detail information

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

The Plextor PX-750A 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:

Verbatim 8x - Manufactured by Mitsubishi Kagaku Media. Thanks to Verbatim for sending us this media.

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

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

Infiniti reference series - Manufactured by CMC Magnetics. Thanks to Medea International 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 8x media

Nero reported a successful burn with the Verbatim 8x media in 18 minutes and 2 seconds. (write speed 8x)

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

PI errors are quite high on the 1^st layer but well within specification, PI errors on the 2^nd layer are much lower. PIF errors are low throughout the burn. The single PIF spike at the layer break should not cause concern. The result is very good.

Verbatim 2.4x Media

Nero reported a successful burn with the Verbatim 2.4x media in 27 minutes 50 seconds. (write speed 4x)

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

There are clearly problems with the 2^nd layer of the disc. The PI and PIF errors are out if specification. A poor result.

Ricoh Media

Nero reported a successful burn with the Ricoh 2.4x media in 27 minutes 50 seconds. (write speed 4x)

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

PI errors are high throughout the disc but within specification, there are also many PIF errors on the 2^nd layer. The result is ok but could be improved.

Infiniti 2.4x Media

Nero reported a successful burn with the Infiniti 2.4x media in 45 minutes and 27 seconds. (write speed 2.4x)

Now let us take a look at the K-Probe result:

PI errors are well within specification, there is however some PIF spikes which are out of specification, but they should not cause too much concern.

Now let us try and read the Double Layer media back, first on the Plextor PX-750A and then the BenQ DW1640.

Plextor PX-750A read-back test (MKM003)

BenQ DW1640 read-back test (MKM003)

Plextor PX-750A read-back test (MKM 001)

BenQ DW1640 read-back test (MKM 001)

Plextor PX-750A read-back test (RICOH JPN D00)

BenQ DW1640 read-back test (RICOH JPN D00)

Plextor PX-750A read-back test (CMC MAG D01)

Benq DW1640 read-back test (CMC MAG D01)

As we can see from our results, both drives were able to read all our test discs with very few problems. There are the usual slowdowns at the layer breaks. This should not cause too much concern.

Let's compare the Plextor PX-750A 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)
*5 Verbatim DVD-+R DL (MKM 003)

DVD-R DL

As mentioned at the top of this page, the Plextor PX-750A 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 6 to write the DVD Image:

The Plextor PX-750A took 28 minutes and 3 seconds to write the Verbatim DVD-R DL media at 4x.

To check the disc quality we used the Lite-On SHW-16H5S along with K-Probe.

As we can see from the K-Probe scan, PI errors are high on the 2^nd layer, but within specification

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

Plextor PX-750A read-back test

BenQ DW1640 read-back test

As we can see from the above read-back tests; both drives were able to read the Verbatim DVD-R DL media, both drives show a slight slowdown on the 2^nd layer of the disc. The result is ok but could be improved.

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 Plextor PX-750A burned DVD+R DL media. But only one DVD Standalone device would play the Plextor PX-750A 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 Plextor PX-750A or media format used.

Summary: Although all the discs were readable in our scanning and read-back test drives, we would like to see some improvement in write quality.

To round of this review, we will run some advanced tests on the Plextor PX-750A on the next page….