Recorders are devices that are used to record and store data onto different mediums like cassettes, tapes, CDs, DVDs, hard disks and so on. The earliest recorders were used to store audio files on magnetic tapes. Magnetic tapes and cassettes were around for a long time for storing both audio as well as video signals. The trend in the last decade is the use of digital recorders for storing audio as well as video files. Digital recorders are much faster and easier and can store much more data than magnetic tapes. The recorders are also more compact and portable.

DVDs have become a favorite media for storing data because of their reliability, as well as the capacity to store huge amounts of data. A DVD recorder is a device that records data onto a DVD. These recorders can read data from any kind of an analog source such as TV, video cassettes, floppy disks, CDS, and even digital cameras and mobile phones. There are also DVD burners or writers that can also read and store data from the computer onto a DVD. The basic time modes of a DVD recorder are one, two, four, six or eight hours. There are also some recorders with two-and-one-half-, three-and-one-half-, and four-and-one-half-hour modes. The smaller the mode, the better the quality of the recording. One- and two-hour modes are better, and they also play well in most DVD players. A commercial DVD can hold 130 minutes of video. Some DVDs have two layers that can hold 130 minutes of video data each.

There are many kinds of DVD recorders: DVD recorder/VCR combo, DVD recorder/hard drive combo or standalone-DVD recorders. There are also various DVD formats that can be read by only certain kinds of DVD recorders and readers. These are DVD-R/-RW, DVD+R/+RW, DVD+R DL, and DVD-RAM. Very few manufacturers such as LG and Panasonic are offering DVD recorders that are compatible with most of these DVD formats.