The book type is a field of four

bit The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communications. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represente ...

s at the start of every

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

(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 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, most likely because the device had been manufactured before that particular book type was defined; for example, most DVD playback devices made before mid-2004 cannot recognize the relatively new

DVD+R DL DVD+R DL (DL stands for Double Layer) also called DVD+R9, is a derivative of the DVD+R format created by the DVD+RW Alliance. Its use was first demonstrated in October 2003. DVD+R DL discs employ two recordable dye layers, each capable of storin ...

Book Type. For DVD+R,

DVD+RW DVD recordable and DVD rewritable are optical disc recording technologies. Both terms describe DVD optical discs that can be written to by a DVD recorder, whereas only 'rewritable' discs are able to erase and rewrite data. Data is written ('burn ...

, and

discs, it is possible to change the book type field value to the value associated with the DVD-ROM format (or in some rare and unorthodox cases, even the value associated with the DVD-R format—though only DVD+R can be changed to this) in order to fool older devices, which is a trick known as ''bitsetting''. These are the possible values of the Book Type Field: {, class="wikitable" , - ! Value !! Meaning , - , 0000 , ,

DVD-ROM The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

, either one or two layers , - , 0001 , ,

DVD-RAM DVD-RAM (DVD Random Access Memory) is a DVD-based disc specification presented in 1996 by the DVD Forum, which specifies rewritable DVD-RAM media and the appropriate DVD writers. DVD-RAM media have been used in computers as well as camcorders ...

, - , 0010 , , DVD-R or DVD-R DL, depending on the Part Version field , - , 0011 , ,

DVD-RW DVD recordable and DVD rewritable are optical disc recording technologies. Both terms describe DVD optical discs that can be written to by a DVD recorder, whereas only 'rewritable' discs are able to erase and rewrite data. Data is written ('bur ...

, - , 1001 , ,

, - , 1010 , , DVD+R , - , 1101 , ,

DVD+RW DL The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can ...

(never released) , - , 1110 , ,

External links

CD Freaks Article
''Increased compatibility: DVD bitsetting''
DVDPlusRW.org Search page
Search devices for Compatibility Settings DVD

See also

External links