In the digital era, some of you may not regard DVD as the most important and necessary format while compared with the digital formats, such as MP4, AVI, MOV, FLV and so on. Well, this conclusion is not totally correct because DVD is still playing a significant part in some cases. For example, when you have the need to protect your files on your computer from being deleted accidently, then you can choose the DVD discs as the storage devices as the backups. Furthermore, in some circumstances, you may would like to share some videos in a family union, then you can choose to burn the videos into DVD discs first, and later play them on a DVD player to achieve your goal. Here, you can't help asking how to choose a proper DVD disc for my further use? What are the different DVD formats respectively? Actually, among various important factors in choosing an appropriate DVD, the size or the capacity of a DVD to store data will be the most key factor for your consideration. How much data can a DVD hold? This is the question you have to be clear when you decide choosing a DVD? Next, I will introduce more information about DVD and on how much data does a DVD hold.

Part 1: Different DVD formats

Before we talk about how much data can a DVD hold, there is something else that you should know about. In fact, there are more than one format of DVD out there. DVDs in different formats have some slight differences in capacity. Some of the formats are writable, which means you can burn new content on it, while others are not. DVD formats describe the physical properties of the optical disc and how data is stored and manipulated on the disc. The formats are varied according to use, with the largest differences being whether or not the disc is written to. Within each use category, there are often competing formats or implementations. The most common formats of a DVD are DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD+R SL/DL and DVD-R SL/DL.

dvd

 

  • * DVD+R and DVD-R are the DVDs can be recordable for audio and video. The difference between the "plus" and the "dash" lies in the different recording specifications.
  • * DVD+RW and DVD-RW are the DVDs that can be written, erased and rewritten for many times. The difference between the "plus" and the "dash" lies in the different writing specifications.
  • * DVD+R SL/DL and DVD-R SL/DL means the DVD can be recorded and it has single/dual layer(s) which may affect how much data does a DVD hold. Usually it has more capacities but its rewriting speed is slower.

Part 2: How much data can a DVD hold?

If you can say different DVD formats will affect the functions of DVDs, then the size of DVDs will be influential on how much data can a DVD hold. Just as mentioned above, you can see single layer or single side DVD with less capacity and dual layer or dual sides DVD with more capacity in the market. Besides, you can have the following choices in the following common sizes.

dvd authoring

 

  • * DVD-5 SS SL: holds 4.7G with single side and single layer and DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW is compatible with it.
  • * DVD-9 SS DL: holds 8.5G with single side and dual layers and it is supported by DVD-R DL and DVD+R DL.
  • * DVD-10 DS SL: holds 8.75G with dual sides and single layers and it is supported by DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW.
  • * DVD-18 DS DL: holds 15.9G with dual sides and dual layers which is only compatible with DVD+R format.

Part 3: How to burn movies to a DVD?

You can easily know on how much data can a DVD hold by referring to the above specifications. If you have already hold a blank DVD disc at hand, then how to burn one of your favorite movies to the DVD? You will not have any obstacles if you have a powerful DVD burning program. I will strongly push Leawo DVD Creator in the first place as it can burn DVD from more than 180+ formats of videos and photos with 6X faster speed and it can allow you to experience all kinds of DVD menu templates for free and you can edit your video according to your own preference. Please refer to the following detailed instructions.

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DVD Creator 

☉ Convert all video files like MP4, AVI, MKV to DVD format fast.

☉ Create DVD-5, DVD-9 disc, folder and/or ISO image without quality loss.

☉ 1-click operation to create photo slideshows and burn to DVD easily.

☉ 1-click ISO image burner to burn ISO image file to DVD disc.

☉ Multiple built-in menu templates and edit disc menu with personal preferrences.

☉ Easily editable video effects, 2D to 3D conversion support.

Step 1. Download Leawo DVD Creator and install it on your computer.After that, launch the program and the following interface will be shown to you

Leawo-DVD-creator

Step 2. Insert a new blank DVD disc in the disc drive.

Step 3. Import the movie that you want to protect from deletion to the software by clicking "Add Video" on the main menu. Or you can just drag the movie directly to the program.

Leawo-DVD-creator

Step 4. Set the disc menu. After importing the movie, you can also set the disc menu which contains "Standard", "Business", "Education", "Childhood", "Holiday", etc. And you can DIY your own disc menu with your images and audios.

Leawo-DVD-creator

Step 5. Start burning the DVD. After setting the templates, set the "Burn to", "Disc Lable" and "Save to" options and then just click the green icon "Burn" to start the movie to DVD burning process.

Leawo-DVD-creator

Conclusion

Knowing on how much data does a DVD hold will be necessary for you to choose the proper DVD disc for you. From this article, you can know the different DVD formats and DVD capacity choices. After selecting the proper DVD disc, take the Leawo DVD Creator as your burning program and you will burn your movie into the DVD successfully. Also, You can grab a free DVD player software to play the DVD you burned on your PC. Have fun with your DVD now!