Test machine:

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

Hardware:

• Motherboard: Asus A8V Deluxe
• Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (Toledo)
• RAM: 1 GB Corsair Kit PC3200 DDR
• GFX: MSI GeForce 6600 GT
• Sound: Onboard Realtek AC'97
• Hard disk: Maxtor 6V300F0 300 GB (S-ATA)

System set-up:

The Lite-On LH-2B1S was connected to the VIA SATA interface and identified itself as LITE-ON BD B LH-2B1S. Autorun was enabled for all devices.

And another screenshot from Nero InfoTool below:

From the screenshot from Nero InfoTool above, we can see the Lite-On LH2B1S does not support Mount Rainer. The drive came shipped with firmware version AL05. The drive should use a 2MB buffer size for CD/DVD burning and 8MB buffer size for Blu-ray burning. Furthermore, the drive is reported as AACS compliant.

Installed Software:

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

• Nero CD/DVD Speed
• Nero InfoTool  
• DVD Identifier
• Exact Audio Copy v0.95 beta 4
• KProbe v2.5.2

Features and techniques:

Book type (bitsetting):

The Lite-On LH-2B1S supports Bitsetting, and will as default write DVD+R/DVD+RW/DVD+R DL media with DVD-ROM BookType.

DVD+R media with DVD-ROM BookType

DVD+RW media with DVD-ROM BookType

DVD+R DL media with DVD-ROM BookType

Disc Quality Scanning:

The Lite-On LH-2B1S seems to be ready to perform disc quality scans on CD/DVD/BD media, but at the moment it lacks to report some measurement parameters. Hopefully these parameters can be implanted in future firmware/software updates. (Quality scans performed on the Lite-On LH-2B1S drive can NOT at the present time be compared to scans done with other Quality scanners).

Some of the scanning examples below were made with the Test length set to “Speed” under advanced option. (To save time, performing our scanning examples).

CD Scanning example

DVD+R scanning example. The PIF parameter reporting is at the time being not reported.

DVD-R scanning example. The PIF parameter reporting is at the time being not reported.

BD-R scanning example and as we can see the Jitter is currently only reported. (We stopped the scanning to save time and to just show you this scanning example).

BD-R scanning example and as we can see the Jitter is currently only reported. (We stopped the scanning to save time and to just show you this scanning example).

SMART-BURN:
(Smart Monitoring & Adapting Recording Technology for BURNing)

• SMART-BURN is the abbreviation of “Smart Monitoring & Adapting Recording Technology for BURNing", innovated CD-RW technology by LITE-ON IT, will be introduced to other products in the future.
• Users always want to successfully burn a disc with a higher speed in CD-RW drive. You may know, there are so many brands of CD-R / CD-RW media in the market with irregular quality & still being cost down in the price war.
• If your CD-R / CD-RW media quality is really poor enough or working environment is too hot to induce the Laser Power over margin, the CD-RW drive detected, the burning speed will be forced to decrease to get more reliable Laser working power to secure the life of CD-RW drive & burning quality strategy parameters plus the outstanding running Optimum Power Calibration (OPC) function to provide you the best burning quality.
• The buffer under run error is also no longer happened to your drive anymore, SMART-BURN also can allow drive to be suspended during writing, than continue to burn from last point when enough data get in the buffer.
• SMART-BURN features :
  • Buffer Under Run Error Free
  • Running Optimum Power Calibration
  • Automatic Writing Strategy & Burning Parameters
  • Automatically decrease burning speed when Laser power over margin due to poor media quality or high temperature

An Introduction to Blu-Ray:

Until recently, optical disc technologies such as DVD, DVD±R, DVD±RW, and DVD-RAM relied on a red laser to read and write data, the Blu-Ray format uses a blue-violet laser, which explains the name Blu-ray.

Blu-ray drives can also be made backwards compatible with CDs and DVDs through the use of a BD/DVD/CD compatible optical pickup unit.

A blue-violet laser (405nm) has a shorter wavelength than a red laser (650nm); this makes it possible to focus the laser with even greater accuracy. This will allow data to be packed more tightly, so it's possible to squeeze more data on the disc even though it's the same size as a CD/DVD. This together with the change of numerical aperture to 0.85 enables Blu-ray discs to hold 25GB/50GB.

Now let’s take a look at the track pitch and compare them with that of DVD:

As we can see in the above screenshots, the storage density of Blu-Ray is much higher than DVD. The Blu-Ray laser beam spot is also much narrower than that of DVD.

Blu-Ray Error specification:

In the above table we present some of the specifications for reported errors on Blu-Ray media. At present we have no equipment or software available for measuring these errors.

Writing Technology:

In the following tests, we take a look at the disc writing technology used by the Lite-On LH-2B1S. For these tests we simply burned a disc with Nero CD-Speed’s “create data disc” function.

CD-Recordable:

The Lite-On LH-2B1S uses P-CAV (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 32X. This gives an average speed of 24.02x and writing time of 4 minutes and 15 seconds.

CD-ReWritable:

The Lite-On LH-2B1S uses Z-CLV (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write CD-RW media at its maximum speed of 24x, with an average write speed of 18.63x and writing time of 5 minutes and 7 seconds.

12x DVD+R Writing speed:

The Lite-on LH-2B1S uses P-CAV (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at the maximum supported speed of 12x. This gives an average write speed of 8.96x and a writing time of 7 minutes and 9 seconds.

12X DVD-R Writing speed:

The Lite-on LH-2B1S uses P-CAV (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at the maximum supported speed of 12x. This gives an average write speed of 8.95x and a writing time of 7 minutes and 20 seconds.

8X DVD+RW writing speed:

The Lite-On LH-2B1S uses Z-CLV (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+RW at 8x. The average speed is 7.16x and total writing time is 8 minutes and 30 seconds.

6X DVD-RW writing speed:

The Lite-On LH-2B1S uses Z-CLV (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RW at 6x. The average speed is 5.75x and total writing time is 10 minutes and 52 seconds.

4X DVD+R DL writing speed:

The Lite-ON LH-2B1S uses CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+R DL at 4x. The average speed is 3.85x and total writing time is 28 minutes and 21 seconds.

4X DVD-R DL writing speed:

The Lite-On LH-2B1S uses CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-R DL at 4x. The average speed is 3.81x and total writing time is 29 minutes and 28 seconds.

2x BD-R (Single Layer) writing speed:

According to the specifications the Lite-On LH-2B1S should be able to write BD-R 25GB Single Layer media at 2x.

The Lite-ON LH-2B1S uses CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) to write BD-R at its maximum speed of 2x. This resulted in an average write speed of 1.94x and a total write time of 46 minutes and 36 seconds.

2x BD-RE (Single Layer) writing speed:

According to the specifications the Lite-On LH-2B1S should be able to write BD-RE 25GB Single Layer media at 2x.

The Lite-On LH-2B1S uses CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) to write BD-R at its maximum speed of 2x. This resulted in an average write speed of 1.95x and a total write time of 46 minutes and 16 seconds.

Let’s continue to the next page where we will examine the reading performance...

Introduction

Reading performance