What can you store in a blank DVD-RW?

There are many different formats of writeable optical discs in the market. This article will show you the use of the writeable discs, as well as, the use for DVD-RW.

What can be stored in a DVD-RW

Storing films A DVD-RW disc will provide 4.7 (or nine, in double-layer discs) gigabytes of capacity for your files. This should be enough space to store a full film in good quality (for full HD, you may need to go to formats such as DivX or XviD). Freeing up space for many files Of course, instead of one single, big file, several (or many) smaller ones can be stored in a blank DVD-R. The main advantage of RW (Read-Write) discs is the ability to erase contents, in order to free up space for further files. On the contrary, DVD-R blanks can only be written once (several successive sessions possible up to the completion of disc capacity). Hence, data cannot be deleted. Typically, printable DVDs are "R", so that they are used for final version of data storage.

Preferred / recommended use

With all the above information, there are several specific uses, which make RW discs (either DVD or CD, depending on the needed capacity) the best option for data storage: Periodic back-up Sensitive data can be stored to avoid the loss of information, for example in folders with a recording date. As newer versions are stored, older folders may be deleted. A typical back-up strategy will store between two and five versions of the data. Duplicated copies (several identical DVDs) should not also be forgotten. Information interchange Nowadays, this activity is receding due to the increased capacity of USB flash drives. However, DVD-R discs can still be used to transfer information between (not connected) computers, without the risks of loss because of electromagnetic interference, for example. Storage of work-in-progress files These will be used in different computers. This might be the case of layout applications, which will require all images and texts linked to the main document in a given folder's structure. This use is also being abandoned in favour of shared hard drives (either NAS discs or USB hard drives). Specifically, NAS drives allow for the collaborative work between several members in a team and they can be located anywhere in the world.