DVD-Rs

Write-once optical media

DVD-Rs are recordable DVDs—optical discs that can be written to once using a DVD burner.

The R stands for recordable, distinguishing them from pre-pressed commercial DVDs and from rewritable formats (DVD-RW) that can be erased and recorded again.

DVD-Rs were standard for burning home movies, backing up files, and distributing software before cloud storage and USB drives made optical media largely obsolete.

burning

writable

Capable of receiving text

burnerHeat-producing device component
authoringProducing written content
spindleRotating rod for thread

duplication · mastering · coaster · finalization · Nero

format

optical

Of vision or light

laserConcentrated light device
encodingConverting data to format
bitrateData transfer speed

compression · filesystem · sector · track · finalize · session · pit · land

backup

archive

Stored historical records

restoreReturn to earlier state
redundancyNeedless duplication
offsiteAt another location

incremental · versioning · snapshot · encryption · cloning

video

movie

Recorded visual narrative

filmMovie or coating
camcorderPortable video recording device
footageRecorded video material

menu · chapter · subtitle · widescreen · letterbox · commentary · slideshow · compilation

storage

spindle

Rotating rod for thread

sleeveGarment's arm portion
binderDevice securing loose pages
caseContainer or instance

organizer · rack · holder · labeled · cataloged

Opposites

rewritability

Erasable optical storage discs

media permanence/mutability

DVD-Rsflash drives

Portable USB memory devices

hard drives · SSDs · cloud storage · magnetic tape · RAM

recording vs. playback-only

Read-only optical storage media

Family

DVD-R, DVD, DVDs

Familiarity: Top 100,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G