detail information

Test machine:

For this article we will be using a computer with the following configuration:

Hardware:

• Motherboard: ASUSTeK A8N-SLI DELUXE (nForce 4 SLI chipset)
• Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (Toledo) Dual Core
• RAM: 2 GB Corsair TWINX 2CL DDR
• GFX: Leadtek Winfast 6600 TD (PCI Express nVidia)
• Sound: SoundBlaster Audigy 2
• Hard disk: 2X 250GB Seagate Barracuda (SATA 2)

Installed Software:

Windows XP Professional is installed on the computer along with Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. We will be using the following software in this article:

• Nero CD/DVD Speed
• K-Probe v2.5.2
• PlexTools Professional XL

Burning Drives:

We used 6 burning DVD-RW drives from 6 different manufacturers to burn our test media

• BenQ DW1640 (firmware BSQB)
• LG GSA-H10N (firmware JJ11)
• Lite-On SHW-16H5S (firmware LS0W)
• NEC ND-4570A (firmware 1.02)
• Pioneer DVR-111 (firmware 1.23)
• Plextor PX-760A (firmware 1.03)

Scanning Drives:

We used 4 scanning drives to test our burned media. Each test media was scanned in each of our scanning drives.

• BenQ DW1640 '� 8x CAV scanning method (firmware BSQB)
• Lite-On SHW-16H5S - 4x CLV scanning method (firmware LS0W)
• NEC ND-4570A - 5x CAV scanning method (firmware 1.02)
• Plextor PX-760A - 2x CLV scanning method (firmware 1.03)

Testing Methods:

Burning the media:

We selected 4 different media for our tests. We selected 2 DVD+R media rated at 8x and 16x respectively, and 2 DVD-R media rated at 8x and 16x respectively. In all cases the media used for the tests came from the same tub of media.

We then burned the media at random on our 6 DVD burners at the media's rated speed.

Scanning the media:

Each scan was done at random and we used (brand in-house software) if available.

The NEC and BenQ scans were conducted using CD-Speed. For our Lite-On drive we used KProbe, and we used PlexTools Professional XL with our Plextor drive. For the Plextor tests, we used the 'Good Accuracy" setting when running our scans.

The Plextor and BenQ drives are capable of testing for Jitter values. Where Jitter tests were available on a drive we also tested this as well. As this article is dealing with PI/PIF scanning and not all of our scanning drives can test Jitter. The Jitter tests are there for reference only. We also note that DVDScan is available as a beta and will report Jitter on some Lite-On models. However, we were unable to make the application work properly on our review PC.

We also used the NEC drive along with CD-Speed to read back our test media using the Transfer Rate Test option on CD-Speed.

Test Media:

Now let's take a look at the media we used for our tests.

DVD+R:

For our 8x DVD+R media we selected Verbatim branded Taiyo Yuden 000T02 (thanks to SVP UK for sending us this media).

For our 16x DVD+R media we selected Verbatim branded MCC004 (thanks to SVP UK for sending us this media).

DVD-R:

For our 8x DVD-R media we selected Ricoh branded CMC MAG AE1 (thanks to Ricoh Europe for sending us this media).

For our 16x DVD-R media we selected Verbatim branded MCC03RG20 (thanks to Verbatim UK for sending us this media).

Now let's head on to the next page were we will look at our first test results……

Introduction

Taiyo Yuden YUDEN000T02