LaCie 301910 User Manual

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LaCie Slim DVD±RW • 
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Helpful Technical Information
User Manual 
page 15
4.3.  DVD±RW Writing Methods
Disc at Once (DAO) –
 A DVD writing process in which the entire 
DVD is recorded in one session, and data cannot be added after 
the recording is finished. This differs somewhat from the CD-R DAO 
method because the lead-in area, data area, and lead-out area are 
all written sequentially.
Session at Once (SAO) –
 A writing process which is similar to DAO, 
where information is written in a session, but allowing for record 
further recording at a later time. This mode provides for greater 
control of the recording process than 
Packet Writing (PW)
 or 
TAO
and more disc space can be utilized because there is no need for 
gaps between tracks.
Incremental Recording (IR) –
 A writing process that is similar to the 
Session at Once (SAO) CDR writing method; files may be added 
directly to the DVD-R disc one recording at a time, instead of record-
ing the files to a hard drive before writing the disc. The minimum 
recorded size, though, must be at least 32KB (even if the file to be 
recorded is smaller than that), and capacities and write speeds are 
decreased due to the overhead of combined lead-in/out areas and 
data. Also, the disc must be finalized before it may be played back 
by a drive other than the drive recording the disc.
Multi-Border Recording (MBR) –
 A writing process that is very similar 
to IR, MBR allows you to make an IR disc and then play the disc 
back on a device that recognizes this type of recording method. 
MBR creates a very short boundary zone around a recording ses-
sion so a compatible player or DVD-ROM drive does not attempt to 
play beyond the border of the recorded area, instead allowing the 
unfinished disc to be read by a player that supports this recording 
method.
Restricted Overwriting (RO) –
 With this method, if a disc has already 
been written to, new data segments can be randomly inserted any-
where within the recorded boundary. New data, however, can only 
be added to an area of the disc that has already been recorded over 
and from the point where the last session was stopped.
Packet Writing (PW) –
 A drag-and-drop writing process that is very 
useful for data backup. Buffer underrun* is impossible in this mode, 
because the data is written in “packets” of a few KBs. Packet Writing 
is a CPU-intensive process because it constantly checks the avail-
able space on the disc.
* Buffer Underrun – The recording of a disc is a system-intensive ap-
plication, and the rewritable drive needs a constant stream of data. 
A buffer underrun occurs when the stream of data to the rewritable 
drive is not fast enough to keep the rewritable drive’s buffer full, 
causing an error in the recording process. If this problem occurs 
often, turn down the recording speed. 
Table 02 - DVD±RW Writing Methods
DAO
SAO
IR
MBR
RO
PW
CD
DVD