detail information

DVD+R/-R Double Layer writing speed and compatibility:

The Lite-On SHW-16H5S supports the DVD+R DL/-R DL standard for writing Double Layer/Dual Layer discs with a size around 8.5 GB at a writing speed of 8x for DVD+R DL, and 4x for DVD-R DL. Let us first take a look at the media we will use:

Let's find the manufacturer and media information too, for this we will use Nero CD-DVD Speed version 4.10:

This media is manufactured by Mitsubishi Kagaku Media. Thanks to SVP UK for sending us this media.

Traxdata manufactured by RITEK, thanks to Conrexx Europe for sending us this media.

Ricoh JPN D00, manufactured by Ricoh. Thanks to Ricoh Europe for sending us this media.

Datawrite, manufactured by CMC Magnetics. Thanks to E-Net UK for sending us this media.

Testing procedure:
We created an ISO Image from a pre-authored DVD-Video compliant file set, with a total on-disc size of 8146 MB. We then wrote this image file using Nero Burning ROM 6. Below are the results:

Verbatim Media

Nero reported a successful burn with the Verbatim media in 26 minutes 58 seconds.

Let us take a look at the K-Probe result:

The result is excellent. Recommended.

RITEK Media

Nero reported a successful burn with the Traxdata media in 43 minutes 28 seconds.

Let us take a look at the K-Probe result:

A very good result, the SHW-16H5S has handled this media well

Ricoh Media

Nero reported a successful burn with the Traxdata media in 43 minutes 28 seconds.

Let us take a look at the K-Probe result:

PI and PIF errors on the second layer are quite high, but are well within specification.

Datawrite Media

As we can see the burn failed, after making two further attempts which also failed, we must conclude the drive will not be able to burn this media with the present firmware.

Now let us try and read the Double Layer media back, first on the Lite-On SHW-16H5S and then the BenQ DW1640.

Lite-On SHW-16H5S read-back test (MKM001)

BenQ DW1640 read-back test (MKM001)

Lite-On SHW-16H5S read-back test (RITEK D01)

BenQ DW1640 read-back test (RITEK D01)

Lite-On SHW-16H5S read-back test (RICOH JPN D00)

BenQ DW1640 read-back test (RICOH JPN D00)

As we can see from our results, both drives read the Verbatim and Traxdata Double Layer media without any problems. We can also see both drives had problems reading the RICOH media, with the BenQ DW1640 failing to read the 2nd layer on the disc.

Let's compare the Lite-On SHW-16H5S with some other DL capable drives.

*1 Verbatim DVD+R DL (MKM001)
*2 Traxdata DVD+R DL (RITEK D01)
*3 Ricoh DVD+R DL (RICOH JPN D00)
*4 Datawrite DVD+R DL (CMC MAG D01)

DVD-R DL

As mentioned at the top of this page, the Lite-On SHW-16H5S supports the DVD-R DL standard at 4x. Let us first take a look at the media we will use:

Let's find the manufacturer and media information too, for this we will use CD-Speed 4.10:

This media is manufactured by Mitsubishi Kagaku Media. Thanks to SVP UK for sending us this media.

Again, we used Nero Burning Rom 7 to write the DVD Image:

The Lite-On SHW-16H5S took 27 minutes and 35 seconds to write the Verbatim DVD-R DL media at 4x.

To check the disc quality we used the Lite-On SOHW-1635S along with K-Probe.

As we can see from the K-Probe scan, the Lite-On SHW-16H5S has written the Verbatim DVD-R DL media with very good quality.

We will now check the read-back curves on two different drives.

Lite-On SHW-16H5S read-back test

BenQ DW1640 read-back test

As we can see from the above read-back tests; both drives read the DVD-R DL disc without any problems.

Standalone DVD-Player compatibility:

We only have 3 standalone DVD-Players available and 1 standalone DVD-RAM DVD-R recorder to test the DVD+R DL medias (Book Type: DVD-ROM) and the DVD-R DL media (Book Type: DVD-R):

• Panasonic DVD-RV32
• Panasonic SA-HT520
• Proline DVDP350
• Panasonic DMR-E50 recorder

Compatibility results: 

All DVD Standalone devices played the Lite-On SHW-16H5S burned DVD+R DL media. But only one DVD Standalone device would play the Lite-On SHW-16H5S burned DVD-R DL media without any problems.

We would like to mention, that the compatibility issue with standalone DVD Players/Recorders and the DVD-R DL media format is caused by incompatibilities with the standalone devices used in this review, and not the Lite-On SHW-16H5S or media format used.

Summary: Very good quality on most DVD+R DL/-R DL and DVD standalone compatibility results, for the DVD+R DL media. We would also like to see CMC MAG D01 media properly supported in the firmware.

Now the really interesting part of this review, the LightScribe tests on the next page…