Here are the many types of DVD discs that many of you may not have heard of.

DVD5 - 4.7 GB, single sided, single layered (very common)
DVD9 - 8.5 GB, single sided, dual layered
DVD10 - 9.4 GB, dual sided, single layered
DVD14 - 13.2BG dual sided, one dual layered and one single layered.
DVD18 - 17 GB, dual sided, dual layered

Most of it that we usually see in our current market are DVD5 and DVD9.

To differentiate between DVD5 and DVD9:
1) You can actually see a semi transparent "waterish" mark on the data surface under proper lighting condition.
2) Another way to spot a DVD9 is to load the disc up into a DVD-ROM drive and if the total space used is more than 4.7GB, you can be 100% assured that it is a double layered disc.
3) All DVD9 discs are Gold in colour on the data side, those in silver are definitely DVD5 (Not too sure about this, someone please tell if they spot a silver coloured DVD9). Note that there are DVD5 discs which Gold in colour too.

Regional Coding
DVD Movies are region coded in a way to prevent illegal playback of discs in countries they were not intended for.

The region codes are detailed below:

Region 1: The U.S.A., its territories and Canada
Region 2: Europe, Japan, the Middle East, Egypt, South Africa, Greenland
Region 3: Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia
Region 4: Mexico, South America, Australia, New Zealand
Region 5: Russia, Eastern Europe, India, most of Africa
Region 6: China

However, there are discs where it is Region Free, which means it can be played in DVD players from any part of the world.

DVD discs sold in Malaysia is of Region 3, as all of our DVD players sold here are Region 3 as well.

I've taken a snapshot of the "watery" surface produced by the semi transparent layer of a DVD9 disc under a fluorescent light. This image clearer shows the existense of the semi transparent layer. If you have a DVD9 and this semi transparent layer is not obviously visible, you could have been cheated as it is only a DVD5

EDIT: Not the vertical lines, notice those horizontal waterlike mark on the disc.



This post has been edited by tanghm: Nov 18 2004, 08:32 PM


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