Hi
1) Greater Number Of Re-writes.
DVD-RAM has 100,000 compared to DVD-RWs 1,000. Now even 1,000 re-writes is alot but remember the same gernally principles that govern CD-RW lifespan govern DVDRs.
Pioneers new A06 and A07 has new burning strategies that can increase the lifespan of DVD-RW upto 10 times, that equals up to 10,000 rewrites while the signal remains within the DVD specifications. The A06 (I had said this would be the case but Rasczak you told me I was wrong and it would be the A05, but no it is the A06) is used in the new Pioneer models. This also provides defect management like DVD-RAM. Both DVD-RW and DVD-RAM media are likely to outlast the useful life of the recorder. There is no reason to pay three times the price for DVD-RAM on the grounds it rewrites up to 100,000 times, as you are never ever going to come anywhere near this on a domestic video recorder. I suspect the lasers life is rated less than this in hours!
2) Mix Media Types.
This may not seem that significant at first but as we continue the march towards 'home networks' it is going to be a feather in RAMs cap. You can put JPEGS, MP3s, WMA, WMV on the same DVD-RAM disk as recorded video data AND can be randomly accessed just like a HDD. The increased re-writes again brings benefits here as you move your data around, delete titles etc etc. There is more info on this in the March Home Cinema Choice (Page 52/53).
The same applies to DVD-RW of course in the VR mode, and is part of the Video Recording specification. DVD-RW can also be randomly accessed like all DVDs can, which is their advantage over VHS! DVD-RAM may borrow some aspects of defect management from the hard-drive arena, but this doesn't make it perform like a hard-drive, it is simply for defect management. In a DVD Recorder it works using UDF2.01 in a real-time recording mode, which ensures data is laid down linearly as much as possible to help ensure it playbacks better. So while it might be quicker for the drive to dump some data where it finds the laser pointing to (this is how a hard-drive works and so you end up with data scattered all over), it doesn't, it waits and finds the last area written to and continues from there, this is the same way DVD-RW works in Restricted Overwrite mode.
3) Protective Cartridges.
Obviously only a 'benefit' for those disks that are in a caddy but a major plus point for DVD-RAM. For people with small children then a DVD-RAM recorder might be the only viable option if they want a removeable disk system
.
Agreed very useful, however many people are buying un-caddied DVD-RAM as it is cheaper and appears more familiar, the irony here is DVD-RAM is more vulnerable naked than DVD-RW, hence it requiring a caddie in the first place.
4) User Friendly.
Arguably DVD-RAM is the simplier to use. With just one recording mode, there is not the confusion created by two modes. There is also no confusion as Timeslip will work on all DVD-RAM disks - not just certain types as with DVD-RW (which require v1.1).
I guess you ignore the messing around with taking a DVD-RAM disc out of the cartridge for playback on other DVD-RAM compatible equipment that very rarely bother supporting cartridge DVD-RAM, so undoing the benefits you were promoting in 3 above?
DVD-RW is just as simple, but with the added flexibility of being physically compatible with the DVD-ROM spec, giving an extra choice. When in the video mode it is exactly the same as writing to a DVD-R, except you can re-use it. It isnt adding an extra layer of confusion over DVD-RAM is it, as on DVD-RAM decks you still have two recording modes.
Actually it isnt the version number it requires, as all DVD-RW you are ever likely to see outside Japan is v1.1, the media has to be x2 speed rated. With x4 speed media now coming out, it will not be long before 1x speed media is gone anyway, leaving x2 as the slowest you can buy which can be had for around a £1 each already. The Pioneers chase-playback worked perfectly on some cheaper Traxdata x2 DVD-RW, even at full data rates.
There isnt any particular difference between DVD-RW and DVD-RAM, they are both capable of supporting the same features, and even use the exact same Video Recording format. DVD-RW on new recorders is now able to write up to 10,000 times (1000 was probably enough for most people anyway) and supports real-time defect management for further robustness. The defect management also rates defects on severity from 1 to 3 so still being able to record to some defects without having to mark them bad and avoiding them altogether, which would result in some loss of space.
Where set-top recorders are concerned, no one would mourn the loss of DVD-RAM, as DVD-RW looks and behaves in the same way. There is nothing stopping DVD-RW going in a cartridge, except the fact there isnt a compelling need to do this as DVD-RW isnt as susceptible to damage as DVD-RAM and people would simply not bother spending the extra as the majority of playback devices force the removal of the cartridge anyway.
Regards
Philip
