DVD-R DL
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DVD-R DL (DL stands for Dual Layer), also called DVD-R9, is a derivative of the DVD-R format standard. DVD-R DL discs hold 8.54 GB (7.96 GiB) per side by utilizing two recordable dye layers, each capable of storing nearly the 4.7 GB (4.38 GiB) of a single layer disc -almost doubling the total disc capacity. Discs can be read in many DVD devices (older units are less compatible) and can only be written using DVD-R DL compatible recorders.
DVD-R DL has compatibility issues with legacy DVD-ROM drives known as pickup head overrun. To avoid this issue, the two layers of the disc need to be equally recorded. But this is a contradiction with the sequential nature of the DVD recording. Thus DVD Forum under Pioneer's lead developed a technology known as Layer Jump Recording (LJR), which incrementally record smaller sections of each layer to maintain compatibility with DVD-ROM drives.
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[edit] Dual layer recording
Dual Layer recording allows DVD-R and DVD+R discs to store significantly more data, up to 8.5 gigabytes per side, per disc, compared with 4.7 gigabytes for single-layer discs. DVD-R DL was developed for the DVD Forum by Pioneer Corporation, DVD+R DL was developed for the DVD+RW Alliance by Philips and Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM).[1]
A Dual Layer disc differs from its usual DVD counterpart by employing a second physical layer within the disc itself. The drive with Dual Layer capability accesses the second layer by shining the laser through the first semi-transparent layer. The layer change can exhibit a noticeable pause in some DVD players, up to several seconds.[2] This caused more than a few viewers to worry that their dual layer discs were damaged or defective, with the end result that studios began listing a standard message explaining the dual layer pausing effect on all dual layer disc packaging.
DVD recordable discs supporting this technology are backward compatible with some existing DVD players and DVD-ROM drives.[1] Many current DVD recorders support dual-layer technology, and the price is now comparable to that of single-layer drives, though the blank media remains more expensive. The recording speeds reached by dual-layer media are still well below those of single-layer media.
There are two modes for dual layer orientation. With parallel track path (PTP), used on DVD-ROM, both layers start at the inside diameter (ID) and end at the outside diameter (OD) with the lead-out. With opposite track path (OTP), used on DVD-Video, the lower layer starts at the ID and the upper layer starts at the OD, where the other layer ends, they share one lead-in and one lead-out. However only blank disks and drives that support the latter mode are currently available.
[edit] Recordable DVD capacity comparison
For comparison, the table below shows storage capacities of the four most common DVD recordable media, excluding DVD-RAM. (SL) stands for standard single-layer discs, while DL denotes the dual-layer variants. See articles on the formats in question for information on compatibility issues.
