DVD authoring DVD authoring is the process of creating a DVD video capable of playing on a DVD player. DVD authoring software must conform to the specifications set by the DVD Forum. DVD authoring is the second step in the process of producing finished DVDs ...

, a write strategy is a set of low-level parameters that enables an

optical disc drive In computing, an optical disc drive is a disc drive that uses laser light or electromagnetic waves within or near the visible light spectrum as part of the process of reading or writing data to or from optical discs. Some drives can only r ...

to write on a specific type of blank media according to its optimum specifications. The media type is identified by the manufacturer and media ID, which is often unrelated to the

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

of the media due to

rebadging In the automotive industry, rebadging is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. To allow for product differentiation without designing or engineering a new model or brand (at high cost or risk), a manu ...

. Write strategies are essential for compatibility with various types of blank media, and are typically stored in the drive's

firmware In computing, firmware is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for a device's specific hardware. Firmware, such as the BIOS of a personal computer, may contain basic functions of a device, and may provide h ...

. If a drive lacks a write strategy for a media type, it will only be able to write using minimum speed. Drive manufacturers typically include new or improved write strategies as part of a firmware upgrade, in order to extend or improve compatibility with blank media. In cases where official support for a drive has been discontinued or is deemed unsatisfactory, users have come up with ways to patch the write strategies by modding the drive's firmware.

Learning

Many DVD-writers have a learning feature (branded with names like "smart-burn") that allows the drive to collect empirical data from its actual usage. The drive stores data from previous burns in its

EEPROM EEPROM (also called E2PROM) stands for electrically erasable programmable read-only memory and is a type of non-volatile memory used in computers, usually integrated in microcontrollers such as smart cards and remote keyless systems, or as a ...

, allowing it to adapt the default write strategies to account for individual drive variations, such as calibration, which may be affected by environment and age. A newer feature contained in some DVD writers allows a drive to invent write strategies for unknown media types, ostensibly reducing its dependence on firmware to provide explicit compatibility. However, because the drive initially knows nothing of the media type, early burns are frequently of poor quality, and the media's optimal strategy may never be found. Thus, in practice, this form of learning is generally a last resort, and firmware support is preferable. An attempt to address this weakness is online learning, which allows the drives to share learned data. Branded technologies that incorporate this form of learning have been given names like "solid burn" and "hypertuning". In either case, if the history data is reset, or if the data is skewed by a series of irregular burns, the speed and/or quality of a typical burn may not be optimal until the history is repopulated with proper result data again.

References

{{reflist Optical disc authoring Optical computer storage DVD

Learning

See also

References