Apple DVD-R variations

In my experience, Apple brand DVD-R blanks play back in more DVD players than the less expensive or no-name brands. I've used about 80 of them in the past year with good results. When I bought a box of them on June 22, 2002 I noticed that they had changed. Although the box labelling, case inserts, and DVD top surface were printed exactly as before, the jewel case molding had a smooth top and bottom edge, rather than the ribbed texture before, and more importantly, the recordable surface was different- it extended farther towards the hub so there is less clear plastic area, and my Pioneer DVR-A03 would only burn the disc at 1x speed, rather than the 2x which had always worked before. I used Prassi PrimoDVD 2.0 which always displays "2x" while burning if max speed is selected, but will actually burn at 1x if your DVD is a no-name brand- or the new Apple disc. This means it takes 1 hour for a full DVD, instead of 30 minutes.

After I downloaded and installed the latest firmware on my drive from Pioneer's website , the A03 worked fine, burning at true 2x speed on the new Apple media. It would be nice if Apple's packaging would indicate the change, rather than leaving me to discover it for myself.

The image below shows the bottom recorded side of "old" and "new" versions of the Apple DVD-R media, after burning with identical data (4.1 GB in size). The lighter copper-colored area is the recorded part of the disc, and you'll notice a larger unrecorded dark part near the hub on the newer disc. The actual recorded area is in the same relative location but the dye region extends farther towards the hub in the new design. I'd like to believe it's to provide area for more user data, or maybe for better compatibility with players, but I have no idea in fact why they changed. So far the new version seems just as good, at least it plays back OK on my own DVD players.

Regarding changes to Apple-branded DVD-R media (6/28/02)

I checked the most recent batch I received (and hadn't opened yet) and discovered the differences in appearance you had outlined. However, something looked very familiar, so I checked further. Sure enough, my suspicions were confirmed. The discs were actually manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical/Verbatim.

Comparing the new Apple disc with a Verbatim-branded disc shows the exact same writing surface appearance. In addition, they have identical alpha-numeric batch coding identification and stamping font around the hub. I guess that increased demand has caused Apple to line up several supply sources.

Jeff Wildman

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