Digital video is not a Polaroid camera, where you click the big red button and 30 seconds later a photo plops out, ready to be stuffed into the family photo album.

Digital video is more like an amateur photographer, so (figuratively speaking) be prepared to break out the thermometers, powdered developer chemicals, a good instruction book, and get to work. And as always, remember to never let your first tests be on something important or irreplaceable.

What is a DVD? What is DVD-Video?

A DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) is the next-generation version of a CD (Compact Disc), identical in size, but able to hold far more data, and a bit more durable than CD was. DVD-Video is the way video data is stored on a DVD, the successor of the decades-old VHS tape format. Video data is stored on an optical disc, and can be played either on standalone DVD players or on a computer with DVD player software. Within the past couple of years, it has also become possible to write or record onto DVDs, a process often called "burning", using either computers or standalone DVD recorders.

DVD technology has a distinct advantage over old analog tape formats, with the ability to be copied with no loss in quality, to not be at risk of being damaged when played, and the media should last decades longer than analog tapes when stored properly. However, the discs are a little more difficult to create than VHS was, and is easy to create bad quality discs (usually due to user error). DVD is not like VHS, where you could slam a tape into the VCR and hitting the record button. Even the DVD recorders sold in Walmart take a little bit of thought and knowledge, though minimal.