What Do the Abbreviations on Blank CD and DVD Discs Mean?

Have you been shopping for blank CD’s or Blank DVD’s lately? If so you may find yourself confused by all the new choices available. You will see CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW. This is very confusing to say the least. You may find yourself standing endlessly trying to figure out what all the abbreviations stand for.

Technology is moving so fast that just when you think you have caught up with the concepts of MP3s and how to burn CD’s and DVD’s, the market takes a new twist, and you are back to where you started, with total confusion.

When you see an abbreviation with the letter “R”, such as CD-R, and DVD+/-R the “R” stands for a disc, which you can record on. It is a blank CD or DVD. You may record movies, data, music, and photos on the disc. You will not be able to erase these discs.

When you see the abbreviations “RW”, on a disc, such as CD-RW and DVD+/-RW, this stands for rewriteable. When you see this disc, it means that you can record on this disc as well as erase what you have recorded several times. The price of most blank CD’s and DVD’s is not expensive, but you should expect to pay more for RW type of discs.

People find that the most confusion comes from the DVD-R and DVD-RW as to how they are different from the DVD+R and DVD+RW. The technical end of the differences will not matter. The thing you need to know is both DVD types can record movies.

When you see the DVD+R and the DVD+RW, these are a newer type of disc and are more expensive as well. These types of discs, offer a few more technical advantages than the DVD-R and the DVD-RW. Even so, the DVD-R has a greater compatibility with more DVD players than any other form of blank DVD.


If you have a newer computer of use your computer to play media, you should experience no problem with DVD+R/DVD+RW media. There are people who feel that these discs have a better range of quality, although the two do have similar quality.