DVD recorders are a perfect way to catch your favorite show or even backup your video library. It's easy; just record and watch whenever you want.One of the best parts of DVD technology is the ability to personalize your video library. A DVD recorder makes it possible to make copies of your favorite shows or movies. And unlike VHS cassettes, DVDs are durable. While the quality of a VHS cassette deteriorates with each viewing, a DVD retains its quality no matter how many times you watch it.If you want to make a compilation of your favorite TV series, a DVD recorder is a perfect choice. You can record your shows in a durable DVD format, and some recorders have the ability to let you edit the video and take out commercials before you burn the show to a disc. You may never have to buy a season compilation again.

Technical information

Originally, DVD recorders supported one of three standards: DVD-RAM, DVD-RW (using DVD-VR), and DVD+RW (using DVD+VR), none of which are directly compatible. As a general rule, however, most current drives support both the + and - standards, while few support the DVD-RAM standard, which is not directly compatible with standard DVD readers.

Recording speed is generally denoted in values of X (similar to CD-ROM usage), where 1X in DVD usage is equal to 1.321 MB/s, roughly equivalent to a 9X CD-ROM. In practice, this is largely confined to computer-based DVD recorders, since standalone units generally record in real time, that is, 1X speed.

DVD recorders use a laser (usually 650 nm red) to read and write DVDs. The reading laser is usually not stronger than 5 mW, while the writing laser is considerably more powerful. The faster the writing speed is rated, the stronger the laser is. DVD burner lasers often peak at about 100-400 mW in continuous wave (some are pulsed). Some laser hobbyists have discovered ways to extract the laser diode from DVD burners and modify them to create laser apparatus that can cause burning.

MiniDVD recorders

8 cm miniDVDs are widely used on some digital camcorders, primarily those meant for a consumer market ("point and shoot"); such discs are usually playable on a full-sized DVD player, but may not record on a full-sized DVD recorder system. Though popular for their convenience (in the manner of VHS-C), DVD camcorders are not considered suitable for more than casual use due to the much higher level of compression used compared to MiniDV and the difficulty of editing MPEG-2 video.

Computer-based DVD drives

DVD recorder drives have become standard equipment in many, though not all, computer systems currently on the market, after being initially popularized by the Pioneer/Apple SuperDrive; aftermarket drives as of early 2007 can cost as little as $23 [2]. DVD recorder drives can be used in conjunction with DVD authoring software to create DVDs near or equal to commercial quality, and are also widely used for data backup and exchange. As a general rule, computer-based DVD recorders can also handle CD-R and CD-RW media; in fact, a number of standalone DVD recorders actually use drives designed for computers.

Most internal drives are designed with parallel ATA interfaces, with serial ATA becoming more readily available. External drives almost always use USB 2.0 or IEEE 1394, with eSATA becoming an option as well.

DVD recorder drives are required to respect DVD region codes when reading a disc, but do not impose a region code on written discs unless the code has specifically been written into the disc's content.