DVD-ROM Mode

I ran into something new the other day while doing some research on backing up a disc. Apparently, you can burn a disc in different modes such as burning in ROM or DVD+R mode on a DVD-R. This has to do with setting the Booktype, which can be set to suite your needs. This is very helpful since older players have a hard time reading formats such as +R and - R media.

For Example, you can set the booktype to DVD-ROM mode, so older players have a greater chance of reading the disc.

According to what I found on Wikipedia:

The book type is a field of four bits at the start of every DVD (in the physical format information section of the control data block) that indicates what the physical format of the disc is. Many devices will use this "Book Type Field" to determine how the disc should be treated.

One common cause of compatibility problems is the failure of a device to recognize the book type of the disc that has been loaded, most likely as a result of the device being manufactured before that particular book type has been defined. (E.g., most DVD playback devices made before mid-2004 will not recognize the relatively new DVD+R DL Book Type). For DVD+R, DVD+RW, and DVD+R DL discs, it is possible to change the Book Type field value to the value for DVD-ROM (or in some rare and unorthodox cases, even the value for DVD-R) in order to fool older devices that do not recognize newer Book Type Field values (this process is known as bitsetting).

So here is what you do to change the booktype.

1. First, you need a program that supports changing the booktype. I have heard Nero and Alcholol 120% does this, but a free program out there that works great is ImageBurn. You can download this software from their website : http://www.imgburn.com/


2. You will need to go into the setting in the program to change the booktype for your DVD-Burner. (You must know the brand of your burner)


3. Once you have it set then your media should burn in your specified booktype. It worked well for me!