Sony RDR-GX7 - Manual (Page 3)

That being said, it can be assumed that a DVD may
hold roughly 4 hours of MPEG-1 video, about 2 hours
of MPEG-2 (4 Mbps) video, and about 1 hour of
MPEG-2 (8 Mbps) video. Remember, video content
alters the size of the video file to a large degree, as does
the type of video compression.
What is MPEG?
Standards from MPEG (Moving Picture Experts
Group), of which Sony is an active participant, apply to
compression used with multimedia files, such as MPEG-1 (video CD and MP3) and MPEG-2 (DVD and digital TV boxes), among
others. In order to present audio and video files uniformly across multiple platforms at accessible speeds and qualities via
compression, MPEG standards were invented. You can think of MPEG-1 video as a viewable quality akin to VHS or TV. A DVD
holds approximately 4 hours worth of MPEG-1 video. MPEG-2 is a higher quality compression that results in the stunning
picture seen on DVD movies and on digital television signals, and provides anywhere from 1-2 hours of video on a DVD. Because
it holds more information than MPEG-1 and can commonly be decoded at either 4 Mbps or 8 Mbps, the resulting file sizes are
larger.
Can I burn CDs on a recordable DVD drive?
Certainly! The DVD has many similarities to the CD (120mm in diameter and 1.2mm thick) and both types of disc fit in the same
drive. This is a major reason to look forward not only to the future of optical disc storage via DVD but to also maintain compat-
ibility with past and current CD usage. CD recording speeds found in these drives are fast, but will not be as fast as current
separate CD-RW drives. Different software may be required to record CDs and DVDs.
Are there different types of DVDs?
Yes. DVD can be divided into DVD-Audio, DVD-Video, and DVD-ROM. Both DVD-Audio and DVD-Video are based on DVD-
ROM, but add specialized application layers.
PC DVD drives and most consumer electronics DVD players use DVD-R for General media, intended for general home use,
whereas professional development uses DVD-R for Authoring media for authoring DVDs, with some technical differences. Both
of these can be read on most standard DVD players and drives, but are not compatible with each other.
Specialized industries may use different DVD media that utilize additional recording layers or sides of the disc. An example of
this is the Hollywood film industry, which many times uses special dual-sided discs to hold large amounts of movie content. The
recordable DVDs discussed in this FAQ are single-sided, single-layered DVD-R for General media. This is the most common type
of recordable DVD media and the one that you will find most available for home and corporate use.
Can I copy a DVD movie?
Your DVD recorder cannot enable copies to be made from commercial DVDs. Commercial DVDs use various methods of
encryption (such as Macrovision) to protect the copyright interests of the artists, creators, and others involved in the content
creation. In addition, the dual-sided, higher-capacity media available to Hollywood remains unavailable to the average consumer.
However, should one wish to make copies of a personal DVD containing home video footage or data, one may do so, as a
DVD recorder will not provide encryption.
A Sony recordable DVD
drive is the perfect way to
watch digital family home
videos, store large work
projects, and back up per-
sonal or work files on a spa-
cious 4.7 GB* DVD disc.