What does it mean by Gold, Silver, Blue DVD-R?
A: Usually using the industry standard the Gold, Silver, and Blue DVD-R are referring to the non-recording surface of the DVD media. Such as Optodisc Gold, Optodisc Silver and Optodisc Blue. In many cases it is an additional layer that is printed on the DVD-R disc by the manufacture. It is only there so that consumers may be able to write on the disc using a magic marker or pencils.

MAM (brand) Silver & Gold CD-R are of the same quality, but there are some differences in "performance". Gold media has a much longer expected lifetime than silver. Many people use the gold for archival applications to ensure the longest life possible. Some audio professionals prefer the gold because it "sounds better".*

The silver media has a slightly higher reflectivity than gold (70% vs. 75%), but except in rare cases, there is no functional difference. (Some players/readers use older pickups & don't deal with CD-R media very well, so the higher reflectivity helps).

A gold or silver reflective layer is applied under a vacuum. This layer reflects the laser beam when reading the CD. For economic reasons, silver has gradually replaced gold so as to reduce the cost of the end product as well as increase the reflectivity.
Nevertheless, CD-RÂ’s with silver rather than gold layers have a shorter lifespan.

"Unlike pressed CDs/DVDs, 'burnt' CDs/DVDs can eventually 'fade,' due to five things that affect the quality of CD media: sealing method, reflective layer, organic dye makeup, where it was manufactured, and your storage practices (please keep all media out of direct sunlight, in a nice cool dry dark place, in acid-free plastic containers; this will triple the lifetime of any media)."

The silver and aluminum alloys used in virtually all blank CD/DVD media has one major issue, requiring the manufacturer to lacquer a protective seal over the entire disc: silver and aluminum oxidize when they hit air, turning the normally reflective layer into silver or aluminum rust. Some (very expensive) media uses gold instead which doesn’t oxidize, however DVD media cannot use gold due to design issues (not true anymore, see update below). Today, only the cheapest of the cheap media has severe issues with sealing practices (as such, avoid any media made outside of Japan and Taiwan; especially avoid media made in India.

That said, I recommend Taiyo Yuden media across the board. Taiyo Yuden currently manufactures 52x CD-R, 16x DVD-R, and 8x DVD+R media in normal shiney silver, inkjet printable, and thermal printable forms. Taiyo Yuden may be one of the most expensive (if not the most expensive), but their media quality is unsurpassed. Taiyo Yuden (currently) does not produce any dual layer media. Also, as I mentioned earlier, I recommended buying from SuperMediaStore.com as they are the only online US distributor that guarauntees that their Taiyo Yuden media is certified as coming from Taiyo Yuden.

However, for those that absolutely require dual layer media, Verbatim produces DVD-R DL and DVD+R DL, however, due to the fact DL media costs over twice as much as two single layer discs, I recommend you only use single layer unless you really, really need a single disc.

So, what am I using? Due to Taiyo Yuden’s superior media quality, and DVD+R’s superior design, I use only Taiyo Yuden DVD+R media. I recommend this media to everyone who wishes to keep their data for a long, long time.

the media color (should have) no impact on the picture or sound quality though the readability is known to be better on Silver media because of its better reflectivity over others but the deterioration of the media is more a function of how the disc was made- the technology of machine to what bonders and lacers are used and also the thickness and quality of plastic.

A little known fact is that the on-body printing too effects the life, vegetable inks are recommended but slightly more expensive than the toxic ones that are usually found on most Indian replicated discs.

thx jadoo for modifying the topic name...

One more way to ensure your dvds stay good is to store them not flat but as books in shelves -- so that the disc is always standing perpendicular to earth, if you know what I mean.

New Deep, They are going to say that so the silver DVD's sell and as I said before they dont want to spend extra money and upgrade to Gold Media so they are fooling people
JAT

While the lacquer-related manufacturing problems have been resolved, one should protect the label side of their CDs from damage: the label side, rather than the clear side, is the most vulnerable.

For long-term disc storage, it may sometimes be prudent to remove the label insert or booklet from inside the case and attach it to the outside, perhaps in a sleeve. In theory, the paper can attract moisture and produce higher moisture content in the case. The paper may also spread moisture by contact with the disc. This recommendation is based on no specific tests of the effects of paper inside a case; it is merely a consideration—one that takes on added significance with large amounts of paper inside a disc case and higher-than-recommended humidity conditions.