DVD Identifier v5.0 released

October 8, 2006

Our good friend Kris just told us about his new, major update of the popular DVD Identifier tool: version 5 was just released!

As the official website states, DVD Identifier retrives and interprets the pre-record information that is present on DVD (DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM), HD DVD (HD DVD-R, HD DVD-RW, HD DVD-RAM) and Blu-Ray (BD-R, BD-RE). This information contains a variety of parameters such as disc manufacturing information and supported write speeds. Even though some of this information is usually printed on the packaging, the brand name may differ from the actual manufacturer or sometimes there might not even be any packaging information at all.

Two of the most noticable updates are the full support for HD DVD-R / HD DVD-RAM and also the U3 smart drive compatibility. U3 is a new type of specification created by two companies (SanDisk and M-Systems) that allow the end-user to run applications directly from special USB formatted disks. This means you can carry out DVD Identifier on your USB flash disk and run it from there without having to install it on the host computer. Neat, isn't it ;)?

v5.0.0 [October-8-2006]

Added full support for HD DVD-R, together with preliminary support for HD DVD-RAM.
U3 smart drive compatibility now allows you to carry DVD Identifier with you, anywhere you go! A separate U3 installer is available on the download page. Visit www.u3.com for more information.
Updated manufacturer database, now containing over 700 discs from nearly 100 manufacturers.
The Blu-ray 'Unique disc identifier' has been simplified. Note that due to this change, older versions of DVD Identifier are now unable to access the Blu-ray section of the new manufacturer database.
Disc identification now automatically closes the tray before starting the identification procedure.
The default selected drive on startup now corresponds with the drive that was last used.
Fixed a rare DVD-RAM identification problem that occurred on some drives.
Several other small changes and improvements.

Both versions (non-U3 / U3-ready) are available for download here. Make sure you visit our Blank Media Forum, particularly the Media Testing/Identifying Software area!

Source: DVD Identifier