress should not be towards simplification? It seems that in switching from CD's to DVD's - at least from a back-up purpose standpoint - we gained space as much as problems.

Let's hope future players will maintain compatibility.