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This story was printed from CdrInfo.com,
located at http://www.cdrinfo.com.
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Appeared on: Thursday, September 23, 2004
Philips DVDRW1640P


1. Introduction - Retail Package

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 1

has released its first 16X recorder drive, the DVDR1640P, with support for both DVD+R and DVD-R writing. The first rumours wanted the drive to allow up to 16X for both formats.

Finaly, Philips announced that the maximum speed with the minus format will be at 8X for safest recordings. As was expected, the drive would support DL at 2.4X.

- Drive Features

Seamless Link was initially introduced by Acer CM (now BenQ). This technology allows a CD-RW/DVD+RW drive to automatically monitor the recording status to prevent buffer under run from occurring.

Seamless Link allows the CD-RW drive to store the RecEnd address, the point in the data to which the recording mechanism has progressed, and pause the recording before a buffer under run occurs. When the buffer is again full, a Seamless Link-enabled drive locates the RecEnd address and resumes the recording process. The gap between the stop and restart point is closed, while managing the recording process precisely and transparently-eliminating under run errors while maintaining recording accuracy.

Dynamic Calibration

To ensure optimal writing quality over the entire disc at higher writing speeds, Philips has introduced the Walking OPC algorithm. WOPC directly measures and optimizes the actual writing quality during the writing process.

At certain intervals, the writing process will be briefly interrupted, the writing quality directly evaluated and the writing power adjusted accordingly, if required. The Philips DVD+R/RW writers use a more dynamic implementation based on the position on the disc and temperature inside the drive. The graph below shows the writing graph of the drive on a Philips 16X and an 8X DVD+R disc.

In addition, Philips Dynamic Calibration includes a tilt calibration feature. The best reading and writing quality can be obtained if the angle between the disc and the laser beam is 90 degrees. However, if the disc is warped, the laser beam will no longer be correctly positioned which will cause a distortion of the laser spot resulting in decreased writing quality if it is not corrected.

The tilt calibration will reposition the Optical Pickup Unit (OPU) to maintain a 90-degree angle between the laser beam and the disc surface at all times ensuring an optimal spot shape, even on warped discs. The frequency of the tilt calibration depends only on the position on the disc according to a non-linear function. Near the end of the disc, the risk of warping is higher so the frequency of the tilt calibration will increase accordingly. As with WOPC, the writing process will be briefly interrupted, the tilt measured and the OPU repositioned if required.

Walking OPC and Tilt Calibration together form the Dynamic Calibration. Although they act independently of each other, some effort is taken to synchronize the Tilt Calibrations with the disc position dependent component of Walking OPC.

- Specifications

Interface:
E-IDE/ATAPI (Ultra DMA Mode 2)
Writing Speed:

DVD+R: 16X, DVD-R: 8X, DVD±RW: 4X, DVD+R DL: 2.4X

CD-R: 40X, CD-RW: 24X
Read Speed:

DVD+R/-R/+RW/-RW: 10X max

DVD-ROM: 16X, CD-R/RW: 40X
Random Access:
DVD: 140msec, CD: 120msec
Buffer Size:
2MB

Supported Disc Formats:

8cm discs, CD-Audio, CD-Bridge, Stereo out (2 cinch), CD-I, CD-Recordable, CD-Rewritable, CD-ROM, CD-Text, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-ROM, DVD/R, DVD/RW, Photo CD
Supported Writing Types:
 
Disc at once (DAO), Fixed packet, Multi session (MS), Over-burn writing, Packet writing, Raw mode burning, Session at once (SAO), Track at once (TAO), Variable packet
Recording format : UDF and ISO 9660
Connectivity
Other connections :  12 V DC in, Analogue audio left / right out 2x, Master / slave select jumper, IDE interface connector
System Requirements :
Hard disc space :  500MB
PC OS :  Windows 98 SE, 2000, ME, XP
Processor :  Pentium III 500MHz or faster
RAM memory :  128 MB
Dimensions :
20x15x4 cm (WxDxH) inch
Weight : 0.95 kg
Technical specifications :
Humidity :  5 - 90 %RH (no condensation)
Operating temperature range :  5 - 50 °C
Safety standards :  EN60950, EN60825,UL1950
EMC standards :  EN55022, EMS55024,FCC Part 15

The drive does not support Mount Rainier and it uses the well known RPC II region control, allowing a user to change the drive's region at most 5 times. DVD-RAM media is also not supported for either reading or writing. Below are the drive's main specs as given by NeroInfoTool and DVDInfoPro:

- Tested Kit / Software Bundle

According to Philips, the included accessories are:  4 mounting screws, CD-ROM with software & manual, Quick install guide, User manual, DVD+R 16x blank disc. As for software, there is Nero Burning Rom 6, InCD 4, Nero Vision express 2, Nero media Player 1, EasyWrite Reader 4, Nero Burning Rights 1.

The front bezel is exactly the same as it was with the DVR885P model and the only difference is the number on the upper right which indicates the product model. Although the drive supports the minus format, the appropriate logo is not present. One striking feature is the activity leds setup which has a separate led for CD and DVD media, between which is a third, wide led apperture which lights red when recording and blue when reading.

On the rear panel you can see the analogue and digital outputs (SPDIF), the IDE connector and the power input. The specific unit that arrived in our labs was manufactured during August 2004 in Malaysia.

Removing the screws and opening the drive's cover voids the drive's warranty. For reference reasons, we post the following images. You can click on the mainboard picture for a higher resolution image:

The heart of the drive is the Philip's Nexperia PNX7860E chipset.

- Installation

The drive was installed as secondary master and under WindowsXP was recognized as "PHILIPS DVDR1640P ". The drive arrived with firmware revision P2.1 and since a newer firmware version had been released, we flashed the drive without problems to firmware revision P2.2.

Below is a screenshot of Nero Burning Rom's specs for the drive.

In this review, we will be comparing the drive with the TDK 1616N and the Pioneer DVR-108.

- Testing software

In order to perform our tests, we used:

  1. Nero CD-DVD Speed v3.21
  2. CDVD Benchmark v1.21
  3. ExactAudioCopy v0.9 beta5
  4. Nero Info Tool v2.27
  5. KProbe v2.4.2 (Readers: For DVD media LiteOn LDW-811S firmware vHS0Q Reading speed 8X CAV, for DL media LiteON SOHD-167T firmware 9S04 reading speed 6X CAV)
  6. PlexTools v2.16 (Reader: For CD/DVD Plextor PX-712A firmware v1.04, Reading speed 8X CLV for CD-R and 2X CLV for DVD media with medium accuracy)
  7. DVDInfoPro v2.63
  8. BenQ Booktype Management v8.30
  9. Nero Burning Rom v6.3.1.20

2. Transfer Rate Reading Tests

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 2

Transfer Rate Reading Tests

- CD Format

The Philips DVDR1640P DL supports up to 40X reading speed.

TDK leads the race with CD-R media due to its higher reading speed of 48X. Philips and Pioneer had similar performance. The image changed when it came to reading HS-RW media. There, Philips shone through with its 40X reading speed while the other two competitors were limited to 32X.

-DVD Format

According to our reading tets with Single Layer madia, all the drives performed almost with the same speeds. The differences were negligible.

With a PTP DVD-ROM disc, the starting point of the two layers is at the inner part of the disc. The drive reads from the beginning of each layer (inner part) progreesing towards the outer part of the disc. Pioneer was the fastest among the drives while Philips had the second best performance. TDK was the slowest.

With an OTP Dual Layer disc, the first layer structure is the same as the first layer on a PTP disc. The drive reads the first layer exactly the same way as PTP discs, and at the same speed. The starting point of the second layer of an OTP disc is located at the outer part of the disc. The performance of all drives was similar to that of SL media.

The DVDR1640P reported similar speed results when reading single layer DVD±R/RW discs with 3~8 CAV resulting in a 6.25X average speed.

The DVDR1640P ripped a full Dual Layer pressed DVD-Video movie at an average speed of 8915kb/sec ( 6.4X), which was the fastest performance.

-Appendix

Nero CD-DVD Speed Graphs


3. CD Error Correction Tests

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 3

CD Error Correction Tests

In the following tests we check the drive's behavior when it comes to reading scratched / defective discs. The test discs we use are the ABEX series from ALMEDIO.

The drive doesn't support C2 error information.

- ABEX TCD-721R

Errors total
Num: 1397055
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
Num: 60758
Avg:-72.8 dB(A)
Max: -18.5 dB(A)
Error Muting Samples
Num: 4348
Avg: 1.3 Samples
Max: 537 Samples
Skips Samples
Num: 0
Avg: 0.0 Samples
Max: 0 Samples
Total Test Result
76.1 points (out of 100.0 maximum)

The DVDR1640P drive displayed slightly better than average performance with this test disc. The total error count was a little increased and the maximum error loudness level of -18.5dB(A) should be lower since the limit is at -35dB(A). The error muting sample count was low, while there were no skipped samples. The final score of 76.1 is quite acceptable.

- ABEX TCD-726

Errors total
Num: 0
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
Num: 0
Avg: -174.0 dB(A)
Max: -174.0 dB(A)
Error Muting Samples
Num: 0
Avg: 0.0 Samples
Max: 0 Samples
Skips Samples
Num: 0
Avg: 0.0 Samples
Max: 0 Samples
Total Test Result
100.0 points (out of 100.0 maximum)

Philips DVDR1640P received a perfect score of 100.0 with the Abex TCD-726 test disc.

- CD-Check Audio Test Disc

The CD-Check Test Disc is a very useful tool for evaluating the Sound Reproduction / Error correction capabilities of a CD player. The disc offers a signal combination with disc error patterns to rate the drive's abilities to read music and reproduce it completely. Five tracks on the disc contain a sequence of progressively difficult tests. These tracks are referred as Check Level-1 through Check Level-5.

The files are reproduced (played) through a software multimedia player (i.e. Windows Media Player). Each level is considered as passed, if the tone coming out from the speakers is smooth, continuous without interruptions, skipping or looping. The higher the Check Level passed, the more reliable the sound reproduction of the tested device.

Error Level
1
2
3
4
5
Philips DVDR1640P
5/5
5/5
5/5
5/5
0/5

The DVDR1640P passed the first four Check Levels of the test. In the fifth level we got several audible clicks. We should comment that the 1.5mm defect on the fifth track is difficult for the majority of the drives to be handle.

- Conclusion

The Philips DVDR1640P offers good CD error correction.


4. DVD Error Correction Tests

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 4

DVD Error Correction Tests

In the following tests we examine the DVD reading capabilities of the drive with scratched / defective DVD media. For the tests we used CDVD Benchmark and Nero CDSpeed. The reference test media comes from ALMEDIO.

- Single Layer media
ABEX TDR-821

This is a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM with a 4.7GB capacity, and its surface has an artificial scratch of dimensions varying from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.

The following transfer rate picture comes from the CDVD Benchmark v1.21 transfer rate test.

The DVDR1640P read the disc successfully while it reached a top speed of 16X CAV. The scratched area did not affect the reading process. The performance reveals good error correction capabilities with scratched single layer DVD-ROM discs.

ABEX TDR-825

This is also a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM of 4.7GB capacity. The data structure of the disc is exactly the same as that of the TDR-821, with the difference that there are no scratches on it but instead, defective areas of dimensions ranging from 0.5 to 1.1 mm.

There are also fingerprints sized between 65 and 75 micrometers.

Again, the drive read the disc without reporting any read errors. Once again the reading speed at the end of the task was at 16X.

- Dual Layer media

ABEX TDR-841

This is an 8.5GB dual layer single sided DVD-ROM disc with artificial scratches of dimensions ranging from 0.4 to 3.0mm, on both layers.

No errors were reported and the process finished successfully.

ABEX TDR-845

The disc is a single sided, dual layer DVD-ROM disc of a capacity of 8.5GB. The only difference between the TDR-845 and the TDR-841 is that the first includes defective areas and fingerprints.

The dimensions of the defective areas range from 0.5 to 1.1 mm and the fingerprints are sized from 65 to 75 micro meters.

The TDR-845 test disc was not a problem for the drive.

ABEX TDV-541

The TDV-541 is a single sided, dual layer DVD-VIDEO disc, with a capacity of 8.5GB. The disc is based on the TDV-540 series which is designed for inspection and adjustment of DVD-VIDEO players. The disc checks the layer switch operation from layer 0 to layer 1 and also includes test pictures and test signals for DVD sound files.

The current TDV-541 also checks the error correcting capabilities of the drive and includes scratches from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.

The Philips drive just ignored the defective area...

ABEX TDV-545

The TDV-545 disc is based on the TDV-540 series. It is a single sided, dual layer DVD-VIDEO disc with a capacity of 8.5GB. The TDV-545 includes artificial black dots on the data surface, sized from 0.4 to 1.0 mm.

It also has 65 - 75 micrometer fingerprints.

The DVDR1640P showed excellent behavior with TDV-545 test disc. Linear, smooth graph means very good performance.


5. Protected Disc Tests

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 5

Protected Disc Tests

- Reading Tests

To create the image of the various protected titles to the hard disk, we used Alcohol 120% software and the appropriate settings, according to the protection type of the inserted discs. Below you can see the duration of each process as well as the transfer rate in each case.
Game Title
Protection Scheme
Duration
Reading speed
PSX "NBA Jam Extreme"
Lybcrypt
1:01 min
1481 sectors/sec
Serious Sam The Second Encounter v1.07
SafeDisc v.2.60.052
43:35 min
128 sectors/sec
VRally II
SecuROM v.2
2:44 min
2096 sectors/sec

Philips was fast with PSX and SecuROM protected test games while with SafeDisk, it needed 43 minutes to finish the task, which is common to many drives.

- Writing Tests

The DVDR1640P DL recorder supports the DAO-RAW writing mode. For checking the drive's EFM correction status, we used 5 different game titles with different SafeDisc 2 versions having the latest software patches installed. After making the images of the various titles onto the hard disk, we burned them (maximum speed) with Alcohol 120% v1.9.2.1705. Two different discs were created for each title; one with the "Bypass EFM error" enabled and one more with the function disabled.

The table below shows the results of the attempted backups and whether they worked (game installed / played normally), or not.
Drive

Fifa 2004
SD v3.1x

Sims Superstar
SD v2.9x
Sims Unleashed
SD v2.8x
Serious Sam-Second Encounter
SD v2.50.051
Max Payne
SD v2.51.020
EFM OFF
EFM ON
EFM OFF
EFM ON
EFM OFF
EFM ON
EFM OFF
EFM ON
EFM OFF
EFM ON
Toshiba
SD-M1502
No
Yes
Creative CD5233E

BenQ DW1600A DL

The above table indicates that the DVDR1640P is not a suitable drive for copying SafeDisc protected discs. Only some versions of Safedisc protection could be backed up.


6. DAE Tests

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 6

DAE Tests

- Pressed and CDR AudioCD results

The DVDR1640P supports up to 40X CAV DAE speed. The following results were reported when using Exact Audio Copy.

The DVDR1640P had the fastest performance. Pioneer follows while TDK was the slowest.

- Advanced DAE Quality

The DVDR1640P achieved a perfect quality score of 100 in Nero's CD Speed Advanced DAE test. The drive can read Leadin data, CD Text and Subchannel data, but cannot read Leadout data. The reported average speed was 28.11X.

- Ripping 90mins AudioCDs

- Ripping 99mins AudioCDs

The drive can also read and rip 99min Audio CDs without any problems. The 90min reported a read error.


7. Protected AudioCDs

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 7

Protected AudioCDs

For the test procedure we used three audio discs with different audio copy protections. The ripping process on all protected Audio discs was carried out with Exact Audio Copy v0.9beta5.

The tested protected Audio discs were:

The Cactus Data Shield 200, contains artificial errors that are not easily bypassed by the reader, while the Key2Audio contains a second session, causing problems for readers when trying to read the Table Of Contents (TOC).

The tested tasks are:

The DVDR1640P DL recognized up to the 12th Audio track of CDS200 disc,

and with the "Retrieve Native TOC" option removed, it recognized the 13th Data track.

The test results are shown in the following table:

Key2Audio
CDS200
Philips DVDR1640P DL
Ripping process completed, EAC reports no problems, Read&Test CRC comparison successful for all tracks
Ripping process completed, EAC reports no problems, Read&Test CRC comparison successful for all tracks

The Philips DVDR1640P DL managed to playback/rip both the Key2Audio and CDS200 protected audio discs. The drive rips 100% accurately, and EAC did not report timing problems and at the same time, Read&Test CRC check comparison was the same for all corresponding tracks.

This is a "special" CDS200 build, since it doesn't contain any artificial errors during the ripping process. Most problems occur when trying to write the ripped wav files, since the produced CD-R disc contains C2 and CU errors! This "problem" is rumored to be connected to specific chipset weaknesses.

We ripped the disc contents with EAC and burned the wav file produced from the Cactus Data Shield 200.0.4 - 3.0 build 16a disc with the latest Nero version as AudioCD+CD-Text. The burned media was checked for C1/C2 errors and for BETA/Jitter errors with PlexTools software using Plextor PX-712A (firmware v1.05).

CDS 200.0.4 - 3.0 build 16a
Philips DVDR1640P DL
Reading performed without any errors, writing produces C2 spikes.

The C1/C2 error graphs indicate that the drive produced a 100% error free disc. After extracting all wav files with the Plextor PX-712A and PlexTools DAE Error Correction 5th Level enabled, no errors were reported. The drive can backup the disc accurately:


8. CD Recording Tests

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 8

CD Recording Tests

- CD-R Format

The drive supports 8X, 12X, 16X, 24X, 32X and 40X (CAV) writing speeds.

The drive reached the 40.94X at the end of the test, according to Nero CDSpeed. The reported average writing speed was 30.35X. Click on the image below for details.

- CD-R Recording Times

For the burning tests, we created an 80min data compilation through Nero Burning Rom and recorded the data on a 700MB disc. The DVDR1640P finished the task in 3:01 minutes when writing at 40X. The TDK 1616N was the faster due to its 48X speed while the Pioneer DVR-108 cannot really compete due to the lower recording speed (32X).

The writing performance was stable no matter what the inserted media brand, as our tests showed. Below is a chart listing the corresponding recording times for various media.

- Other features

The DVDR1640P supports overburning, writing up to 99min. and can read/write CD-Text.

- CD-RW Format

The DVDR1640P supports 16X CLV, 24X P-CAV rewriting speeds with Ultra Speed Rewritable Media (US-RW). The drive also writes at 4X/10X CLV with HS-RW discs, while NS (1~4X) CD-RW media is not supported. Below you can see the Nero CD-DVD Speed writing simulation test with blank 24x US-RW media from Mitsubishi Chemicals. The average writing speed was 23.40X!

We also used Nero Burning Rom in order to burn a 24X US-RW data disc from Mitsubishi Chemicals. The data compilation we burned had a size of 651 MB and the duration of the recording process was 3:41 minutes.

- CD-RW Mount Rainier Tests

The Philips DVDR1640P DL does not support the Mount Rainier format.


9. Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 9

Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests

On this page we present the 3T Pit & Land Jitter graphs when using various media burned at the 40X CAV writing speed.

- 3T Pit results

The drive's performance was good with most media used, even if no media managed to stay below the 35nsec Redbook limit. The only media that had very high 3T Pit jitter values was Intenso.

- 3T Land results

Again, the worst performance came with Intenso media, while with MMore media, we again had very low values.

On the following page we check the C1 and C2 error rates of the same discs, to come up with more specific conclusions.


10. Writing Quality Tests - C1 / C2 Error Measurements

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 10

Writing Quality Tests - C1 / C2 Error Measurements

We measured the C1 / C2 error rate of the recorded discs we burned at the maximum of 40X supported writing speed. The software used was PleXTools Professional v2.16, and particularly the built-in Q-Check utility. The reader was the Plextor PX-712A (firmware v1.05).

BenQ 80min 52X @ 40X

Traxdata 80min 52X @ 40X

SKC 80min 52X @ 40X

Taiyo Yuden 80min 48X @ 40X

Intenso 80min 48X @ 40X

Waitec 80min 52X @ 40X

MMore 80min 52X @ 40X

- Summary

The DVDR1640P drive produced some C2 errors with specific CD-R media. However, overall we can say that the CD writing quality was good.

- Appendix

Media Label
ID Code
Manufacturer Name
Lead Out TIme
BenQ 52X
97m22s67f
Daxon.
79m59s74f
Traxdata 52X
97m15s17f
Ritek
79:59.70
SKC 52X
97m26s26f
SKC Co., Ltd.
79m59s73f
TY 48X
97m24s 1f
Taiyo Yuden
79m59s72f
Intenso 48X
97m32s19f
Prodisc
79m59s71f
Waitec 52X
97m28s26f
Multi Media Masters & Machinery SA
79m59s74f
MMore 52X
97m17s 6f
Moser Baer India, Ltd.
79:59.74

11. DVD Recording Tests

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 11

DVD Recording Tests

- Writing Performance

The maximum supported speed for DVD+R is 16X (6X~16X CAV), while for DVD-R is 8X (P-CAV), 4X CLV for DVD±RW and 2.4X for DVD+R DL media. The current competition offers 16X for both DVD+ and DVD-R writing speeds and also higher DVD+R DL writing speeds, 4X.

Nero Burning Rom reported speeds are shown below.

By using Nero CD-DVD Speed's "create disc" function, we are able to see the 8X and 16X recording technology being used by the DVDR1640P recorder. For the following graphs, we used Philips' media.

  • 16X DVD+R Single Layer writing

The drive completed successful DVD+R writing at 16X in 5:49mins. It started writing at 5.07X, reached a maximum writing speed of 16.02X and reported an average speed of 11.49X.

With DVD+R at 8X, the drive needed 8:27mins to complete the task. It started at 4.27X and reached the maximum speed of 7.99X reporting an average speed of 7.70X.

The writing simulation started at 6.68X and finished at 7.99X with an average speed of 7.92X. The task finished after 8:07 minutes.

Below is a simulation graph with DVD-R media at 16X. As we mentioned in the introduction, the drive arrived in our labs with firmware revision P2.1. With this firmware, the drive supported up to 16X for the minus format. After the release of the revision P2.2, the speed was lowered to 8X for higher writing reliability.

The following table contains some 16X recorders, reporting the average writing speeds as measured by Nero CDDVDSpeed, showing that the Philips DVDR1640P is the second fastest 16X recorder:

Drive
Writing Strategy
Writing Speed
Average
Writing Speed
TDK 1616N
CAV
16X
11.69X
Philips DVDR1640P
CAV
16X
11.52X
ASUS DRW-1604P
Z-CLV
16X
10.11X
Pioneer DVR-108A
Z-CLV
16X
10.03X

- Supported media list/Burning Tests

We burned 4315MB of data on various DVD±R, DVD±RW media. We used the maximum allowed writing speed for each disc. With the current firmware (P2.2), many media are allowed to write at 16X but only for the DVD+R format, since with the minus format they are restricted to 8X. Future firmware releases are expected to changes this.

- Writing Time Results

Several Nero screenshots are placed below:

The following table illustrates more supported media for 16X speed, most of them haven't yet been released to the public ;-)

Below are two Nero screenshots for the Philips DVDR1640P:

- Comparison with other drives

The Philips DVDR1640P is the fastest writer at 16X for both ±R formats as the test results showed. The ASUS and Pioneer drives cannot compete, due to their Z-CLV implementation.

With DVD re-writable media, the Pioneer and ASUS burners are faster with -RW media but slower with +RW.

- DVD Overburning Test

Using Nero CD-DVD Speed, we tested if the Philips DVDR1640P DL could overburn using DVD±R media. Unfortunately, the drive does not support overburning with DVD±R media.

- DVD+MRW Tests

The drive doesn't support the Mount Rainier feature.


12. PlexTools Scans - Page 1

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 12

PlexTools Scans - Page 1

In order to test the writing quality and readability of the burned media, we used two readers in combination with two software packages:

In general, a "perfect" disc should have a smooth reading curve, very low PIE/POE and zero (0) POF error rates. Most times, even when a disc has very low PIE/POE error rates, the reading curve may not be smooth with dropoffs. Due to the fact that we oversped the reading capabilities of the LiteON SOHD-167T, such drops are expected, especially near the outer area of the disc.

The measurements below should be taken not as the absolute criteria of the burning quality, but as an indication level.

16X DVD+R Writing Speed

- Summary

The writing quality at 16X was generaly good, according to Plextools. Only Taiyo Yuden media reported reading errors and the process had to be canceled.


13. PlexTools Scans - Page 2

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 13

PlexTools Scans - Page 2

In order to test the writing quality and readability of the burned media, we used two readers in combination with two software packages:

In general, a "perfect" disc should have a smooth reading curve, very low PIE/POE and zero (0) POF error rates. Most times, even when a disc has very low PIE/POE error rates, the reading curve may not be smooth with dropoffs. Due to the fact that we oversped the reading capabilities of the LiteON SOHD-167T, such drops are expected, especially near the outer area of the disc.

The measurements below should be taken not as the absolute criteria of the burning quality, but as an indication level.

8X DVD+R Writing Speed

- Summary

Very good performance with all tested media. Even in the case of CMC, the PIE levels were not too high.


14. PlexTools Scans - Page 3

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 14

PlexTools Scans - Page 3

In order to test the writing quality and readability of the burned media, we used two readers in combination with two software packages:

In general, a "perfect" disc should have a smooth reading curve, very low PIE/POE and zero (0) POF error rates. Most times, even when a disc has very low PIE/POE error rates, the reading curve may not be smooth with dropoffs. Due to the fact that we oversped the reading capabilities of the LiteON SOHD-167T, such drops are expected, especially near the outer area of the disc.

The measurements below should be taken not as the absolute criteria of the burning quality, but as an indication level.

8X/4X DVD-R Writing Speed

- Summary

The writing quality with the minus format is dependent on the inserted media. Half the media had excellent quality while the other had increased PIE levels. In the case of Intenso, both tests reported errors.


15. PlexTools Scans - Page 4

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 15

PlexTools Scans - Page 4

In order to test the writing quality and readability of the burned media, we used two readers in combination with two software packages:

In general, a "perfect" disc should have a smooth reading curve, very low PIE/POE and zero (0) POF error rates. Most times, even when a disc has very low PIE/POE error rates, the reading curve may not be smooth with dropoffs. Due to the fact that we oversped the reading capabilities of the LiteON SOHD-167T, such drops are expected, especially near the outer area of the disc.

The measurements below should be taken not as the absolute criteria of the burning quality, but as an indication level.

4X DVD+RW Writing Speed

The LiteON 811S failed to recognize the two burned 4X DVD-RW media, whereas the LiteON 167T DVD-ROM didn't, so we don't know if the problem is with the reader or the burned discs...

4X DVD-RW Writing Speed

- Summary

Here we have to say that the behaviour with DVD-RW media needs improvement. Both tested media weren't playable with Plextools while CDSpeed reported an error in one case. Things are different with DVD+RW media. The writing quality is good but we would like not to see the error in MCC's case. As can been seen in the Plextools graph, the task froze just before the end...


16. DVD+R DL - Page 1

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 16

DVD+R DL - Page 1

The DVDR1640P is capable of writing Double Layer discs, nearly doubling the capacity that can be stored on one disc. For our tests, we used the only two available DVD+R DL media from Verbatim and TraxData.

According to Philips, the DL media support list with firmware P2.2 is:

- Writing Tests

We burned two DVD+R DL discs with DVD-Video content. The source disc was "Gladiator Movie - Special Edition" disc1 with a total size of 6.86GB. First, we transferred the movie to the hard disc with DVD Decrypter as ISO format (single file). Afterwards, we used CopyToDVD v3.0.0.26. After choosing the "GLADIATOR.ISO" image we selected the Philips DVDR1640P burner.

After pressing "OK", the burning procedure started...

The writing process was finished after 39:57 minutes. The average speed was 2.25X as reported by CopyToDVD software. The recorded disc had DVD-ROM format booktype setting.

The drive didn't have any problems writing the Ritek DL media, while the burning time was 8secs longer:

For comparison reasons, we post DL burning results for other writers, with the same disc content and same recording software:
Drive
Time (mins)
NEC 2510A
37:17
BenQ DW1600A DL
40:16
BenQ DW830A
39:14
LiteON SOHW-832S DVD+R DL BookType
38:33
LiteON SOHW-832S DVD-ROM BookType
38:36
SONY DRU-700A

38:39

LG GSA-4120B
38:12
ASUS DRW-1604P (4X)
23:10
ASUS DRW-1604P (2.4X)
38:08
Pioneer DVR-108A (4X)
23:10
Pioneer DVR-108A (2.4X)

38:23

Philips DVDR1640P
39:47

As was expected, the ASUS and Pioneer drives have much lower recording times, since they support the 4X DL writing speed.


17. DVD+R DL - Page 2

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 17

DVD+R DL - Page 2

- Writing Quality

Verbatim 2.4X DVD+R Double Layer Media

TraxData 2.4X DVD+R9 Double Layer Media

- Compatibility

The Philips DVDR1640P will burn directly all DVD+R9 projects with DVD-ROM booktype, ensuring you get maximum compatibility.

We confirm that both media were playable in all of our DVD standalone players from Philips, Pioneer and NeuNeo.


18. DVDR1640P vs. SA300 - Page 1

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 18

DVDR1640P vs. SA300 - Page 1

The Philips DVDR1640P can report PI and Jitter values from burned DVD recordable/re-writable media. What's rather disappointing is that the drive cannot read the media at high speeds, since even at the 8X reading speed setting, the real speed is around 0.5~1.3X. The scanning interval also is not 1ECC but 8ECC, dropping the accuracy of the drive, since the sample count is low.

Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific, tested Philips DVDR1640P DL drive. Using other DVDR1640P DL drives can produce totally different results. Be aware!

#1st Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed

The PI and Jitter error rate trend lines follow that of the SA300 scans, which is very encouraging. However, we have to see how the drive performs with the other test media.


19. DVDR1640P vs. SA300 - Page 2

BenQ DW1600A DL Recorder - Page 19

DVDR1640P vs. SA300 - Page 2

The Philips DVDR1640P can report PI and Jitter values from burned DVD recordable/re-writable media. What's rather disappointing is that the drive cannot read the media at high speeds, since even at the 8X reading speed, the real speed is around 0.5~1.3X. The scanning interval also is not 1ECC but 8ECC, dropping the accuracy of the drive, since the sample count is low.

Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested Philips DVDR1640P DL drive. Using other DVDR1640P DL drives can produce totally different results. Be aware!

#2nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed

In this case, the reported PI errors from the Philips DVDR1640P are totally different in comparison to the CATS scan. The jitter levels are also different.


20. DVDR1640P vs. SA300 - Page 3

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 20

DVDR1640P vs. SA300 - Page 3

The Philips DVDR1640P can report PI and Jitter values from burned DVD recordable/re-writable media. What's rather disappointing is that the drive cannot read the media at high speeds, since even at 8X reading speed, the real speed is around 0.5~1.3X. The scanning interval is also not 1ECC but 8ECC, dropping the accuracy of the drive, since the sample count is low.

Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested Philips DVDR1640P DL drive. Using other DVDR1640P DL drives can produce totally different results. Be aware!

#3nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed

The DVDR1640P read the disc at an extremely low speed of 0.3~0.5X. The reported PI error rates are very low in both graphs, indicating a perfect disc. The reported DC Jitter from the drive is not too close to the SA300.


21. DVDR1640P vs. SA300 - Page 4

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 21

DVDR1640P vs. SA300 - Page 4

The Philips DVDR1640P can report PI and Jitter values from burned DVD recordable/re-writable media. What's rather disappointing is that the drive cannot read the media at high speeds, since even at 8X reading speed, the real speed is around 0.5~1.3X. The scanning interval is also not 1ECC but 8ECC, dropping the accuracy of the drive, since the sample count is low.

Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested Philips DVDR1640P DL drive. Using other DVDR1640P DL drives can produce totally different results. Be aware!

#4nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed

The PIF error rates are low enough, just as in the CATS scan, even though the values are not at the same levels. The reported Jitter tends to increase in Layer 1, which is also reported with the CATS scan. The reading speed is low, 0.5~1.5X, so it will take much time to scan a disc, not reccomended for most users...


22. Booktype BitSetting

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 22

Booktype BitSetting

The Philips DVDR1640P supports booktype management. We have to say that the drive is by default set to DVD-ROM for all the plus format media. There are several utilities that you can use to change the booktype setting.

For example, the Book Type Management from BenQ can be easily used to change the booktype of your drive.


23. Conclusion

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 23

Conclusion

The Philisp DVDR1640P generally showed good performance in our tests. As a CD reader, it is fast with low seek times and better than average error correction. DVD reading capabilities are also good, with strongest being error correction and high transfer rate while ripping pressed DVD DL media. However, the reading speed with recordable media could be higher.

The drive is not designed for CD games backup, and for this reason it could not produce working backups of protected games. This, off course, was not an obstacle for the drive, being fast with ripping PSX and SecuROM protected test games. On the other hand, SafeDisk protection caused the drive to read for over 43 minutes.

According to our DAE test, the drive was fast and achieved a perfect quality score of 100 in Nero's CD Speed Advanced DAE test. Our 99min test audio disc was read successfully while the 90min was not.

The drive might not be good against CD games protection but it is rather good with AudioCD protections. All of our test discs were played and ripped successfully.

The Philips drive is also a good CD recorder. Even at 40X, jitter levels are not all that high in most cases. Bad performance with the one media brand should not stain the overall picture which was good.

The DVD writing qualitiy is rather good especially with the plus format. With the minus, it is also good but it seems that it depends more on the inserted media. We believe that a future firmware will improve the performance with the minus format as it should also do with the rewritable media, agian mostly for the minus format.

The DVDR1640P is set by default to DVD-ROM booktype for all plus format media. This makes the media more compatible and in the case of Double Layer media in combination with the good writng quality, constitutes one of the main advatages of the drive.

The drive is also capable of quality scans, however the results are not too good and the reading speed is extremely slow, 0.3X.

- The Good

- The Bad

- Like To be fixed

 

 


24. Firmware P3.2 update - Page 1

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 24

Firmware Update P3.2 - Page 1

After only a short period after the release of this review, Philips released several firmware revisions which change the drive's features. Now, the drive is capable of 16X DVD-R and 4X DVD+R DL recording.

Changes from firmware P2.5 to P3.0
- Improved write speed on DVD+R Double Layer discs from 2,4x to 4x.
- Improved write speed on DVD -R up to 16x (on selected media).
Changes from firmware P3.0 to P3.2
- Improved write quality on DVD+R Double Layer discs

We used a Mitsubishi Chemicals DVD-R disc, certified for 16X, in order to confirm the drive's ability. The drive started the simulation at 6.69X and finished at 15.98X, reporting an average writing speed of 11.95X.


25. Firmware P3.2 update - Page 2

Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 25

Firmware Update P3.2 - Page 2

- Summary

In all cases the writing quality is very good, if not excellent.



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