Blank DVD

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VIDEO MEDIA GUIDES -> Blank media quality guide & FAQ
>>>>> Blank DVD media quality guide
Not all media is good. Buying a good disc is not a simple matter of using a "name brand" disc, or paying for the most expensive disc on the shelf. 
With the continued influx of cheaply-made Chinese, Malaysian, Korean, and Hong Kong media (not to mention a few "bulk-quality" Taiwanese companies), about half or more of all media is inferior quality. Bad discs are a complete waste of time and money. This review guide is meant to shed some light on who manufactures and brands good and not so good quality DVD media. 
Use this list as an assistant when selecting what media to buy and use. It shows what generally works as the best media. Individual results may very, depending on the burner and how the media chooses to cooperate, though typically not by much. Read the advanced topics guides after becoming familiar with the basics presented on this page.
While some cheap media may work for you, it's a gamble that often loses. Try to use 1ST class media, maybe 2ND class if the situation must budget tightly. Do yourself a big favor and just outright avoid 3RD class media, if at all possible.
The main guide DVD Media Quality Guide page located at www.digitalFAQ.com/media
This is only one of several pages that covers the topic of media quality.

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Who makes the disc: Brand vs. Media ID
The thing that must be realized is that most media is produced by a relative small number of factories, located in several different places. These factories are mostly present in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, India, some European locations. There are more, but those are the largest ones. The best media generally comes from Japan and Singapore. The worst typically comes from Taiwan or China (in stores) and Hong Kong (online).
This being said, understand that the media brand means nothing. Apple is a great brand, but they do not make their own discs, instead outsourcing to MXL (Hitachi/Maxell) or MCC (Mitsubishi Chemicals). Verbatim became infamous in 2002 by switching from high-quality MCC ID media to the inferior CMC ID media, although they quickly returned to using MCC. Companies like Memorex, Fuji and Imation all outsource to media vendors. When buying media online always be aware of fake media too (see the fakes information farther down the page).
It is the media ID that is important, as it reveals the disc manufacturer. Unfortunately, this is not written on packaging or anywhere else. Companies want consumers to be oblivious to this sort of behind-the-scenes information. To learn the media ID code, a blank disc must be put into a computer DVD burner drive and the ID read by a special utility. Some burning software reads the code by default (DVD Decrypter, for example, in ISO write mode). There are also a handful of freeware or trialware tools available: 
For Windows: DVD Identifier (free), DVDInfo (free), DVDInfoPro (trial) 
For Macintosh OS X: DVD Media Inspector (free)
For Linux: dvd+rw-mediainfo (free)

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Media ID Quality Guide

(1) The following list is in preference order, arranged in three groupings. The best discs are near the top of the list in the first class box. The discs at the bottom of the list are suitable only for a landfill. PVC is the best of all, WFKA is the worst of all.
(2) Some companies may have listings in different classes because quality is better/worse in other disc formats. 
(3) Some long media IDs have been abbreviated, and some RW/RAM codes have been left off the list (too many to list). The "media ID" column is mostly intended for showing the DVD-R and DVD+R codes.
(4) Feel free to use the CONTACT US link at the top of the page, to submit new media IDs or ID corrections.
----- 1ST CLASS MEDIA - EXCELLENT DISCS: -----
Almost flawless burns with 95-100% reliable results. These discs are suited for pretty much anything. They will usually serve as excellent archival quality media, as well as video masters. These discs are often the most expensive DVD media, so be sure to take advantage of sales, when available. (Trivia: The 5 best discs ever created are probably PVC001001, PVC001002, MXLRG02, MCC00RG20 and YUDEN000T02, with exceptional quality burns.)

MEDIA ID
MANUFACTURER
COUNTRY
FORMAT
NOTES

PVC001001, PVC001002, PVCW00
Pioneer
Japan
DVD-R, DVD-RW
PVC stopped making media in 2003

MCC00RG20, MCC01RG20, MCC02RG20, MCC03RG20, MCC002, MCC003, MCC004, MCC00RW, MCC01RW, MCCA01, MKMA02, MKM001, MKM003
Mitsubishi Chemicals, Mitsubishi-Kagaku Media, Verbatim
Singapore, Taiwan, India
DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL
some  outsourcing

TYG01, TYG02, TYG03, YUDEN000T02, YUDEN000T03
Taiyo Yuden 
Japan

MXLRG01, MXLRG02, MXLRG03, MXLRG04, MAXELL001, MAXELL002, MAXELL003
Hitachi Maxell
Japan
DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM

SONY04D1, SONY08D1, SONY16D1, SONYD21, SONYD11, SONYS11, 
Sony (from Daxon)
Taiwan, Japan
DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW
some outsourcing

TDKG02, TTG01, TTG02, TTH01, TTH02, TDK501, TDK502, TDK001, TDK002, TDK003
TDK 
Taiwan
DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R

----- 2ND CLASS MEDIA - OKAY DISCS: -----
Mixed quality media, average 75-90% of discs tend to be good. These discs are not suggested for archival data or video masters. These are best suited for data that can be replaced easily, such as secondary backups or data/video distribution. In bulk, these tend to be less expensive than 1ST CLASS media.

MEDIA ID
MANUFACTURER
COUNTRY
FORMAT
NOTES

RICOHJPND00, RICOHJPNR00, RICOHJPNR01, RICOHJPNR02, RICOHJPNR03, RICOHJPNW01, RICOHJPNW11, RICOHJPNW21 and others
Ricoh, Ritek
Taiwan, Japan
DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL
some outsourcing

PRODISCS03, PRODISCS04, PRODISCF01, PRODISCF02, PRODISCR01, PRODISCR02, PRODISCR03, PRODISCR04. PRODISCG02,  PRODISCW02 and others
Prodisc Media
Taiwan
DVD-R, DVD+R

DAXON008S, DAXON016S, DAXONAZ1, DAXONAZ2, DAXONAZ3, DAXOND42
Daxon (Acer+BenQ) 
Taiwan
DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW
similar to  Sony media

SONY16D1
Sony (from Daxon)
Malaysia
DVD-R, DVD+R, 
inferior to Taiwan discs

RITEKG01, RITEKG03, RITEKG04, RITEKG05, RITEKW01, RITEKW04, RITEK000, RITEKR01, RITEKR02, RITEKR03, RITEKR04, RITEKF1, RITEKD01 and others
Ritek
Taiwan
DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL
reflectivity and degradation concerns, DL has layer break issues

FUJIFILM02, FUJIFILM03
Prodisc, Ritek, CMC, others
Taiwan
DVD-R, DVD+R
outsourced media ID

CMCMAGD01, CMCMAGE01, CMCMAGF01, CMCMAGM01, CMCMAGR01, CMCMAGAE1, CMCMAGAF1, CMCMAGAM3, CMC00RG20, CMC00RG30, CMCMAG, CMCW02, CMCW03, CMCMAGW01 and others
CMC Magnetics
Taiwan
DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL
wide quality variance

OPTODISCK001, OPTODISCR004, OPTODISCR008, OPTODISCR016, OPTODISCW002, OPTODISCW004
Optodisc
Taiwan
DVD-R, DVD-RW

PHILIPSCD2, PHILIPS010, PHILIPS041, PHILIPSC08, PHILIPSC16, PHILIPSRW
CMC Magnetics
Taiwan
DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL
outsourced media ID

LEADDATA01, LEADDATA, LD01, LD, LDS03, LDA02
LeadData
Taiwan
DVD-R, DVD+R

MBI, MBIPG101R03, MBIPG101R04, MBIPG101W03, MBIPG101W04, MBI01RG20, MBI03RG40
Moser Baer
India
DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW
poor firmware support, some of the discs are similar to MCC

GSC001, GSC002, GSC003, GSC502
Gigastorage
Taiwan
DVD-R, DVD+R

INFODISCA01, INFODISCA10, INFODISCR20, INFODISCR01
Infodisc Media
Taiwan
DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW

----- 3RD CLASS MEDIA - CRAP DISCS: -----
Quality can be very questionable, sometimes less than 50% of a spindle is usable. Some of these discs serve no other purpose aside from filling our landfills. These are discs best suited for small burns (under 2GB of data). Be prepared for failed burns. Also be prepared for various DVD-ROMs and players to not see the disc or freeze up because the player cannot read it very well (not the same as a bad burn). Many of these are known for sham marketing ("archival grade" and whatnot) and can actually cost more than 1ST or 2ND CLASS media. A lot of these discs are not even made anymore.

MEDIA ID
MANUFACTURER
COUNTRY
FORMAT
NOTES

MUST001, MUST003
Unknown
Taiwan
DVD-R

BEALLG00001, BEALLG40001, BEALL000P40, BEALL000PG0
Samsung/BeAll
Taiwan
DVD-R, DVD+R
degradation concerns 

MAM4XG02, MAM8XG01
MAM-America, MAM-Europe 
USA, Europe
DVD-R
remnants of Mitsui Media

ONIDTECH
Ul Tran Technology
Taiwan
DVD-R
no longer made

PRINCO
Princo
Taiwan
DVD-R, DVD-RW

INFOMER20, INFOMER30, INFOMEDIAT01
InfoMedia
Taiwan
DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL

OPTODISCP01, OPTODISCP02, OPTODISCP04, OPTODISCR04, OPTODISCR08
Optodisc Media
Taiwan
DVD+R, DVD-RW

DAXONAZ1, DAXONAZ2
Daxon (Acer+BenQ) 
Malaysia
DVD+R
inferior to  Taiwan

POMS3A, 3AM0
3A Media
Austria
DVD-R
poor firmware support

NANYACLX, NANYAA01
Nanya Tech
Taiwan
DVD-R, DVD+R

PLASMON1C01
Plasmon Tech
Europe
DVD-R

AML, AML001, AML002
Advanced Media Ltd
Taiwan
DVD-R

LONGTEN001, LONGTEN002
Jilin Qingda (??)
China
DVD-R

YIJHAN001
Yi Jhan Tech
Taiwan
DVD-R

AN31, AN32, AN33, AN35, ANWELL
Anwell
China
DVD-R
see note **

INFOSMART01, ISO001, ISO002
Infosmart
China, Hong Kong
DVD-R, DVD+R
the #1 supplier of fake media

SKCCOLTD
SKC
Korea
DVD-R

VANGUARD, VDSPMSAB01, VDSPSAB
Interaxia AG
Taiwan
DVD-R

UME001
Ume Disc Tech
Hong Kong
DVD-R

WFKA11
WealthFair Investments
China
DVD-R

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Grading Notes:

- Grading criteria. The review list presented here is a delicate balance between the adjacent concepts of usability and potential burn quality. The ability of the disc to burn in a wide range of burners and DVD recorders determines a coaster count. However, because of disc/drive incompatibility issues that exist (read the advanced concepts guide), potential quality on a perfect disc/drive combination is also considered. Finally, longevity and playability/reflectivity is taken into consideration. This results in the overall grade. This guide is admittedly harsh when it comes to the usability factor, but it need be remembered that this was written to assist the masses, so a disc with generally poorer disc/drive compatibility will rate lower. Feel free to contact us if you want specific suggestions for your make/model of drive.
- What do the % numbers mean? This list is constructed from many tests on many burners from a handful of experienced people that use a lot of media. These numbers reflect the number of discs in a spindle that will give good results. For example, out of a 100 spindle of media, 1st class discs may kick out a few bad discs (0% to 5% of the media may have playback imperfections or be outright bad burns). The 2nd class media may have a dozen or so bad discs. The 3rd class discs could give you a half-spindle of duds. And the 4th class stuff can be pure trash. These are mean averages too, simple statistics math, meaning best tests and worst tests are discarded, and the middle range of tests is the basis for these numbers. You may sometimes find the rare instance where a CMC spindle will be perfect and a Taiyo Yuden spindle will be completely flawed, but those times are the exception rather than the rule (and are not part of a mean average).
- Can media ever change class? Sure. But it rarely happens. It is not a quick move either, these things take much time and many tests. SONY, RITEK, CMC, DAXON and LEADDATA have changed grades in the past. Media cannot change quality overnight or even in a few weeks/months.
- Testing procedures: Burns are subject to playability/reflectivity tests (usage tests), as well as software verification. Test equipment is under controlled hardware/software environments, and performed by knowledgeable individuals, to eliminate user variables. Burns are at least 4GB or more to test the entire length of the media.
- Anwell Notes: Anwell Technologies does not make media. Anwell is a production equipment supplier that sells blank DVD media creation technology to media manufacturers. By default, an ANWELL "test code" or "test ID" is on the stamper. Anwell is often blamed for making shoddy media, but in reality, it's the work of a lazy media manufacturer who bought Anwell production supplies. As with all other low-quality media of dubious origins, the likely offender is Infosmart, or some other small Chinese or Hong Kong company.