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| Posted by | Paul Chilson |
| Posted on | 08/05/06 04:13 |
| Number of views | 27246 |
The specifications of the Lite-On SHM-165H6S state that the drive is able to write CD-R discs at 48x and CD-RW at 32x. Let's find out how the drive really performs in speed and quality.
Writing Data CD-R discs:
For our data writing tests, we simply set up a new compilation of 776Mb using Nero Burning ROM software. The writing method used is DAO (Disc At Once) and the disc is set up as a non-multisession disc with 'finalize disc' enabled. The screenshot below shows how long it takes to write a disc at the highest speed (48x) using Nero Burning ROM.
The drive took 2 minutes and 35 seconds to write the disc at 48x. Below we see how this compares to some other drives:
- Pioneer DVR-110D used 3 minutes and 34 seconds at 40x
- NU DHW-164 used 3 minutes and 12 seconds at 40x
- Philips DVDR16LS used 3 minutes and 26 seconds at 40x
- Samsung TS-E552U used 2 minutes and 52 seconds at 40x
- LG GSA-4163B used 3 minutes and 15 seconds at 40x
- Philips DVDR1640P used 3 minutes and 17 seconds at 40x
- NU DDW-082 used 3 minutes and 2 seconds at 40x
- Samsung TS-H552B used exactly 3 minutes at 40x
- Plextor PX-708A used 2 minutes and 58 seconds at 40x
Write Quality:
We will test CD-R discs from seven different manufacturers. To measure the write speed, we used the 'Create Data Disc' function in Nero CD-DVD Speed. The discs were written at the maximum speed that the firmware supports. For the quality test, we used KProbe 2 which is a tool developed by a Lite-On employee. It runs under Windows and works with drives made by Lite-On. Also note that different drives and different reading speeds may affect the results obtained when scanning the discs. We used a Lite-On LTR-52246S drive with firmware 6S0F and scanned the discs at MAX speed.
A written CD-R disc will always have some C1 errors. C1 errors are easily corrected by the drive's error correction capabilities. The next level of errors is C2, while C2 errors could also be corrected by most drive's error correction capabilities, they are not wanted on a good quality disc. A good disc should not contain any C2 errors and preferably have an average C1 error amount of below 2.0 for the best discs, or at least below 10.0 averages for good quality discs. After C2 errors, there are only un-correctable errors that will make a disc unusable.
Below are the obtained results:
| Brand: | RiDATA |
| Manufacturer: | RiTEK Corporation |
| Code: | 97m15s17f |
| Disc Type: | CD-R (A-) |
| Recording Layer: | Dye Type 7: Short Strategy (Phthlocyanine) |
| Capacity: | 79:59.70 (702.80 MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 48x |
| Write Speed: | 48x |
| Write Time: | 2m:36s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 8.84 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 0.0 |
This is not looking so good. Perhaps the firmware needs some work here.
| Brand: | FujiFilm |
| Manufacturer: | Taiyo Yuden Company Limited |
| Code: | 97m24s01f |
| Disc Type: | CD-R (A+) |
| Recording Layer: | Dye Type 1: Long Strategy (Cyanine, AZO) |
| Capacity: | 79:59.72 (702.80 MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 48x |
| Write Speed: | 48x |
| Write Time: | 2m:44s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 0.65 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 0.0 |
Taiyo Yuden media, this has been written better by other drives but is still a very good burn.
| Brand: | SONY |
| Manufacturer: | SONY Corporation |
| Code: | 97m24s16f |
| Disc Type: | CD-R (B-) |
| Recording Layer: | Dye Type 6: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine) |
| Capacity: | 79:59.74 (702.80 MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 1x-48x |
| Write Speed: | 32x (P-CAV) |
| Write Time: | 3m:10s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 7.06 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 1.64 |
Lite-On may have good reason to slow the burn to 32x but there is still no excuse for C2 errors. Other drives burn this media well.
| Brand: | FujiFilm |
| Manufacturer: | Prodisc Technology Inc. |
| Code: | 97m32s19f |
| Disc Type: | CD-R (C-) |
| Recording Layer: | Dye Type 9: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine) |
| Capacity: | 79:59.72 (702.80 MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 48x |
| Write Speed: | 48x |
| Write Time: | 2m:35s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 1.39 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 0.0 |
Finally! A very nice result with this Prodisc media. A good media choice for this drive.
| Brand: | esa |
| Manufacturer: | CMC Magnetics |
| Code: | 97m26s66f |
| Disc Type: | CD-R (A+) |
| Recording Layer: | Dye Type 6: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine) |
| Capacity: | 79:59.71 (702.80 MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 52x |
| Write Speed: | 48x |
| Write Time: | 2m:41s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 2.33 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 0.0 |
An OK burn with this inexpensive store brand CMC media. There seems to be a pattern developing of rising C1 errors at the edge of the discs.
| Brand: | Office Max |
| Manufacturer: | Moser Baer India Limited |
| Code: | 97m17s06f |
| Disc Type: | CD-R (B-) |
| Recording Layer: | Dye Type 6: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine) |
| Capacity: | 79:59.74 (702.80 MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 52x |
| Write Speed: | 48x |
| Write Time: | 2m:43s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 1.29 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 0.0 |
This Moser Baer made CD-R produces an excellent result making it a very good choice of media for this drive.
| Brand: | Verbatim LightScribe |
| Manufacturer: | Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation |
| Code: | 97m34s23f |
| Disc Type: | CD-R (A+) |
| Recording Layer: | Dye Type 3: Long Strategy (Cyanine, AZO) |
| Capacity: | 79:59.73 (702.80 MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 52x |
| Write Speed: | 48x |
| Write Time: | 2m:35s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 1.39 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 0.0 |
We have seen better burns on Mitsubishi manufactured media but this is not a bad result.
Writing Quality with Re-Writable discs:
Due to requests from our readers, we will add a two write quality tests with CD-RW media. The settings and testing procedures are the same as we used on CD-R tests, so you may want to go back and read them if you are unsure. All discs used for these tests have been written to before, but none have been written to more than 5 times and were 'full erased' before writing.
CD-ReWritable media:
| Brand: | Maxell |
| Manufacturer: | Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation |
| Code: | 97m34s23f |
| Disc Type: | High Speed CD-RW 4-12x |
| Recording Layer: | Phase Change |
| Capacity: | 79:59:74 |
| Certified Speed: | 4x-12x |
| Write Speed: | 10x (CLV) |
| Write Time: | 8m:29s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 1.44 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 0.0 |
This 4x-12x rated media was supported by the drive at 10x. This shows a nice result for CD-RW!
| Brand: | Verbatim - Thanks to Verbatim US for sending us this media. |
| Manufacturer: | Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation |
| Code: | 97m34s25f |
| Disc Type: | Ultra Speed CD-RW 32x |
| Recording Layer: | Phase Change |
| Capacity: | 74:43:04 (650MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 32x |
| Write Speed: | 16x (CLV) |
| Write Time: | 5m:25s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 178.00 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 0.0 |
Our drive showed only 16x support for this 32x certified media. I'm at a loss here, it doesn't even attempt to burn well. Multiple discs showed the same type of result.
Summary:
The CD-R writing quality is suspect, it isn't all bad but certainly not what we expect from a company whose heritage is built on it's CD-RW drives.
The two selected CD-RWs are both Mitsubishi Chemical produced media. Writing quality is quite good on the 4x-12x but horrendous on the 32x. If you choose your media wisely this drive can produce good results, otherwise…
So let's head on to the next page and read about DVD-Writing performance…
Reading performance
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