LG GGC-H20L Super Multi Blu-ray & HD DVD-ROM

LG GGC-H20L detail information

Posted by	Doug Schwantes
Posted on	18/02/08 00:26
Number of views	22128
Manufacturer	LG
Product	LG GGC-H20L
Description	6x Blu-ray and HD DVD reader

Conclusion

Introduction

Features & Technology

Reading Performance

CD-R/RW discs Writing Performance

DVD+R/RW writing performance

DVD-R/RW Writing Performance

DVD+R DL/-R DL Writing performance

DVD-RAM Writing Performance

LightScribe Performance

Blu-Ray Reading Performance

HD-DVD Reading Performance

Conclusion

Text Size Text Size

Reading Performance

Page 3 Reading Performance

Reading performance:

We will use Nero CD/DVD-Speed to read various CD and DVD Discs; including audio discs and DVD-media.

Pressed discs:

For this test we used an original pressed CD-ROM disc containing the World of Warcraft that is about 74 minutes in length.

The LG GGC-H20L makes it to 40.70x.

For comparison we have made the following table:

CD-ROM Pressed Discs	Average Read Speed	Start Read Speed	End Read Speed	Seek Times Random	Seek Times 1/3	Seek Times Full
Panasonic SW-5582	24.90x	14.42x	32.91x	133ms	135ms	266ms
Plextor PX-B900A	25.01x	14.45x	33.11x	138ms	148ms	286ms
Lite-On LH-2B1S	26.07x	14.83x	34.52x	143ms	183ms	255ms
LG GBW-H10N	30.99x	17.84x	41.17x	108ms	131ms	293ms
Phillips SPD7000BD	34.53x	14.79x	34.83x	140ms	159ms	209ms
Sony BWU-100A	33.48x	14.37x	25.28x	154ms	151ms	286ms
Pioneer BDC-S02BK	25.22x	14.63x	33.40x	6ms	4ms	2ms
Pioneer BDR-202	25.21x	14.57x	33.33x	144ms	165ms	313ms
Asus BC-1205PT	25.29x	14.47x	33.47x	134ms	153ms	295ms
Sony BWU-200S	31.46x	17.80x	41.62x	124ms	134ms	265ms
LG GGW-H10N	31.61x	18.09x	41.99x	99ms	111ms	189ms
LG GGC-H20L	30.70x	17.84x	40.70x	107ms	130ms	206ms

As you can see from our chart the LG GGC-H20L is one of the fastest drives reading pressed CD-ROM discs.

CD-Recordable Discs:

For this test we used the same Pressed Data CD-R as above and made a copy using Nero Express “Copy Entire CD”. The disc we used was a Microboards Technology 48x CD-R disc manufactured by Taiyo Yuden burned at 40X.

The LG GGC-H20L reached 40.31x when reading the copied CD-R disc.

For comparison we have made the following table:

CD-R Discs	Average Read Speed	Start Read Speed	End Read Speed	Seek Times Random	Seek Times 1/3	Seek Times Full
Panasonic SW-5582	25.31x	14.34x	33.51x	127ms	141ms	225ms
Plextor PX-B900A	24.60x	14.31x	32.46x	146ms	157ms	236ms
Lite-On LH-2B1S	26.68x	15.35x	36.21x	137ms	153ms	204ms
LG GBW-H10N	31.15x	17.80x	41.50x	133ms	160ms	296ms
Phillips SPD7000BD	26.68x	15.35x	35.22x	137ms	152ms	206ms
Sony BWU-100A	25.29x	14.33x	33.56x	150ms	162ms	248ms
Pioneer BDC-S02BK	25.22x	14.60x	33.40x	6ms	5ms	2ms
Pioneer BDR-202	24.91x	14.64x	32.91x	147ms	168ms	306ms
Asus BC-1205PT	25.34x	14.64x	33.57x	128ms	154ms	298ms
Sony BWU-200S	31.44x	17.62x	41.66x	125ms	139ms	224ms
LG GGW-H10N	25.51x	14.13x	33.61x	196ms	199ms	329ms
LG GGC-H20L	30.43x	17.77x	40.31x	117ms	141ms	201ms

The LG GGC-H20L is well ahead of the pack when reading CD-Recordable discs.

CD-Rewritable discs:

We made another Data CD with Nero Express “Copy Entire CD”, this time we are using a Verbatim DataLifePlus Ultra Speed+ (32X) CD-RW disc.

The LG GGC-H20L read the CD-RW discs back at 25.71x speed.

For comparison we have made the following table:

CD-RW Discs	Average Read Speed	Start Read Speed	End Read Speed	Seek Times Random	Seek Times 1/3	Seek Times Full
Panasonic SW-5582	18.95x	10.76x	25.06x	129ms	143ms	224ms
Plextor PX-B900A	18.45x	10.74x	24.33x	154ms	162ms	245ms
Lite-On LH-2B1S	26.69x	15.40x	36.26x	137ms	156ms	202ms
LG GBW-H10N	31.47x	18.01x	41.88x	138ms	168ms	307ms
Phillips SPD7000BD	26.69x	15.40x	35.23x	138ms	153ms	206ms
Sony BWU-100A	18.96x	10.77x	25.12x	172ms	175ms	262ms
Pioneer BDC-S02BK	18.65x	10.92x	24.59x	4ms	4ms	1ms
Pioneer BDR-202	18.60x	10.94x	24.53x	150ms	173ms	311ms
Asus BC-1205PT	19.07x	10.93x	25.29x	137ms	153ms	299ms
Sony BWU-200S	25.26x	14.25x	33.48x	125ms	134ms	220ms
LG GGW-H10N	19.39x	11.02x	25.71x	196ms	238ms	380ms
LG GGC-H20L	31.15x	17.87x	41.47x	111ms	138ms	207ms

The LG GGC-H20L has finished at the top when reading our CD-Rewritable disc.

Audio – Digital Audio Extraction

To test the digital audio extraction performance of the LG GGC-H20L we used Nero CD-DVD Speed to measure the transfer rate. The audio disc we used is 79 minutes in length (79:47.10).

The LG GGC-H20L reached 41.08X when reading a full pressed audio disc

For comparison we have made the following table:

Audio Discs	Average Read Speed	Start Read Speed	End Read Speed	Seek Times Random	Seek Times 1/3	Seek Times Full
Panasonic SW-5582	18.93x	10.89x	25.03x	128ms	141ms	272ms
Plextor PX-B900A	18.83x	10.94x	25.06x	142ms	157ms	291ms
Lite-On LH-2B1S	27.33x	15.45x	36.22x	137ms	153ms	213ms
LG GBW-H10N	31.07x	17.85x	41.33x	116ms	130ms	185ms
Phillips SPD7000BD	27.33x	15.44x	36.20x	137ms	159ms	210ms
Sony BWU-100A	9.42x	5.44x	12.48x	176ms	168ms	307ms
Pioneer BDC-S02BK	25.09x	15.03x	36.68x	NA	NA	NA
Pioneer BDR-202	25.07x	14.95x	33.64x	170ms	198ms	344ms
Asus BC-1205PT	24.16x	15.11x	32.71x	129ms	147ms	286ms
Sony BWU-200S	18.34x	11.12x	24.35x	123ms	133ms	215ms
LG GGW-H10N	26.10x	14.27x	29.68x	181ms	192ms	347ms
LG GGC-H20L	30.91x	18.72x	41.08x	113ms	146ms	225ms

The LG GGC-H20L was well ahead of the pack when reading the Audio-CD disc.

Advanced audio – DAE quality test:

For our next test we will use the “Advanced DAE Quality Test” feature in Nero CD-DVD Speed. The CD-R media we are using is 52X certified Taiyo Yuden CD-R made by Taiyo Yuden. (Thanks to Rima.com for sending us this media.)

The extracting quality is excellent but the drive cannot read the lead-out.

DVD reading performance:

Again, we will use Nero CD-Speed to measure the reading performance, this time for various types of DVD discs.

DVD – DVD-Video:

For our DVD reading performance tests we are going to start with Single and Double Layered DVD video discs. While only 1X speed is required to watch DVD movies, it’s useful to be able to read the discs at higher speeds if you’re going to extract (rip) the content of the disc to your hard drive.

DVD-Video Single Layer

DVD-Video Double Layer

The LG GGC-H20L reads a pressed DVD-Video at 10X for a Single Layer disc and reads a Double Layer disc at around 8X.

For comparison we have made the following table:

DVD Video	Average Read Speed (SL)	Start Read Speed (SL)	End Read Speed (SL)	Average Read Speed (DL)	Start Read Speed (DL)	End Read Speed (DL)
Panasonic SW-5582	4.64x	2.56x	6.21x	4.66x	2.59x	6.18x
Plextor PX-B900A	6.08x	3.41x	8.11x	4.61x	2.58x	6.13x
Lite-On LH-2B1S	9.27x	5.12x	12.36x	5.67x	3.15x	7.54x
LG GBW-H10N	6.02x	3.38x	8.02x	6.20x	3.54x	8.22x
Phillips SPD7000BD	9.27x	5.13x	12.35x	5.67x	3.15x	7.54x
Sony BWU-100A	4.62x	2.56x	6.19x	4.63x	2.58x	6.16x
Pioneer BDC-S02BK	3.93x	2.20x	5.74x	3.90x	2.21x	5.19x
Pioneer BDR-202	3.93x	2.20x	4.24x	3.90x	2.21x	5.18x
Asus BC-1205PT	3.93x	2.18x	5.23x	3.94x	2.18x	5.27x
Sony BWU-200S	4.58x	2.55x	6.12x	4.66x	2.58x	6.22x
LG GGW-H10N	9.04x	4.99x	12.05x	6.15x	3.42x	8.11x
LG GGC-H20L	7.60x	4.26x	10.14x	6.11x	3.42x	8.05x

The LG GGC-H20L performed on average with our other drives on both DVD-Video Single Layer and DVD-Video Double Layer reading tests.

DVD+R and DVD+RW:

For this next test we used a Verbatim 16x DVD+R and a Ritek 8X DVD+RW both with 4.38GB of data. (Thanks to Ritek USA and Verbatim USA for sending us this media.) Below are the results:

DVD+R

DVD+RW

For comparison we have made the following table:

DVD+R DVD+RW	Average Read Speed (+R)	Start Read Speed (+R)	End Read Speed (+R)	Average Read Speed (+RW)	Start Read Speed (+RW)	End Read Speed (+RW)
Panasonic SW-5582	6.17x	3.41x	8.24x	6.17x	3.42x	8.24x
Plextor PX-B900A	6.17x	3.41x	8.26x	6.15x	3.40x	8.22x
Lite-On LH-2B1S	9.37x	5.10x	12.51x	9.36x	5.12x	12.50x
LG GBW-H10N	7.71x	4.24x	10.30x	7.68x	4.22x	10.28x
Phillips SPD7000BD	9.37x	5.12x	12.57x	9.36x	5.11x	12.50x
Sony BWU-100A	6.17x	3.40x	8.25x	6.16x	3.40x	8.23x
Pioneer BDC-S02BK	9.46x	5.23x	12.65x	6.31x	3.50x	8.43x
Pioneer BDR-202	9.43x	5.18x	12.62x	6.31x	3.50x	8.43x
Asus BC-1205PT	9.47x	5.25x	12.67x	6.32x	3.51x	8.44x
Sony BWU-200S	12.32x	6.73x	16.51x	6.16x	3.40x	8.24x
LG GGW-H10N	7.67x	4.20x	10.26x	6.27x	3.43x	8.38x
LG GGC-H20L	9.23x	5.12x	12.35x	7.69x	4.24x	10.28x

The drive posts respectable speeds when reading our test discs. Reading DVD+R disc at over 12.35X speed and the DVD+RW disc at over 10.28X speed.

Now let’s see how it will perform on DVD-R/RW discs.

DVD–R and DVD-RW:

For this test we used a Verbatim 16x DVD-R and a Ritek 6X DVD-RW with 4.38GB of data. (Thanks to Ritek USA and Verbatim USA for sending us this media.) Below are the results:

DVD-R

DVD-RW

For comparison we have made the following table:

DVD-R DVD-RW	Average Read Speed (-R)	Start Read Speed (-R)	End Read Speed (-R)	Average Read Speed (-RW)	Start Read Speed (-RW)	End Read Speed (-RW)
Panasonic SW-5582	6.15x	3.41x	8.22x	6.15x	3.41x	8.23x
Plextor PX-B900A	6.14x	3.41x	8.21x	6.14x	3.40x	8.21x
Lite-On LH-2B1S	9.36x	5.12x	12.52x	9.36x	5.12x	12.51x
LG GBW-H10N	7.70x	4.24x	10.29x	7.68x	4.20x	10.29x
Phillips SPD7000BD	9.36x	5.18x	12.49x	9.36x	5.12x	12.50x
Sony BWU-100A	6.15x	3.40x	8.23x	6.15x	3.40x	8.23x
Pioneer BDC-S02BK	9.45x	5.25x	12.64x	6.29x	3.49x	8.42x
Pioneer BDR-202	9.45x	5.74x	12.63x	6.29x	3.40x	8.41x
Asus BC-1205PT	9.46x	5.26x	12.66x	6.30x	3.50x	8.43x
Sony BWU-200S	12.30x	6.68x	16.46x	6.15x	3.39x	8.21x
LG GGW-H10N	7.67x	4.21x	10.25x	6.27x	3.42x	8.39x
LG GGC-H20L	9.23x	5.12x	12.33x	7.69x	4.23x	10.28x

The drive performs on the top end; reading the DVD-R disc at over 12X speed and the DVD-RW disc at over 10X speed.

DVD – DVD±R DL:

For this test we used a Verbatim 2.4x DVD+R DL and a Verbatim 4x DVD-R DL disc both filled with 7.96GB of data. (Thanks to Verbatim USA for sending us this media.) Our test results are found below:

DVD+R DL

DVD-R DL

For comparison we have made the following table:

DVD+R DL DVD-R DL	Average Read Speed (+R)	Start Read Speed (+R)	End Read Speed (+R)	Average Read Speed (-R)	Start Read Speed (-R)	End Read Speed (-R)
Panasonic SW-5582	6.18x	3.44x	8.25x	6.17x	3.44x	8.23x
Plextor PX-B900A	6.17x	3.43x	8.23x	6.17x	3.43x	8.21x
Lite-On LH-2B1S	5.69x	3.15x	7.58x	5.69x	3.15x	7.57x
LG GBW-H10N	6.17x	3.43x	8.23x	6.17x	3.41x	8.24x
Phillips SPD7000BD	5.69x	3.15x	7.59x	5.57x	3.15x	7.57x
Sony BWU-100A	6.17x	3.43x	8.24x	6.18x	3.43x	8.23x
Pioneer BDC-S02BK	6.31x	3.57x	8.42x	6.31x	3.52x	8.47x
Pioneer BDR-202	6.31x	3.51x	8.42x	6.31x	3.52x	8.41x
Asus BC-1205PT	6.32x	3.52x	8.43x	6.32x	3.51x	8.42x
Sony BWU-200S	6.18x	3.43x	8.24x	6.16x	3.42x	8.22x
LG GGW-H10N	9.26x	5.15x	12.35x	9.27x	5.16x	12.35x
LG GGC-H20L	6.16x	3.42x	8.22x	6.18x	3.43x	8.22x

The drive performs average while reading DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL at around 8x speed.

DVD-RAM

For this part of our test we are using a Maxell 5x DVD-RAM filled with 4.27GB of data. Our test results are found below:

The LG GGC-H20L will read DVD-RAM at 5X; here we see an average read speed of 4.63x.

Overall thoughts:

The LG GGC-H20L is a fast reader while reading CD media, Single Layer DVD and it keeps up with the pack when reading Dual Layer DVD media.

Now it’s time to head on to the next section: Writing Quality with CD-R and CD-RW discs…

Features & Technology

CD-R/RW discs Writing Performance

Want to submit your own review? Click here

Posted by SciFer on Wednesday 20 February 2008 21:24

Just would like to confirm, this model won't write or read blu-ray recordables with the new organic dye this article is talking about, right?

http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/Blu-ray-discs-get-cheaper-due-new-organic-dye-announcement.html

Posted by MegaDETH on Tuesday 26 February 2008 20:43

It will not write to any Blu-ray or HD discs, it is a Read Only for Blu-ray or HD-DVD

Posted by partyman on Monday 21 April 2008 04:33

Hi. I'm a newbie to Bd/Hd before i buy the reader(Lg GGC-H20L0) will it be able to read the new organic dye disc coming out.

Posted by Gary Hepting (guest) on Thursday 01 May 2008 05:41

I have owned my LG Super Multi Combo Drive (model GGC-H20L) for 6 weeks now and it suddenly stopped working...
I can't get the drive to show up at all -- it causes the P.O.S.T. to take about 120 seconds or better to scan the IDE/SATA channels and never finds it... Windows XP can't see it either any more...

Can anyone help me?

Posted by Rob (guest) on Wednesday 14 May 2008 05:18

In reality, is there any point to more than 1.5x transfer speed on BD-ROM at present? The only media out there at the moment in BD-ROM format is BD movies and they only require a 1.5x speed player/ROM. Testing the read speed on BD movies at faster than 1.5x is really a synthetic test only since the movies will only be read at 1.5x.

It may be years before games or apps ever come out on BD-ROM and it's not really economically viable for most of us to get a BD Burner yet. BD-R media can be read at the higher speeds.

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