A DVD recorder (also known as a DVDR, mainly outside of the UK and Ireland), is an optical disc recorder that records video onto blank writeable DVD media. Such devices are available as either installable drives for computers or as standalone components for use in studios or home theatre systems.

As of March 1, 2007 all new tuner-equipped television devices manufactured or imported in the United States must include digital tuners. The US Federal Communications Commission has interpreted this rule broadly so as to include apparatus such as computer video capture cards, videotape recorders and standalone DVD recorders. NTSC DVD recorders are therefore undergoing a transformation, either adding a digital ATSC tuner or removing over-the-air television tuner capability entirely.

Technical information

Originally, DVD recorders supported one of three standards: DVD-RAM, DVD-RW (using DVD-VR), and DVD+RW (using DVD+VR), none of which are directly compatible. As a general rule, however, most current drives support both the + and - standards, while few support the DVD-RAM standard, which is not directly compatible with standard DVD readers.

Recording speed is generally denoted in values of X (similar to CD-ROM usage), where 1X in DVD usage is equal to 1.321 MB/s, roughly equivalent to a 9X CD-ROM. In practice, this is largely confined to computer-based DVD recorders, since standalone units generally record in real time, that is, 1X speed.

DVD recorders use a laser (usually 650 nm red) to read and write DVDs. The reading laser is usually not stronger than 5 mW, while the writing laser is considerably more powerful. The faster the writing speed is rated, the stronger the laser is. DVD burner lasers often peak at about 100-400 mW in continuous wave (some are pulsed). Some laser hobbyists have discovered ways to extract the laser diode from DVD burners. 1

Computer-based DVD drives

see: Optical disc drive DVD recorder drives have become standard equipment in many, though not all, computer systems currently on the market, after being initially popularized by the Pioneer/Apple SuperDrive; aftermarket drives as of early 2007 can cost as little as $23 2. DVD recorder drives can be used in conjunction with DVD authoring software to create DVDs near or equal to commercial quality, and are also widely used for data backup and exchange. As a general rule, computer-based DVD recorders can also handle CD-R and CD-RW media; in fact, a number of standalone DVD recorders actually use drives designed for computers.

Most internal drives are designed with parallel ATA interfaces, with serial ATA becoming more readily available. External drives almost always use USB 2.0 or IEEE 1394, with eSATA becoming an option as well.