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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Verbatim MCC004

Verbatim branded - MCC004:

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

Burning drive 'ï¿½ BenQ DW1640:

Burn speed 16x

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	1.03	0.16
NEC ND-4570A	1.67	0.06
Lite-On SHW-16H5S	0.31	0.01
Plextor PX-760A	0.45	0.00

All our drives showed a broadly similar trend, although the NEC drive showed some PIF spikes which knocked down the quality score and the BenQ and NEC drives showed higher average PI errors than our Lite-On and Plextor drives.

Burning drive - LG GSA-H10N:

Burn speed 16x

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	2.93	0.03
NEC ND-4570A	1.77	0.01
Lite-On SHW-16H5S	0.38	0.01
Plextor PX-760A	0.37	0.00

All our scanning drives showed a broadly similar trend. The NEC and BenQ drives once again showing slightly elevated PI errors.

Burning drive 'ï¿½ Lite-On SHW-16H5S:

Burn speed 16x

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	70.55	0.91
NEC ND-4570A	299.80	1.75
Lite-On SHW-16H5S	1.06	0.01
Plextor PX-760A	9.39	0.00

This disc produced very interesting variations in results. Let's first look at the NEC drives result. The cluster of PIF errors at 3.5gig (well out of specification) if correct should render the disc unreadable. Yet the NEC drive itself manages a perfect Transfer Rate Test.

Next let's look at the BenQ result. At the recalibration point. According to the BenQ drive, Jitter rises as does PI and PIF errors. Yet our other drives show no problem at this point of the test disc. Our Plextor and Lite-On scans show no problems with this disc, although the Plextor scan shows elevated PI errors at about half way through the disc.

Burning drive 'ï¿½ NEC ND-4570A:

Burn speed 16x

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	5.21	0.08
NEC ND-4570A	3.98	0.03
Lite-On SHW-16H5S	0.84	0.03
Plextor PX-760A	1.11	0.01

The BenQ drive in this instance shows elevated PI and PIF errors compared to our other drives at the end of our test disc. This is most likely caused by its faster scanning speed. However, all our drives show a broadly similar trend.

Burning drive 'ï¿½ Pioneer DVR-111:

Burn speed 16x

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	2.12	0.05
NEC ND-4570A	19.52	0.04
Lite-On SHW-16H5S	0.99	0.02
Plextor PX-760A	1.71	0.01

The NEC drive on this occasion shows elevated PI errors, if we can ignore the PIF spike, the NEC drive reports similar PIF errors to the rest of our scanning drives.

Burning drive 'ï¿½ Plextor PX-760A:

Burn speed 16x

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	9.81	0.04
NEC ND-4570A	3.44	0.02
Lite-On SHW-16H5S	0.59	0.02
Plextor PX-760A	1.71	0.00

The single PIF spike in the NEC scan spoils what is essentially a good scan. The BenQ and Plextor drives report slightly elevated PI errors near the end of the disc compared to our Lite-On drive. All our drives report fairly similar PIF error averages.

Summary:
With our MCC004 test discs and burning speed now at 16x, the variations in results have become more pronounced. However, our Lite-On and Plextor scanning drives still manage to report broadly similar results.

Now let's head to the next page where we take a look at the first of our DVD-R test results…..

Taiyo Yuden YUDEN000T02

CMC MAG AE1

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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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