Heya, I am backing up some of my dvd collection and i have been using mostly dvd5 disc's. But there is afew movies that i hold up higher than others (we all have our fav's). I was wonding if using dvd9's insead of 5's would make a difference in the quality or the life of the backup? Thanks
Hi biggun31, First: DVD-5 disks are single layer DVD disks that hold 4.7GB of data (actually a bit less than that) and DVD-9 are dual layer DVD disks that hold 8.5GB od data. With that said: If your backing up movies whose size is under the 4.7GB limit, then the whole movie will fit onto a DVD-5 disk with no loss of video quality, if the movie's size is greater than the 4.7GB limit and wish to put it onto a DVD-5 disk, then the movie will have to be compressed in order to fit which means a loss of video quality (how much depends on the compression amount, the greater the compression the greater the loss). If you have a fovorite movie whose size is greater than the 4.7GB limit for DVD-5 disks and don't want any loss of video quality when backing it up, then use a DVD-9 disk. Using a DVD-9 dual layer disk, you should be able to make a 1:1 backup, which means it will be an exact copy of the original (zero loss of video quality, the entire movie and its menus will be preserved). The life of a disk will depend on its quality, higher quality DVD disks should last longer and will be more reliable than the cheaper alternatives. Look for verbatim, sony, taiyo yuden..etc...made in japan if possible.
It ultimately depends on your compression level. If your compression requires more than about 10-15%, then I'd say go with DL.
