DVD burners are defined as electronic devices that burn information onto a DVD disc using laser beam. These are multi-media companions with the capability to record video and to read and write data onto blank DVD discs. Hence, the burners are sometimes called DVD writers.

There are two types of DVD burners-internal and external. In internal burners, the component is installed in the computer by opening the case and fixing the device. But in the case of external burners, the drives are connected externally to a personal computer or laptop with the help of FireWire or USB connectors. External drives are portable and can be used with different PCs or laptops. But this is not possible with the internal ones. Besides, external burners are more expensive compared to internal DVDs.

A large amount of digital data can be read or written. The burners are convenient means to back up, copy, and share home movies, which make investment in them worthwhile. The burners are compatible with other media including the CDs. There are dual layer DVD burners available in the market and the reading/writing capacity of such burners is twice that of single layered ones.

DVD burners differ from stand-alone DVD recorders in some aspects. The burners are capable of reading or writing computer data, which is not possible with the recorders. On the other hand, standalone recorder can record directly on to a blank DVD. In the case of burners, the user has to copy the resultant files to blank DVDs.

Most of the burners come with a software package, which includes three different applications such as a burning program, video-editing program and a DVD/VCD authoring tool for burning DVDs.

Usually, the burners are available in two major formats- DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW. There is a packet-writing format named DVD-RAM, which is mainly used in custom data storage and backups.