Blu-ray Features:

The LG GBW-H10N supports writing and reading the Blu-ray Discs (BD-R/BD-RE SL/DL) at a maximum 4x speed.

A Blu-ray Disc (BD) is a next generation optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of many leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers. The format was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of High Definition (HD) video, as well as high capacity of data storage.

More information on Blu-ray can be found from our own article: Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD.

Blu-ray Format Type:

Similar to DVD-RAM, a Blu-ray disc can be formatted in the following types: UDF 1.50, UDF 2.00, UDF 2.50, UDF2.60, and FAT32.

Before using BD-R and BD-RE media for writing files on the disc, we must logically format the media. Once we have logically formatted BD-R or BD-RE disc, it can be use to write files just as you would do with a floppy disk, hard disk or DVD-RAM. In the illustration below we will use Panasonic UDF Formatter (DVDForm) version 5.1.1.0 to format a BD-RE disc.

DVDForm offers several format types for BD-RE disc

It took 37 seconds to quick format a BD-RE disc in FAT32

BD-RE Single Layer discs formatted with FAT32

Now we will attempt to do a quick format on a BD-RE media with format type UDF2.5.

Formatting a BD-RE disc in UDF2.5

BD-RE Single Layer discs formatted with UDF2.5

BD-R Writing Speed and Quality:

To demonstrate burning data on a Blu-ray disc, we use Nero CD-DVD Speed with Create Disc feature. The ScanDisc test is performed in the LG GBW-H10N drive to check if there is any issue with the burned disc. Now let us take a look how the drive performs on various BD-R media:

Verbatim BD-R 2x media with MID: VERBATIMa is supported up to 4x speed.
Thanks to Verbatim USA for providing this media.

Writing Verbatim BD-R at 4x

Transfer Rate test

ScanDisc test

As we can see, the LG GBW-H10N overspeed Verbatim 2x BD-R media at 4x in about 22 minutes. Transfer rate test and ScanDisc show good result.

TDK BD-R 2x media with MID: TDKBLDRBA is supported up to 4x speed.
Thanks to TDK for providing this media.

Writing TDK BD-R at 4x speed

Transfer Rate test

ScanDisc test

No problem with writing and reading onto this TDK 2x Blu-ray media. The drive supports reading and writing this media at 4x.

Memorex BD-R 2x media with MID: MEI T01.
Thanks to Memorex for providing this media.

Writing Memorex BD-R at 2x speed

Transfer Rate test

ScanDisc test

The drive has no problem writing and reading this Memorex Blu-ray media at 2x.

Sony BD-R 2x media with MID: SONY NS1.
Thanks to Sony USA for providing this media.

Writing Sony BD-R 2x without verification

Writing Sony BD-R 2x with verification

Transfer Rate test

ScanDisc test

The drive read and writes Sony Blu-ray media without any problem.

BD-RE Writing Speed and Quality

Now let us take a look how the drive performs on various BD-RE media:

Verbatim BD-RE 2x media with MID: VERBATIM0.
Thanks to Verbatim USA for providing this media.

Writing Verbatim BD-RE 2x without verification

Transfer Rate test

ScanDisc test

As we can see, the LG GBW-H10N wrote 2x BD-RE Verbatim media in about 45 minutes without verification. Transfer rate test as well as ScanDisc show no problem.

TDK BD-RE 2x media with MID: TDKBLDWBA.
Thanks to TDK for providing this media.

Writing TDK BD-RE 2x without verification

Transfer Rate test

ScanDisc test

The drive performs well with this TDK Blu-ray media. Smooth transfer rate test and very good ScanDisc test.

Panasonic BD-RE 2x media with MID: MEI Z98.
Thanks to Panasonic for providing this media.

Writing Panasonic BD-RE at 2x

Transfer Rate test

ScanDisc test

The drive read and writes this Panasonic Blu-ray media in without any issue.

Memorex BD-RE 2x media with MID: MEI T01.
Thanks to Memorex for providing this media.

Writing Memorex BD-RE 2x without verification

Transfer Rate test

ScanDisc test

No problem in writing and read-back with this Memorex Blu-ray media. Transfer rate test and ScanDisc test are both good.

Sony BD-RE 2x media with MID: SONY ES1.
Thanks to Sony for providing this media.

Writing Sony BD-RE 2x without verification

Writing Sony BD-RE 2x with verification

Transfer Rate test

ScanDisc test

No problem with this Sony Blu-ray media.

Blu-ray playback and compatibility

To test the High Definition and Blu-ray movies compatibility, we used the supplied Cyberlink PowerDVD 6.6 BD version for movies playback. Below are the results.

Warning windows appear when you are trying to playback a copy-protected Blu-ray disc movie with a non-HDCP compliant graphic cards and display. You will still be able to playback Blu-ray movies using analog output from your graphic card to an analog input in your display monitor.

High Definition movie playback

We created a Blu-ray movie project from High Definition clip “Terminator 2” and burn it into our BD media.

The LG GBW-H10N and CyberLink PowerDVD 6.6 BD played back our high definition (WMV) clips properly. Click image to enlarge.

Blu-ray movie playback

We tested the drive by running a Blu-ray disc movies “Resident Evil” and “House of Flying Daggers” with CyberLink PowerDVD 6.6 BD.

The LG GBW-H10N and CyberLink PowerDVD 6.6 BD played back our Blu-ray disc movie without problem. Click image to enlarge.

The movie offers a pop-up Scene Selections. Click image to enlarge.

Summary:

As we can see the LG GBW-H10N drive supports writing Verbatim 2x BD-R and TDK BD-R 2x media at 4x giving a write time in about 22 minutes. It also read and writes BD-R/RE single layer discs without any problem. ScanDisc tests show no problem at all. The drive and software played back our High Definition clips and Blu-ray movies without any issue.

Before we complete this review, let us run the drive through some advanced tests in the next page…

DVD-RAM Writing Performance

Advanced Test