1. Package - Installation
BTC
DRW1108IM DVD±RW
recorder -
Page 1
BTC
launches
its new 8x DVD dual format optical disc drive. It
is compatible with all current formats, including DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW
media and CDs.
- Features
The drive features 8x DVD+/-R writing, 4x DVD+/-RW rewriting, 40x
CD-R writing, 24x CD-RW rewriting, 40x CD-ROM reading, 32x CD-RW reading and
12x DVD-ROM reading. Buffer underrun protection is also supported.
- Specifications
Host/Interface |
E-IDE/ATAPI, MMC compliant |
Disc Data Capacity |
CD: 74min/650MB,
80min/700MB
DVD: 4.7GB |
Disc Data Capacity
|
CD: 74min/650MB, 80min/700MB
DVD: 4.7GB |
Supported Media for Writing
|
DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW, CD-R, CD-RW
|
Writing Format
|
DVD: DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW, DVD-ROM,
DVD-Video
CD: CD-DA, CD-ROM,
CD-ROM XA, CD-Extra, CD-I, Mixed-Mode CD, Video CD, Photo CD, CD-TEXT,
Bootable CD, CD-R,
CD-RW, Multi-Session |
Writing Methods |
Track at Once, Disc at Once, Session at Once, Multi-Session,
Packet Writing (Variable & Fixed), Multi-track Reservation
|
Writing Speed |
DVD+/-R: 2x, 4x, 6x, 8x
DVD+/-RW: 1x, 2x, 4x
CD-R: 16x, 24x, 32x, 40x
CD-RW: 4x, 10x, 16x, 24x
|
Reading Speed |
DVD+/-R max: 8x
DVD+/-RW max: 6x
DVD-ROM max: 12x
CD-R
max: 40x
CD-RW max: 32x
CD-ROM max: 40x
|
Data Transfer Rate |
Max. 33MB/sec |
Access time |
DVD: 160ms (12x) CD: 130ms
(40x) |
Buffer memory |
2 MB with Buffer Underrun Protection |
Disc Loading |
Tray loader, dust sealed |
Mounting Method |
Horizontal |
Audio output |
Digital and Analogue output |
Weight |
1.0kg |
Dimensions (HxWxD) |
41.8mm x 145.8mm
x 193.3mm |
The drive uses a 2MB buffer memory store and supports RAW DAO 96 writing
(CD). The drive does not support Mount Rainier writing feature or CD+G
reading feature.
The drive uses the RPC II region control, allowing a user to change
the drive's region at most 5 times. For our tests, we set the region
code to 2 (Europe) and that's the reason for the 4 times left in the screenshot
above.
- The drive
The
european retail package includes a leaflet which contains information
about the LiveUpdate Program and a disc support list, a software CD with
NERO OEM Suite
and a CD with the CyberLink Multimedia Pack including PowerDVD, Power Producer
and MediaShow. Included also are an internal
analogue audio cable
as well
as the mounting screws.
The drive's front panel's color is white.
On the tray loader at
left we can see the DVD dual logo and a 8x sign at the right. Below
from left to right we can also see the power led, DVD R/RW logo, RW DVD+ReWritable
logo, ultra Speed
Compact disc Rewritable
logo the emergency eject hole and the eject
button.
On the rear panel you can find the analogue and digital audio outputs (SPDIF),
the IDE connector
and the power input.
Removing the screws and opening the drive's cover voids the drive's warranty.
For reference reasons, we post the following pictures. Click on the photos
for
an enlarged view.
The drives PCB and chipset are manufactured by Toshiba.
The main chipset is manufactured by Mediatek.
- Installation
The device was connected to our test PC and was identified
as "DVDRW IDE1108" under
WinXP. All tests were done with firmware revision B118.
The following pages include test
results for the BTC drive, in comparison with the Toshiba SD-R5272 and the
TDK 880N,
since both have about the same specifications as the Toshiba.
2. Data CD Reading Tests
BTC DRW1108IM DVD±RW recorder - Page 2
Data CD Reading Tests
- Pressed CD results (Click for
CDSpeed results)
In the graph above, we can see that the drive was the fastest, although
only slightly, among the three and it managed to confirm the manufacturer's
specifications.
The reported seek times for the BTC drive are good for all modes.
- CD-R results (Click for
CDSpeed results)
We made a copy of the previous, pressed CD in order to test the drive's
behavior with CD-R media. As with the previous test, the BTC and the other
two drives exhibit similar results.
The results with pressed CD are similar to those with the pressed
CD seek times.
- ReWritable Media (Click for
CDSpeed results)
For the reading test
we used 24x Ultra Speed rewritable media from Mitsubishi Chemicals.
3. CD Error Correction Tests
BTC
DRW1108IM DVD±RW
recorder - Page 3
Error Correction Tests
In the following tests we check the drive's behavior when reading
scratched / defective audio discs. The test discs used were the ABEX series
from ALMEDIO.
- ABEX TCD-721R
Errors
total
|
Num:
1327724
|
Errors
(Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num: 58521 |
Avg:
-73.0 dB(A) |
Max:
-35.0 dB(A) |
Error
Muting Samples
|
Num: 4183 |
Avg:
1.0 Samples |
Max:
11 Samples |
Skips
Samples
|
Num: 0 |
Avg:
0.0 Samples |
Max:
0 Samples |
Total
Test Result |
76.4
points (out of 100.0 maximum) |
The performance with this disc is good. The total error
count is about average while the maximum loudness error level is quite good
and there were no skipped samples. The total score is very good.
- ABEX TCD-726
Errors total
|
Num:
25523587
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num: 119814 |
Avg:
0 dB(A) |
Max:
-5.7 dB(A) |
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 54509 |
Avg:
110.9 Samples |
Max:
3584 Samples |
Skips Samples
|
Num: 2 |
Avg:
1596 Samples |
Max:
1596 Samples |
Total Test Result
|
53.4
points (out of 100.0 maximum) |
The Abex TCD-726 test disc is a usually a simple case for error correction.
The BTC drive however, performed poorly. The total
error
count is high, while there are two skipped samples and
many muted samples. The total score of 53.4 out of 100 is not acceptable.
- 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
more difficult tests. These tracks are referred to as Check Level-1 through
Check Level-5.
The
tracks are being reproduced through a software multimedia player (i.e.
Windows Media Player). Each level is considered as passed, if the tone
is smooth, continuous without interruptions, skipping or looping. The higher
the Check Level passed, the more reliable the sound reproduction
of the tested drive.
Error Level
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
BTC DRW 1108IM
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
3/5
|
0/5
|
The drive performed well. It managed to playback 5 out of attempts for three
of the five levels. The fourth level sounded
good
for three
of the five attempts and the fifth level did not play well at all.
The attempt can be considered slightly better than average as most drives manage
to play up to the fourth level, with some exceptions at last but fail all attempts
with the fifth level, which is difficult for the majority of the drives.
- Summary
Test Disc
|
Reading Speed
|
Score
|
ABEX TCD-721R
|
Max
|
76.4
|
ABEX TCD-726
|
53.4
|
Average Score
|
64.9
|
The final average score for the drive is quite low, and this is due to
its poor showing with the ABEX TCD-726 disc where the drive scored 53.4, where
most other drives manage close to 100.
4. DVD reading tests
BTC
DRW1108IM DVD±RW
recorder - Page 4
DVD reading tests
- Single Layer DVD-ROM (Click
for CDSpeed results)
Again, as was the case with CD media, the BTC drive's reading speed is very
close to that of the other two drives.
The seek times are very good.
- Dual Layer PTP DVD-ROM (Click for
CDSpeed results)
The two layers of a PTP DVD-ROM disc are read sequentially with the
drive starting the read process from the inner tracks on the disc, which is
the beginning
of each layer,
and progressing outwards towards to the outer tracks for each layer.
The DVD dual layer speed results reach a high level.
The seek times continue to impress.
- Dual Layer OTP DVD-ROM
The
first layer of an OTP dual layer DVD-ROM is read exactly the same way as the
first layer of the PTP disc we tested previously. The difference here is the
reading strategy
of the disc's second layer. The beginning of the second layer is located
in the outer part of the disc, so the drive starts reading from the outer tracks
inwards towards the inner tracks of the disc.
As can been seen from the following screenshot, the OTP dual layer DVD
test disc had the same speed as the PTP. The seek times are at about the
same
levels.
- DVD Ripping Tests
We measured the DVD-Video ripping speed of the BTC drive using the
latest version of DVD Decrypter. The DVD Video title is the "Matrix" pressed
DVD-Video.
Here, the BTC drive was the fastest. The reported
8872 kb/s is a good transfer rate.
- DVD Recordable / Rewritable reading Tests
The chart below shows the Nero CDSpeed average reading speed results with
the following media:
The BTC drive was only marginally faster than the TDK with DVD+/-R media,
and was the slowest with DVD+/-RW media. The best speeds here came from the
Toshiba drive.
5. DVD Error Correction Tests
BTC
DRW1108IM DVD±RW
recorder - Page 5
DVD Error Correction
Tests
In the following
tests we examined the DVD reading capabilities of BTC drive
with scratched / defective DVD media. For the tests we used CDVD
Benchmark and Nero CDSpeed. The testing media
referred, come
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 drive read the contents of the 821 test disc without reporting any read
errors. Whatsmore, the resultant graph is very clean, without any fluctuations.
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 of the TDR-821, with
the difference that there are no scratches on the surface but defective areas
ranging in dimensions from 0.5 to 1.1 mm. There are also fingerprints with
height
between
65 and
75 micrometers.
Again, the drive managed to read the defective areas on
the disc without problems.
- 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.
Here too, the disc was read without any reading errors.
ABEX TDR-845
This disc is a single sided, dual layer DVD-ROM disc with capacity of 8.5GB.
The only difference between the TDR-845 and the TDR-841 is that the first includes
both defective areas and fingerprints. The dimensions of the defective areas
range from 0.5 to 1.1 mm and the fingerprints have height from 65
to 75 microns (micrometers).
The test finished successfully without reporting any errors.
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 testing pictures and signals for
DVD sound files. The current TDV-541 also checks the error correcting
capabilities
of the drive and includes scratches sized from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.
The reading
speed of the drive decreased early on in the first layer. The test
ended successfully without read errors.
ABEX TDV-545
The
TDV-545 disc is based on the TDV-540 series. It is a single sided, dual layer
Video/S-2 disc with a capacity of 8.5GB. The TDV-545 includes artificial
black dots on the disc's surface, sized from 0.4 to 1.0 mm. It also has 65
- 75 micrometer high fingerprints.
This time no errors or speed drops were reported.
This disc was not a problem for the BTC drive.
6. Protected Disc Tests
BTC
DRW1108IM DVD±RW
recorder - Page 6
Protected Disc
Tests
- Reading Tests
To create an image of the various protected titles onto a hard disk, we
used Alcohol v.1.9.2.1705 software and the appropriate settings, depending
on the protection type of the inserted discs. Below, the capabilities
of the BTC drive are summarized, according to CloneCD
software. As can be seen, the drive supports writing of CD+G under RAW DAO:
The game titles we used for each protection scheme are given in the
table below:
Game Title
|
Protection Scheme
|
PSX "NBA Jam Extreme"
|
Lybcrypt
|
Serious Sam The Second Encounter v1.07
|
SafeDisc v.2.60.052
|
VRally II
|
SecuROM v.2
|
PSX Pressed Media
SafeDisc v.2
SecuROM v.2
BTC managed to rip the contents of all test discs successfully. The most
consistent ripping came from the Toshiba drive while the BTC and TDK drives
had wide ranges in speed being especially slow with SafeDisc.
- Writing Tests
The BTC supports the DAO-RAW writing mode.
For checking the drive's EFM correction status, we used 3 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 CloneCD. 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 |
Game Title |
SD2 Build |
Settings |
Bypass EFM error On |
Bypass EFM error Off |
BTC DRW 1108IM |
Max Payne |
v2.51.020 |
Yes |
Yes |
Serious Sam - The Second Encounter
v1.07
|
v.2.60.052 |
Yes |
Yes |
The Sims Unleashed |
v.2.8 |
Yes |
Yes |
The Sims Superstar
|
v2.9
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Fifa 2004 |
v3.1 |
Yes |
Yes |
Excellent results. The drive managed to make working backups of all the
game titles we tried, either with "Bypass EFM error" on or off. It is extremely
rare for a drive to present this level of success with backups of game protection
schemes.
7. DAE Tests
BTC
DRW1108IM DVD±RW
recorder - Page 7
DAE Tests
- Pressed and CDR AudioCD results
The BTC uses 42x CAV reading strategy for CD-DA.
Below you can see the results from the CDSpeed transfer rate test
with a pressed audio CD:
According
to Nero CDSpeed, the average reading speed was 32.08x, while at the end
of the reading process it reached a maximum speed of 42.38x. The seek
times are also
good.
We ripped the contents of the same audio disc to our hard disk, using the
CDDAE software. The average ripping speed (burst mode) of
30x, is high.
The same pressed audio disc was copied onto a CD-R and was
read again with CDspeed.
Again,
the BTC returned a high extraction speed.
- Advanced DAE Quality
In the Nero CD Speed Advanced DAE test, the BTC drive returned
an average speed of 23.25x, which is good performance, and a quality
score
of 99.9. According to CDSpeed the drive
can read Cd Text and Subchannel Data but this is not the case for Leadin and
Leadout.
- Support of 90/99mins AudioCDs
The BTC drive managed to playback a full 90min audio CD without
problems, but
didn`t managed to play the 99min test discs, having reading
problems with all tracks.
- Reading/Ripping Protected AudioCDs
For the test procedure we used two audio discs with different
audio protection schemes. We performed the tests for both recognition and
ripping to the hard disk. The software used was Exact Audio Copy.
* Pressed Audio disc protected by Nec Key2Audio (Celine
Dion - New Day
Has Come)
* Pressed Audio disc protected by Cactus Data Shield 200 (Natalie
Imbruglia - White Lilies Island)
|
Key2Audio |
CDS200 |
EAC |
BTC DRW1108IM
|
OK
|
Recognize the disc but cannot rip
or play the contents*
|
TDK 880N
|
OK
|
OK
|
Toshiba SD-R 5272
|
OK
|
Recognize the disc but cannot rip
or play the contents
|
The BTC drive played back successfully only the Key2AudioCD but failed with
the Cactus Shield Audio protected disc.
*Download firmware vB028 which
fixed the problem
8. CD Recording Tests
BTC
DRW1108IM DVD±RW
recorder - Page 8
CD Recording Tests
- CD-R Writing Tests
The BTC drive supports the 16x, 24x, 32x, 40x writing speeds.
Below you can see the CDSpeed writing simulation graph with Taiyo Yuden
48x CD-R
media.
The
simulation test under Nero CD Speed, confirmed the manufacturer's specifications
of 40x CAV recording. The average speed was 21.59x.
- Recording Times
We created an 80min data compilation with Nero Burning
Rom and recorded it on a 700MB disc. The BTC needed 3:23 to conclude the
burning procedure which was the fastest time among the three drives.
Below we present the best writing times for Toshiba drive at 16x,
24x, 32x, 40x with a Taiyo Yuden media.
In the following graph you can see the recording times with
various media brands.
- CD-RW Writing Tests
The BTC supports 24x P-CAV maximum rewriting speed
with Ultra Speed rewritable media. Below
you can see the results from the CDSpeed writing simulation test with blank
24x US-RW media from Mitsubishi Chemicals.
The
test once again confirmed the drive's specifications for 24x rewriting. The average
speed at the end of the test was 23.43x.
We also used Nero Burning Rom software to burn a 24x US-RW data media from
Mitsubishi Chemicals. The data compilation we burned onto the disc, had
a size of 651 MB.
The duration of the recording process was 3:43 minutes.
Again, the BTC drive was the fastest among the other drives, logical due to the
40x supported maximum writing CD speed.
- Packet Writing Tests
We used InCD and Mitsubishi Chemicals 24x US-RW media for all Packet Writing
tests. The formatted disc had
530mbs of free space. We copied a 403 MB file (412.822 KB) from Hard Disk
(on the same PC as the recorder) to the formatted RW media through Windows
explorer (drag and drop).
Operation
|
Duration
|
Average speed
|
Read
|
2:24 min
|
19.1X
|
Write
|
2:25 min
|
18.9X
|
- Other features
Overburning
|
YesUp to 96min
|
CD text reading/writing
|
Yes
|
After the latest firmware B218 the drive is capable for overburning up to
96min.
9. 3T Jitter Tests - Page 1
BTC
DRW1108IM DVD±RW
recorder - Page 9
Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests
On an 80min 48X CD-R disc from Taiyo Yuden we burned the same AudioCD
project at 16x, 24x, 32x and 40x. The 3T
Pit & Land Jitter graphs are presented here.
- 3T Pit results
As we can easily conclude from the graphs above and below, the drive gives
acceptable low jitter values at 16x and 24x speeds, while at 40x the level
is well above the 35ns Red Book limit.
The average
3T Pit Jitter values for all recording speeds are illustrated in the following
table.
The average Pit jitter for recording speeds of 16x and 24x are
good.
- 3T Land results
The jitter land levels illustrated in the graph above, are not encouraging.
Only at 16x does the BTC drive offer acceptable quality recording.
Recording Speed
|
Average 3T Pit Jitter (ns)
|
Average 3T Land Jitter (ns)
|
> 35ns
|
Max 3T jitter values (ns)
|
16X
|
30.51 |
29.76
|
No |
35 Pit, 34 Land
|
24x |
33.49 |
34.83 |
No |
36 Pit, 38 Land |
32X
|
38.20 |
36.88
|
Yes |
41 Pit, 39 Land
|
40X
|
45.10 |
42.59
|
Yes |
59 Pit, 51 Land
|
- Summary
The BTC is a good quality CD recorder at 16x and 24x speeds. At 32x and
40x, the levels were simply too high to be considered even as satisfactory.
In the following page we test the drive's writing quality with other media
brands.
10. 3T Jitter Tests - Page 2
BTC
DRW1108IM DVD±RW
recorder - Page 10
Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests
The same Nero compilation used in the previous jitter tests was used once
again, this time with media from different brands. The recording speed was
the maximum
in all cases. The following graphs indicate the 3T Pit & Land Jitter results.
- 3T Pit results
According to the results we took from the jitter measurements, the BTC performed
well with some of the media brands we used. Ritek and MAM
prove to be very good combinations with the BTC recorder, whereas Maxell, CMC
and Hi-Space media returned high jitter results.
The average 3T Jitter values for all manufacturers discs are illustrated in
the following graph.
- 3T Land results
The land jitter values were almost at the same levels as with
3T pit jitter, where once again only MAM and Ritek media produced acceptable
results.
Recording Speed
|
Average 3T Pit Jitter (ns)
|
Average 3T Land Jitter (ns)
|
> 35ns
|
Max 3T jitter values (ns)
|
Maxell 48x |
43.80 |
42.76 |
Yes |
56 Pit, 48 Land |
Hi-Space 48x |
35.76 |
36.02 |
Yes |
50 Pit, 49 Land |
CMC 48x |
37.46 |
40.22 |
Yes |
41 Pit, 46 Land |
Mam 52x |
30.63 |
28.49 |
No |
36 Pit, 33 Land |
Ritek 48x |
29.51 |
27.07 |
No |
35 Pit, 30 Land |
- Summary
The drive performed poorly with various cd media.
While MAM and Ritek media had very good values, all the other brands were way
too high.
On the following page we check the C1 and C2 error rates for the same discs.
11. C1 / C2 Error Measurements
BTC
DRW1108IM DVD±RW
recorder - Page 11
Writing Quality
Tests - C1 / C2 / CU Error Measurements
The C1 / C2 / CU error rate was measured from the recorded discs burned during
the previous writing tests (jitter). The software used is PlexTools Professional
v2.11 and
the reader is the Plexwritter Premium drive.
MEDIA |
C1 |
C2 |
CU |
CMC |
Avg/Sec |
3.2 |
1 |
0 |
Max/Sec |
56 |
221 |
0 |
Total |
15655 |
5244 |
0 |
Hi-Space |
Avg/Sec |
4.2 |
0.5 |
0 |
Max/Sec |
47 |
109 |
0 |
Total |
20372 |
2404 |
0 |
Mam |
Avg/Sec |
0.7 |
0 |
0 |
Max/Sec |
19 |
42 |
0 |
Total |
3556 |
65 |
0 |
Maxell |
Avg/Sec |
5 |
0 |
0 |
Max/Sec |
235 |
16 |
0 |
Total |
24111 |
137 |
0 |
Ritek |
Avg/Sec |
1.5 |
0 |
0 |
Max/Sec |
30 |
22 |
0 |
Total |
6993 |
88 |
0 |
16x TY |
Avg/Sec |
1.9 |
0 |
0 |
Max/Sec |
31 |
0 |
0 |
Total |
9198 |
0 |
0 |
24x TY |
Avg/Sec |
0.4 |
0 |
0 |
Max/Sec |
14 |
0 |
0 |
Total |
1918 |
0 |
0 |
32x TY |
Avg/Sec |
0.4 |
0 |
0 |
Max/Sec |
17 |
0 |
0 |
Total |
1874 |
0 |
0 |
40x TY |
Avg/Sec |
2.9 |
0.1 |
0 |
Max/Sec |
46 |
22 |
0 |
Total |
13800 |
540 |
0 |
-
Taiyo Yuden 48x recorded at 16x
-
Taiyo Yuden 48x recorded at 24x
-
Taiyo Yuden 48x recorded at 32x
-
Taiyo Yuden 48x recorded at 40x
-
Maxell 48x recorded at 40x
Below we present information regarding the CD-R
media used in this test.
Disc
|
ID Code
|
Capacity
|
Taiyo Yuden 48x
|
TaiyoYuden 97m24s01f
|
79:59:72
|
Ritek 48x
|
Fuji 97m26s45f
|
79:59:73
|
CMC Magnetics 48x
|
CMC Magnetics 97m26s66f
|
79:59:71
|
Hi-Space 48x
|
unknown 97m25s07f
|
79:59:00
|
Mam 52x
|
Mitsui 97m27s58f
|
79:59:74
|
Maxell 48x
|
Ritek 97m15s17f
|
79:59:70
|
- Summary
According to our measurements, the drive's CD writing quality was not good
with many of the media brands we tested. Maxell was the only one with extremely
high C1 levels, while CMC and HiSpace had high C2 levels. Taiyo Yuden at 24x
and 32x had the best results while Ritek and MAM also had
some C2 errors.
12. DVD Recording Tests
BTC DRW1108IM DVD±RW recorder - Page 12
DVD Recording Tests
- Writing Performance
The BTC supports DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW writing. The maximum
supported speed for DVD+R and DVD-R is 8x P-CAV and 4x CLV
for
DVD+/-RW media.
8x DVD+R
An
8x DVD+R disc from TY was used to check the 8x writing strategy
of the drive. The software used was Nero CDSpeed, with its "create disc" function.
The
drive started writing at 3.95x, and ended at 7.99x with an average speed
of 6.34x.
Verbatim 8x DVD-R
The simulation with the 8x DVD-R was almost the same as with 8x DVD+R
media. In this test we used Verbatim media.
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD+RW
Mitsubishi Kagaku 4x DVD-RW
- Burning Tests
The best recording times are illustrated in the following table. The values
were taken after burning 4315MB of data on various DVD±R, DVD±RW
media, using the maximum allowed writing speed for each disc. For
comparison, we
also include
the
writing
times for the
TDK 880N and Toshiba SD-R5272.
There is not much between the three drives, their times being very close.
However, the TDK 880N had the fastest times with all the formats.
The table below presents the writing speeds, media name and media code for
the various
discs used.
Media
|
Code
|
Speed |
CMC Magnetics 8x DVD+R
|
CMC MAG F01
|
8x |
Philips 8x DVD+R
|
PHILIPS C08
|
8x |
Mitsubishi Kagaku 8x DVD+R
|
MCC 003
|
8x |
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD+R
|
CMC MAG F01
|
4x |
Maxell 4x DVD+R
|
YUDEN000T01
|
4x |
That`s 8x DVD+R
|
YUDENT002
|
8x |
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD-R
|
MCC 01RG20
|
4x |
CMC Magnetics 8x DVD-R
|
CMC MAG AE1
|
8x |
Mitsubishi Kagaku & Verbatim 8x
DVD-R
|
MCC 02RG20
|
8x |
Pony 4x DVD-R
|
RITEKG04 |
4x |
That`s 8x DVD-R
|
TYG02
|
8x |
Mitsubishi Kagaku 4x DVD+RW
|
MKM A02
|
4x |
Maxell 4x DVD+RW
|
PHILIPS 041
|
4x |
JVC 4x DVD-RW
|
JVC0VictorD7
|
4x |
Mitsubishi Kagaku 4x DVD-RW
|
MCC 01RW4X
|
4x |
- Packet Writing Tests
For this test we copied a 403 MB file (412.822 KB) from the hard disk (on
the same PC as the recorder) to the formatted RW media through Windows explorer
(drag and drop).
DVD-RW
|
Duration
|
Average speed
|
Read
|
1:55 min
|
2.6X
|
Write
|
2:39 min
|
1.9X
|
DVD+RW
|
Duration
|
Average speed
|
Read
|
1:55 min
|
2.6X
|
Write
|
1:25 min
|
3.5X
|
13. KProbe PI/PO quality tests
BTC DRW1108IM DVD±RW recorder - Page 13
PI/PO
quality results
The following screenshots present the PI/PO results for various DVD-/+R
and DVD-/+RW media, recorded with the BTC drive at the maximum allowed
speed.
The software used for the measurements was KProbe v1.1.29, ECC was
set to 8 and the reading drive was the LiteOn LDW-811S at 4x speed. The specific
methodology is very dependable on the
drive
used as a reader, while the reliability of the PI/PO provided output is
not also technically confirmed. Thus as a result, we cannot safely come up
with conclusive results,
although we do make a comparison
of the drive's behavior
when using
various
DVD recordable/rewritable
media.
The recording discs used are presented below, coming with
details about each disc type.
-
Mitsubishi Kagaku 8x DVD+R
-
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x
DVD+R
-
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD-R
-
Mitsubishi Kagaku Verbatim 8x DVD-R
-
Mitsubishi Kagaku 4x DVD+RW
-
Mitsubishi Kagaku 4x DVD-RW
Media
|
Code
|
CMC Magnetics 8x DVD+R
|
CMC MAG F01
|
Philips 8x DVD+R
|
PHILIPS C08
|
Mitsubishi Kagaku 8x DVD+R |
MCC 003 |
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD+R |
CMC MAG F01 |
Maxell 4x DVD+R
|
YUDEN000T01
|
That`s 8x DVD+R
|
YUDENT002
|
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD-R
|
MCC 01RG20
|
CMC Magnetics 8x DVD-R
|
CMC MAG AE1
|
Mitsubishi Kagaku & Verbatim 8x DVD-R |
MCC 02RG20 |
Pony 4x DVD-R |
RITEKG04 |
That`s 8x DVD-R
|
TYG02
|
Mitsubishi Kagaku 4x
DVD+RW
|
MKM A02
|
Maxell 4x DVD+RW
|
PHILIPS 041
|
JVC 4x DVD-RW
|
JVC0VictorD7
|
Mitsubishi Kagaku 4x DVD-RW
|
MCC 01RW4X
|
The drive reported good writing quality with the most media we tested.
There seems to be a lot of high PI generated while in most cases the PO was
kept at fairly low levels. The DVD+RW media had increased PI/PO levels.
*July 19 2004, the new firmware release vB028 matched
more media.
14. Conclusion
BTC
DRW1108IM DVD±RW
recorder - Page 14
Conclusion
Pros
|
Cons
|
- 8x DVD+R/-R
writing
- 4x DVD+RW/-RW
writing
- 40x CD-R
recording
- 24x
CD-RW writing speed
- Fast DVD-Video ripping
- Working backups of all our protected games CDs
- Good DVD
writing quality
|
- Mount
Rainier is not supported
- Has problems
with
CDS200 protected AudioCDs.
- High
3T jitter with some brands
- Behavior
with ABEX TCD-721R test disc
|
The BTC 1108IM performed extremely well, with
low seek times in the CD reading tests. However it was disappointing in the
error correction tests where we had expected better performance.
As for DVD reading, the BTC is fast with both recordable and pressed
media. The seek times are rather low and the error
correction capabilities are good. Despite the fact that it had to lower
speed in order to read the defective area of our ABEX TDV-541 disc, the drive
managed to playback
all
of our
other test
discs
without
reporting
any errors or problems.
The
drive managed to make working backups of all our protected games CDs, with
fast ripping times for all
game
types
we tried.
According to the DAE test, the drive returned good performance only with
the Key2Audio protection scheme. With CDS200 protected Audio CDs, the drive
recognizes the disc
but cannot play or rip the contents*. The drive also failed to play our 99
minute
AudioCDs, fortunately, this wasn't the case with the 90min
CDs.
With CD recording tests, the BTC drive did not perform as well as we had
hoped. The supported 40x maximum writing speed is high enough for a DVD burner
but the
writing
quality wasn`t good with all media brands we used, at 40x speed.
Here we would like to mention that it may be better to avoid
recording at
32x
and
40x speeds
as the drive did
not present good results. The truth is that such high recording, as at 40x,
always has increased litter levels. We believe that with a firmware upgrade
this will be fixed.
According to our tests the drive failed at the overburning tests, even though
we tried with normal CD-R (700MB), 90min (800MB) and 99min (880MB). After
flashing the drive with the latest firmware,B218, we managed to overburn up
to 96min.
The DVD recording tests went a little better, where the drive performed
well having high compatibility with all media formats*. The
PI/PO levels were low in most cases. Only with DVD+RW media the levels were
increased. This was a strong feature of the BTC drive.
At the time of this review, the drive wasn`t available on the market so it
is not possible to make a price/performance evaluation.
*July 19 2004, the new firmware release vB028 fixed
the CDS200 problem and also matched more media.