What Is DVD-RAM and the Application & Compatibility of It

What Is DVD-RAM?

What is DVD-RAM? DVD-RAM is also called DVD-Random Access Memory, which is a rewritable DVD media format with the ability to drag and drop data-just like a hard drive. DVD-RAM has been widely used in computer CD drives, recorders, video recorders, and portable camcorders since 1998.

DVD-RAM discs are specially designed for data-intensive high-performance applications, with Verbatims unique HardCoat coating on the recording surface, which protects the disc from scratches and fingerprints. Verbatim DVD-RAM media can record up to 5 times faster, allowing faster access to data.

The sector data capacity of DVD-RAM is 2048 bytes (2KB). The data error correction is the same as DVD-ROM, using the famous Reed-Solomon error correction coding technology, but the error correction The unit is not a sector, but an error correction block (ECCB, ECC Block).

An error correction block contains the data area in 16 physical sectors, a total of 32KB, the error of each sector in this error correction block The error code distribution is stored in the other 15 sectors. This is also the universal design of DVD and all DVD burning technologies.

Application of DVD-RAM

Compared with other rewritable optical disc technologies, DVD-RAM is regarded as more suitable for computer applications than other DVD technologies due to its built-in debugging and damage management system, such as data storage, backup, etc.

At the same time, because the theoretical value of rewritable times is higher than other rewritable DVD specifications and the file storage format is more flexible, it has also been widely used in portable camcorders, set-top boxes, etc.

Compatibility of DVD-RAM

Due to the early development time, many operating systems have built-in DVD-RAM support. Those that can directly support DVD-RAM read and write include Mac OS 8.6 or above, Linux, and Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system. Other older operating systems need to install CD-ROM reader programs such as InCD to support DVD-RAM.

Windows XP can format DVD-RAM discs into FAT32 format and can support Universal Disc Format (UDF) with InCD or DLA programs. Windows Vista can directly read and write DVD-RAM discs in UDF format. Linux allows DVD-RAM to be formatted into any supported disk format, such as formatting into an ext3 file system.

Mac OS version 9.2 or later supports reading and writing DVD-RAM discs in HFS, HFS+, FAT, and UDF formats, and Mac OS X has added formatting support.

Pros and Cons of DVD-RAM

Just now, you have known some basic information about DVD-RAM. Then, let’s see the pros and cons of DVD RAM.

Pros of DVD-RAM

• The CD has a longer lifespan – it claims that the data can be stored for 30 years or more without physical damage.
• Most computer operating systems provide support and can be accessed by removable hard drives.
• Reliable writing mechanism – data confirmation will be automatically carried out by the optical drive hardware, you don’t need to set and reconfirm manually through software after burning.
• More than 100,000 rewrite times. But it will decrease with the burning speed: 3 times speed is 100,000 times; 5 times speed is 10,000 times.
• CD format with cassette to protect data.
• When accessing detailed files, the access time is shorter.

Cons of DVD-RAM

• Optical drive compatibility is lower than DVD+RW and DVD-RW.
• No single-sided double-layer, the maximum capacity of a single disc is less than DVD+RW and DVD-RW.
• The actual DVD-RAM discs on the market are not as fast as DVD+R or DVD-R.
• CD-ROM prices are generally higher.

Final Words

To sum up, here is all information about DVD-RAM. After reading this post, you can what it is. Besides, you can know the application, compatibility, pros as well as cons of DVD-RAM.