Government Tests DVD Discs and Drives for Compatibility

by News Editor
Published on Dec 15, 2003 12:00 AM



Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in conjunction with experts at the DVD Association and the Optical Storage Technology Association, discovered that there is only 85 percent compatibility between recorded DVDs and the DVD drives they play on--if a recording is made on 10 different brands of DVDs, the odds are that at least one will not work.

The typical errors in the 15 percent margin range from DVDs that do not work at all, suddenly freeze, or have video or audio drop-frame. Currently, no drive reads all discs, and no discs are compatible with all drives. However, newer drives perform significantly better than older drives.

The first phase of testing included 14 models of DVD-ROM drives, representing about 60 percent of the installed base in America as of last year. Each drive was tested with more than 50 different brands and types of recordable DVD discs.

A second phase of testing will include new drives and media, including those drives that allow consumers to record their own DVDs. Computer scientists at NIST have developed specialized software and a comprehensive test plan, which was published in October as NIST Special Publication 500-254, DVD-ROM Drive Compatibility Test.