Uncover DVD Meaning, Its Different Types and Usage

DVDs are an outstanding medium for storing digital data, like videos, music, and files. But, despite that great point, what does DVD stand for, exactly? Also, did you know that DVDs come in different types, each designed for specific uses? This write-up is the answer if you want to know and become familiar with them. With that, you can choose the right one for your needs, whether for movies, data storage, or backups.

Part 1. What Does DVD Stand for

So, what does DVD stand for? A Digital Versatile Disc, or DVD for short, is an optical storage disc that can store a large amount of data, like video, music, or files. This was first proposed in the late 1990s and designed to replace tapes. A single-sided disc can store up to 4.7 gigabytes, while a dual-layer disc can store data with a maximum of 8.5 gigabytes. This large storage capacity encouraged people to use it to store high-quality media files. This optical disc became one of the leading formats for storing high-quality data and home video entertainment.

Part 2. Different Types of DVDs

DVDs come in different types; they might be for storing data, watching movies, or recording something. In this post, we listed these types and provided a short description. In addition, we presented a comparison chart so you can understand their differences.

1. DVD+R

What does DVD+R stand for? DVD+R is short for Digital Versatile Disc + Recordable and is a single-use disc. It only lets you record once and cannot be erased or deleted. This type used Address in Pregroove (ADIP) to encode data.

2. DVD+R

Digital Versatile Disc - Recordable, or DVD-R, is also a single-use disc. It only lets you record once and cannot be changed or removed. This type used pre-pit and land pre-pit to encode data.

3. DVD+RW

Digital Versatile Disc + Rewritable, or DVD+RW, is a rewritable version format that can be recorded, erased and rewritten many times. It provides faster write speeds and is less likely to produce errors during recording.

4. DVD-RW

Digital Versatile Disc - Rewritable, or DVD-RW, is also a rewritable format that can be recorded, removed, and rewritten many times. It can be read on most DVD players and DVD-ROM drives.

5. DVD+RDL

Digital Versatile Disc + Recordable Dual Layer, or DVD+R DL, doubles the size of DVD+R. This type can store data up to 8.5 gigabytes on one side disc and is playable across the latest players.

6. DVD-RDL

Digital Versatile Disc - Recordable Dual Layer, or DVD-R DL, is the dual-layer writable version of DVD-R. This type can hold up to 8.5 gigabytes using two recordable dye layers.

7. DVD-RAM

DVD-RAM is a rewritable format that uses different technology from DVD+RW and DVD-RW. It is popular because of its durability. However, it is less widely supported and compatible with DVD players and DVD-ROM drives than other types.

8. DVD-ROM

Lastly, what does DVD-ROM stand for? DVD-ROM, short for Digital Versatile Disc - Read-Only Memory, can only be read, not written or erased. It is commonly used for distributing data that needs to be read-only to prevent modification or deletion of the content. This type is commonly used for movie rentals and programs.

Now that you have learned the different types let us proceed to their differences using the comparison chart.

Part 3. What Does NTSC Stand for on DVD

So, what does NTSC stand for on DVD? National Television Standard Committee, or NTSC, is an analog television color encoding standard. It is primarily used in North America, some parts of South America, and Japan. NTSC DVDs are designed to be compatible with NTSC television systems, which operate at 60 Hertz (Hz) with a resolution of 720×480 pixels.

NTSC DVDs are made for regions that use NTSC video standards. For example, DVDs sold in the United States have a Region 1 code, while DVDs sold in Japan have a Region 2 code. Each DVD has a specific region code that tells which area it can be played in. This helps ensure that DVDs can only be played in the intended areas.

Bonus: The Best Way to Rip DVD on your Windows and Mac

Physical DVD players are no longer the only devices that can play DVDs. By ripping DVDs to digital formats like MP4, AVI, MKV, WMV, or MOV, you can watch them on a computer, laptop, mobile phone, smart TV, etc. Besides that, storing digitized DVD contents on a hard drive and sharing them online is much easier. You can quickly rip your DVDs using AVAide DVD Ripper, available on Windows and Mac.

This program lets you rip your DVD content to 300+ video and audio formats at 30x faster. It has many beneficial editing features to help you produce stunning video clips, like rotating and cropping, applying effects and filters, adding audio and watermarking, trimming and combining, etc. One of the best things about it is its built-in Video Enhancer. It allows you to upscale video resolution, remove noise, reduce video shaking, and optimize brightness and contrast. It even has a Preview feature where you can see the difference between your original and enhanced videos. You can do all that before proceeding to rip your DVD content! Whether you are a movie lover or want to organize your DVD, AVAide DVD Ripper is the perfect one to help you quickly rip your DVDs.

Po Jane Pineda on sij 24, 2025