Although some of us are knowledgeable about DVD / Blu-ray systems, many are left baffled by the more techie terminology. Pick up your manual, or look online to answer specific questions - you'll be bombarded by odd words and acronyms.
To make matters clear, here are some important DVD related terms and their definitions. As you may note, the more you learn, the more you'll need to know...
For a general overview of DVD regions and unlock codes, please check our FAQ.
BD-R - (Blu-Ray Disc-Recordable) See Blu-ray
Blu-ray - Derived from the blue-violet laser used to read and write this type of disc. Because of its shorter wavelength (405 nm), substantially more data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on the DVD format, which uses a red (650 nm) laser. A single layer Blu-ray Disc can store 25 gigabytes (GB), over five times the size of a single layer DVD at 4.7 GB. A dual layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 GB, almost 6 times the size of a dual layer DVD at 8.5 GB.
CD - Compact Disc
CD-R - (Compact Disc-Recordable)
is a variation of the Compact Disc
invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a
Write Once, Read Many optical medium
(though the whole disk does not have to
be entirely written in the same session)
and retains a high level of
compatibility with standard CD readers
(unlike CD-RW which can be rewritten but
has much lower compatibility and the
discs are considerably more expensive).
CD-RW - (Compact Disc ReWritable)
is a rewritable optical disc format.
Known as CD-Erasable (CD-E) during its
development, CD-RW was introduced in
1997, and was preceded by the never
officially released CD-MO in 1988.
DVD-Audio - Also known as DVDA is
a digital format for delivering very
high-fidelity audio content on a DVD
DVD - Digital Versatile Disc (formerly
Digital Video Disc).
DVD Code - The sequence of button presses on a DVD player's handset controller that makes it Region Free. This can also be achieved using the buttons on the face of the DVD player itself.
DVD Codes - As above. Find yourself a good unlock database and you're away!
DVDExploder - www.dvdexploder.com A database created to free players from domestic region locks, added by manufacturers to control movie distribution.
DVD Forum - A membership organization devoted to defining DVD standards for read-only, rewritable, write-once, video and audio use. Members participate in working groups to develop new standards. Based in Tokyo, Japan and founded in late 1995 as the DVD Consortium, it was renamed the DVD Forum in 1997. "Minus RW" and "Minus R" are commonly used to refer to the DVD-RW and DVD-R formats of the DVD Forum compared to the DVD+RW Alliance's DVD+RW and DVD+R.
DVD Multi - A specification from the DVD Forum that certifies DVD drives for media compatibility. Drives with the DVD Multi logo can read and write DVD-RAM, DVD-RW and DVD-R discs as well as read DVD-Video and DVD-ROM. DVD Multi drives may also be able to play DVD-Audio discs.
DVD Multi-Region - When a player can play DVDs from any region, it is regarded as 'multi-region' enabled.
DVD Player - A stand-alone device that plays DVDs. It contains a DVD drive and the electronics to decode the digital video. The device may play only manufactured DVDs, or it may be able to play DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs. DVD players are cabled to a TV or home theatre system for display.
DVD-RAM (DVD–Random Access Memory)
is a disc specification presented in
1996 by the DVD Forum, which specifies
rewritable DVD-RAM media and the
appropriate DVD writers. DVD-RAM media
have been used in computers as well as
camcorders and personal video recorders
since 1998. The direct successor of this
format will be HD DVD-RAM.
DVD Recorder - An optical disc
recorder that records video onto blank
writable DVD media. Such devices are
available as either installable drives
for computers or as standalone
components for use in studios or home
theater systems.
DVD-R - A DVD recordable format. A
DVD-R has a larger storage capacity than
its optical predecessor, the 700 MB
CD-R, typically storing 4.71 GB (or
4.382 GiB), although the capacity of the
original standard developed by Pioneer
was 3.95 GB (3.68 GiB). Pioneer has also
developed an 8.54 GB dual layer version,
which appeared on the market in 2005.
Data on a DVD-R cannot be changed,
whereas a DVD-RW (DVD-rewritable) can be
rewritten multiple (1000+) times. DVD-R(W)
is one of three competing industry
standard DVD recordable formats; the
others are DVD+R(W) and DVD-RAM.
DVD Region Free - A term denoting a multi-region enabled DVD system.
DVD Remote Codes - The handset
sequence described to activate a DVD
unlock.
DVD Unlock - The end product of
using a handset sequence - an unlocked,
Multi-Region DVD player. An unlock can
be referred to loosely as a DVD code.
DVD-RW - A rewritable optical disc
with equal storage capacity to a DVD-R,
typically 4.7 GB. The format was
developed by Pioneer in November 1999
and has been approved by the DVD Forum.
Unlike DVD-RAM, it is playable in about
75% of conventional DVD players.
DVD+RW - The name of a standard for
optical discs: one of several types of
DVD, which hold up to about 4.7GB per
disc (interpreted as approximately 4.7 ×
109 bytes; actually 2295104
sectors of 2048 bytes each) and are used
for storing films, music or other data.
DVD+RW Alliance
- An industry consortium devoted to
promoting rewritable and write-once DVD
standards. Founded in 1997 by HP,
Philips, Sony and others, it developed
the DVD+RW specification as an evolution
of the CD-RW format. The Alliance was
formed to provide a format that was more
compatible with consumer DVD players
than the DVD-RAM format that was being
developed by the DVD Forum at that time.
"Plus RW" and "Plus R" are commonly used
to refer to the DVD+RW and DVD+R formats
of the Alliance compared to the DVD
Forum's DVD-RW and DVD-R.
DVR - Digital Video Recorder
Hack - A clever or quick fix to a
computer program or technological
problem. The surface implication was a
casual attempt to fix the problem, but
the deeper meaning was something more
clever and thus impressive. In our case
it means safely making a DVD player
Region Free using DVD codes.
HDMI Cable
- (High Definition Multimedia Interface)
is currently the best, most advanced way
to watch high definition content.
HD-DVD - The failed successor to the
standard DVD format, derived from the
same underlying technologies. It can
store about 3 1/2 times as much data as
its predecessor (Maximum capacity: 30 GB
instead of 8.5 GB). A 51 GB triple-layer
preliminary spec has been approved.
However, no movies are currently
scheduled for this disc type.
HD DVD-R - The writable disc variant
of HD DVD, and is available with a
single-layer capacity of 15 GB or
dual-layer capacity of 30 GB.
Currently, HD DVD-R has slower
write speeds than the competing BD-R
format (1–2x vs. 1–4x) and lower storage
capacity.
HD
DVD-RAM - The proposed successor to
DVD-RAM for random access on optical
media using phase-change principals. HD
DVD-RAM will hold 20 gigabytes per layer
instead of 15 gigabytes for HD DVD-R
because of differences in recording
methods used, yielding a higher density
disc.
Multi-Region - When a player can
play DVDs from any region, it is
regarded as 'multi-region' enabled.
Region Free - A DVD player able to
play DVDs from any region in the world.
See our
FAQ for further details.
Unblock - A DVD unblock or unblocker
solution is the same as a multi-region
unlock - just under a different name.
Unlock - The end product of using a
handset sequence - an unlocked,
Multi-Region DVD player. An unlock can
be referred to loosely as a DVD code.
Our most respected unlock database can
be found
HERE
If you have any DVD additions
you'd like to see on this page, or have
further questions you need answered, e-mail us
at
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