What's the Difference Between Dual-Layer and Double-Sided DVD's?

By Timothy Tibbetts

on 06/15/2023

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Computer storage has become larger and more affordable. The average hard drive is 1-terabyte and under 50 dollars, while 8-gigabyte flash drives cost only a few dollars. Because of this, the CD and DVD have become relics. The only solution, if you need a DVD, is dual-layer or double-sided DVD's. But what's the difference between the two?

We understand there are situations where you might need a DVD. Should you need a Windows 10 installation DVD, that is now larger than the 4.7 gigabyte DVD storage limit.

Dual-Layer DVDs

Dual-Layer DVDs have one side, but with two layers for a total of 8.5GB.

Double-Sided DVDs

Double-Sided DVDs have two sides, each with one layer. When writing to the other side, you'd flip the DVD over. Double-Sided DVD's can hold about 9.4GB.

Now that you know what you need, there are two more considerations.

Recordable or writeable?

Recordable DVDs are strictly storage. Once you've written data to the DVD, it can't be overwritten.

Rewriteable DVDs can be erased and overwritten much like a hard drive.

Rewriteable DVDs have two layers and two sides, so they have much more space than recordable DVDs.

Because of this, we'd almost always buy dual-layer rewritable DVDs for maximum storage and because you don't need to flip them over. We also tend to stick to known brand names, including TDK, Memorex, Verbatim, and Philipps.

+R or -R?

You might also notice -R or +R. That determines how data is written and read, and there's no noticeable difference between the two unless, for some reason, your DVD is incompatible, which is rare.