Home PI/PIF scanning - Who to believe?

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Posted by	Wendy Collins
Posted on	23/09/06 01:03

Conclusion

Introduction

Burning and Scanning hardware

Taiyo Yuden YUDEN000T02

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CMC MAG AE1

Ricoh branded - CMC MAG AE1:

We created our test data discs using CD-Speed's 'create data disc" function.

Burning drive 'ï¿½ BenQ DW1640:

Burn speed 8x

Transfer rate test

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ BenQ DW1640:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ NEC ND-4570A:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ Lite-On SHW-16H5S:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ Plextor PX-760A:

Scanning Drive	PI Average	PIF Average
BenQ DW1640	28.73	0.05
NEC ND-4570A	40.33	0.04
Lite-On SHW-16H5S	18.71	0.02
Plextor PX-760A	24.23	0.00

Our CAV scanning drives (BenQ and NEC) show fairly comparable results, but what is striking about this test disc, is how our two CLV scanning drives the (Lite-On and Plextor) PI patterns appear to almost identically match, all be it with slightly different overall error rates.

Burning drive 'ï¿½ LG GSA-H10N:

Burn speed 8x

Transfer rate test

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ BenQ DW1640:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ NEC ND-4570A:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ Lite-On SHW-16H5S:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ Plextor PX-760A:

Scanning Drive	PI Average	PIF Average
BenQ DW1640	9.88	0.57
NEC ND-4570A	72.08	0.04
Lite-On SHW-16H5S	2.34	0.01
Plextor PX-760A	4.71	0.00

Once again our two CAV scanning drives (NEC and BenQ) are out of step with each other and with our two CLV scanning drives (Lite-On and Plextor). The BenQ drive showing elevated PIF errors and the NEC showing elevated PI errors. It is also worth noting that this disc was also written by our LG drive. It would appear the BenQ drive has problems scanning some discs written on the LG drive.

Burning drive 'ï¿½ Lite-On SHW-16H5S:

Burn speed 8x

Transfer rate test

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ BenQ DW1640:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ NEC ND-4570A:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ Lite-On SHW-16H5S:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ Plextor PX-760A:

Scanning Drive	PI Average	PIF Average
BenQ DW1640	45.20	0.04
NEC ND-4570A	19.90	0.12
Lite-On SHW-16H5S	37.22	0.02
Plextor PX-760A	17.45	0.00

This time the BenQ and Lite-On drives show elevated PI errors compared to the NEC and Plextor drives. The NEC drive does report more PIF errors compared to our other scanning drives.

Burning drive 'ï¿½ NEC ND-4570A:

Burn speed 8x

Transfer rate test

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ BenQ DW1640:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ NEC ND-4570A:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ Lite-On SHW-16H5S:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ Plextor PX-760A:

Scanning Drive	PI Average	PIF Average
BenQ DW1640	13.09	0.23
NEC ND-4570A	24.77	0.08
Lite-On SHW-16H5S	22.50	0.03
Plextor PX-760A	11.87	0.01

All our scanning drives on this occasion show a broadly similar trend, although the NEC and Lite-On drives report elevated levels of average PI errors.

Burning drive 'ï¿½ Pioneer DVR-111:

Burn speed 8x

Transfer rate test

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ BenQ DW1640:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ NEC ND-4570A:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ Lite-On SHW-16H5S:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ Plextor PX-760A:

Scanning Drive	PI Average	PIF Average
BenQ DW1640	2.60	0.06
NEC ND-4570A	26.04	0.04
Lite-On SHW-16H5S	1.34	0.03
Plextor PX-760A	1.71	0.01

All our drives show broadly the same trend with this test disc, although the NEC PI average errors levels are elevated compared to our other drives

Burning drive 'ï¿½ Plextor PX-760A:

Burn speed 8x

Transfer rate test

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ BenQ DW1640:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ NEC ND-4570A:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ Lite-On SHW-16H5S:

Scanning drive 'ï¿½ Plextor PX-760A:

Scanning Drive	PI Average	PIF Average
BenQ DW1640	2.89	0.04
NEC ND-4570A	27.54	0.04
Lite-On SHW-16H5S	3.96	0.01
Plextor PX-760A	1.71	0.01

On this test disc the NEC drive shows elevated PI errors; PIF errors on all our scanning drives are broadly similar.

Summary:
Our Ricoh branded CMC MAG AE1 test discs, once again we have shown the Lite-On and Plextor drives give the most similar results. Although with the writing speed at 8x except on a couple of occasions, the difference is reduced.

Let's head on to the next page and our final set of media tests……

Verbatim MCC004

Verbatim MCC03RG20

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Reactions on this item

Posted by Mordorr on Saturday 23 September 2006 16:39

Very Nice!

Cdfreaks rulez

I will post it, in some fé³rums at my country..

Mordorr

Posted by paddywack on Thursday 26 April 2007 12:38

Woh, a very insightful review which contains very useful facts to take into account when testing my burnt discs

Thanks Cdfreaks

This message was edited at: 26-04-2007 12:39

Posted by Buck (guest) on Sunday 27 January 2008 20:41

You guys have way too much free time....

Posted by Big C (guest) on Sunday 17 February 2008 17:13

Thanks a lot for the informative explanation. There's appears to be a lot more to interpreting media scan results than simply basing it off a Nero quality score percentage. I used to think that this stuff was a waste of time but I now realize that you are teaching those what to look for when backing-up data and video. These results do indeed make a difference when considering an important decision as to what media to select or media/burner combo to use when having to back-up critical data. Not all media is equal and that is something important to remember when trying to back-up your irreplaceable memories such as weddings! A million thanks guys and keep it up!

Posted by Just Me (guest) on Tuesday 23 September 2008 18:02

This is all Greek to me, and I don't know what all these scan results mean. Last week I bought a spindle of a 100, that were on special for $19.99 at Office Max. (Verbatim DVD-R 16X branded MCC03RG20 Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.) They seem to work fine. I was thinking of getting another spindle before the sale ends. (On the 27th)

This chart seems to show that they're suppose to be first class quality. http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm

So do these scans results show that they're first class DVD-R's, or do they belong more in the second class group?

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