Whether you want to transfer your pics to DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) or you want to backup a DVD to another DVD, I know you need some clarification about whole process.

Their are quite a few DVD formats to choose from but which one is right for you in this rather confusing world of dvd formats? Shall I store my photo's on a DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD-R or DVD+R DL? What about just copying a DVD to DVD?

DVD Writers

To get down to basics you will first of all need a DVD drive that will be able to write your data (music, film, pictures, etc) to a disc. Most modern computers have at least a DVD-ROM drive which stands for Read Only Memory meaning it will only read (play) your DVD but it cannot write data to a disc.

In order to write your data to disc you will have to have a DVD writer which will write (burn) your data directly onto disc. A laser burns your info to disc which is why terms DVD burning or burn to disc are frequently used. Disc Formats

A normal single layered DVD disc (DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD-RW) will hold upto 4.37GB of information on a single side of a DVD. There are also Dual layer discs (DVD+R DL) which have twice capacity of a normal DVD (8.5GB). These discs have two layers on a single side which are read by a special laser which switches it frequencies depending on which layer it is reading on same side of a disc. Although you will need an upto date dvd-writer in order to burn dual layered discs.

We won't concern ourselves with dual layers in this article. Its enough to know they exist and we have to have a more advanced dvd-writer for that.

When it comes to DVD burning, many people have questions and concerns. Some people may be performing illegal acts without realizing it. Other people may be afraid of doing something that is against law. So we are going to clear it all up once and for all.

Just like copying music files from internet, DVD burning is a highly controversial process. Many people may be very confused as to whether or not what they are doing is legal. In past, there have been several products designed to help consumer make back up copies of their DVDs. However, in February of 2004, laws on this changed and many companies were no longer allowed by law to sell their software copy programs.