1. Package - Installation
Artec VPP-8D24Q - Page 1
Ultima
is a company with a monthly output of approximately 3.5 million optical storage
devices. The company has a wide range of product lines including CD-ROM, CD-RW,
DVD-ROM, Combo, External Combo, External CD-RW, DVD Dual and DVD recorders
for home use, as well as home theatre sets.
The latest internal DVD recorder is the VPP-8D24Q. According
to the manufacturer, this burner supports dual format recording, 8x for DVD+R
and 4x for DVD-R. The recording speeds for rewritable media is 4x and 2x
for DVD+RW and DVD-RW respectively. Below are summarized the features
and the specifications for the drive.
- Features
- Specifications
The drive uses 8MB buffer memory. RAW DAO 96 writing (CD) is supported.
The Artec drive uses the RPC-2 Region Control, allowing a user to change
the drive's region at most 4 times. For our tests, we set the region
code to 2 (Europe).
- Retail package
The
retail package includes a quick installation guide, IDE
and analog audio cables and mounting screws.
Packaged software includes two CD-ROM discs with Sonic RecordNow(v.6.7.0),
Sonic DLA(v.4.60) and InterVideo WinCinema along with multilingual guides.
- The drive
On the rear panel there are
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.
- Installation
The Artec drive was connected to our test PC and was identified
as "DVD DUAL 8X4X12" under
WinXP, which is the same as BenQ's DW822A recorder. All tests were performed
with firmware revision ATC1.
The following pages include test results for the Artec drive in comparison
with two other dual 8x/4x DVD burners, the Teac DV-W58G and the Optorite DD0401.
2. Data CD Reading Tests
Artec VPP-8D24Q - Page 2
Data CD Reading Tests
Below you can see the behavior of the drive while reading various CD
media types. In the first case we use a pressed disc and in the second a
copy of the pressed CD. Lastly we examine US-RW
media.
- Pressed CD results (Click for
CDSpeed results)
The reading speeds for start, average and end speeds for the
Artec drive were the
fastest among the three drives. However, its seek times were the slowest and
quite a bit slower than the Optorite DD0401 which had the best
seek times overall.
- CD-R Media results (Click for
CDSpeed results)
Here again, the Artec drive exhibits the fastest reading speeds,
but is second to the Optorite with seek times. Interestingly, the Artec and
Optorite drives display marginally better seek times with the copy CD than
they do with the original, pressed disc.
- ReWritable Media (Click for
CDSpeed results)
As with the previous media types, so with HS-RW media the drive reported the
fastest reading speeds, but we feel that overall, the seek
times could be better.
3. CD Error Correction Tests
Artec
VPP-8D24Q -
Page 3
Error Correction Tests
In the following tests we check the drive's behavior when reading
scratched / defective audio discs. The test discs are the ABEX series
from ALMEDIO.
- ABEX TCD-721R
|
Errors total
|
Num:
1028697
|
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num:
52916
|
Avg:
-73.7 dB(A)
|
Max:-24.1
dB(A)
|
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num:
3217
|
Avg:
1.7 Samples
|
Max:
1140 Samples
|
|
Skips Samples
|
Num:
0
|
Avg:
0 Samples
|
Max:
0 Samples
|
|
Total Test Result
|
76.2
points (out of 100.0 maximum)
|
The total error count is quite low, as are the number of loudness and muting
errors, while there were no skipped samples. The average loudness level is
also low at -73.7 dB (A). The performance is very good and the score of 76.2
indicates this.
- ABEX TCD-726
|
Errors total
|
Num:
0
|
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num:
4
|
Avg:-94.0
dB(A)
|
Max:
-87.6 dB(A)
|
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num:
0
|
Avg: 0
Samples
|
Max:
0 Samples
|
|
Skips Samples
|
Num:
1
|
Avg:
185 Samples
|
Max:
185 Samples
|
|
Total Test Result
|
83.6
points (out of 100.0 maximum)
|
This test disc is usually a lot easier for drives to read and as such the
final score awarded is much higher than that from the previous test disc. While
the score of 83.6 is good, the better drives normally manage a perfect score
of 100.
- 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 reading music abilities
and reproduce it completely. Five tracks on the disc contain a progressively
difficult sequence. These tracks are referred to as Check Level-1 through
Check Level-5.
The
tracks 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 drive.
|
Error Level
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
|
Artec VPP-8D24Q
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
4/5
|
0/5
|
Inspite of the fact that the drive didn't
manage to play the fifth track, it performed well. Note that the fifth track
is very difficult for all but the best of drives to play, while most drives
can't even read the fourth track.
- Summary
|
Test Disc
|
Reading Speed
|
Score
|
|
ABEX TCD-721R
|
Max
|
76.2
|
|
ABEX TCD-726
|
83.6
|
|
Average Score
|
79.9
|
The average score for the Artec drive with the Abex test discs is 79.9 points.
Overall, the performance is good.
4. DVD reading tests
Artec
VPP-8D24Q -
Page 4
DVD reading tests
- Single Layer DVD-ROM (Click
for CDSpeed results)
To check the reading performance of the Artec drive with single layer DVD-ROM,
we used NeroCDSpeed and the 820A test disc from Abex.
Comparing the three drives, the TEAC has the fastest reading
speeds and fastest seek times. The reading speeds for the Artec drive are marginally
slower that those of the
TEAC DV-W58G,
while
in
the seek
times
it
is the slowest. However, the results are quite satisfactory and the drive appears
to be a comparatively fast reader with DVD-ROM media.
- 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, where lies the
beginning of each layer and progresses outwards towards to the outer tracks
for each layer. The tools for this test are Nero CDSpeed and the Abex 840 test
disc.
As with DVD-ROM media, here too the Artec drive was the slowest
reader in both reading speed and seek times. The final reading speed did not
reach 8x, falling well short of the mark at 7.6x.
- 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 second layer on the disc. 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.
The resultant graph shows smooth, linear CAV reading without
any unusual deviations, reaching a final speed of 7.54x. The seek times are
quite good with a very fast 102ms for random seek.
- DVD Ripping Tests
We measured the DVD-Video ripping speed for the Artec VPP-8D24Q using the
latest version of DVD Decrypter and a pressed
DVD-Video movie.
The reported 6.1x average ripping speed for the Artec drive is very good.
- DVD Recordable / Rewritable reading Tests
The chart below shows the Nero CDSpeed average reading speed results with
the following media:
Overall, the drive exhibited good performance but we would like to see slightly
faster seek times.
5. DVD Error Correction Tests
Artec
VPP-8D24Q -
Page 5
DVD Error Correction
Tests
In the following
tests we examined the DVD reading capabilities of the TEAC drive
with scratched / defective DVD media. For the tests we used CDVD
Benchmark and Nero CDSpeed. The reference test media
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 thickness of the line indicates the changes in speed
during reading, while the dispersed dots at the half way mark show some difficulty
reading larger scratches. There are also speed changes towards the end, during
the last quarter of the disc, but overall, there were no errors reported.
ABEX TDR-825
This is also a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM with 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 the surface but instead
defective areas ranging in dimensions from 0.5 to 1.1 mm. There
are also artificial fingerprints with height
between
65 and
75 micrometers.
As with the previous disc, the action seems to be concentrated
in the middle and in the last quarter of the disc's surface. Surprisingly,
at least with this disc, in the middle where we have the narrow rectangular
patch,
there are no defects, as is also the case with the last quarter of of the
disc although
here, the fluctuations start a little earlier with the artificial fingerprints.
Again however, there were no errors generated.
- 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.
Again there are no errors and the drive seems to behave consistently
regardless of defects.
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 sized from 65
to 75 microns (micrometers).
In all four tests so far, the Artec drive reveals that it
has very good DVD error correction capability. All the defected discs were
read without
problems or read 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 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 sized from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.
The specified disc was read successfully with a very smooth transition from
one layer to the other.
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 micrometers high fingerprints.
DVD error correction is very good for the Artec drive. It managed to
read the contents of all of our test DVDs, without reporting any read errors.
6. Protected Disc Tests
Artec
VPP-8D24Q -
Page 6
Protected Disc
Tests
- Reading Tests
To create an image of the various protected titles onto a hard disk, we
used Alcohol 120% v1.4.8.1222 and the appropriate settings, depending on the
protection
type of the inserted discs. Below the capabilities of the Artec
drive summarized, according to CloneCD software. The summary below shows
that the drive supports CD+G writing under RAW DAO:
The game titles we used to test the reading speed for each protection scheme
are presented 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
In all cases, the Artec drive seems to be a fast drive for ripping.
- Writing Tests
Artec supports DAO-RAW writing mode.
For checking the drive's EFM correction status, we used 5 different game titles
with different SafeDisc versions and with the latest software patches installed.
After making the image files of the various titles to the hard disk, we burned
them (maximum speed) with Alcohol 120%. 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 work (game installed / played normally), or not.
|
Drive |
Game Title |
SD2 Build |
Settings |
|
Bypass EFM error On |
Bypass EFM error Off |
|
Artec
VPP-8D24Q |
Max Payne |
v2.51.020 |
Yes |
No |
|
Serious Sam - The Second Encounter
v1.07
|
v.2.60.052 |
No |
No |
The Sims Unleashed |
v.2.8 |
No
|
No
|
The Sims Superstar |
v2.9 |
No |
No |
Fifa 2004 |
v3.10 |
No |
No |
The Artec drive failed to make working backups of the protected games. Only
with the oldest version of SafeDisc and EFM enabled could we make a working
backup,
but then again, this game is can be backed up with almost all drives we have
tested.
7. DAE Tests
Artec
VPP-8D24Q -
Page 7
DAE Tests
- Pressed and CDR AudioCD results
According
to Nero CDSpeed the drive supports 40x DAE speed.
Nice smooth performance with very steady velocity (CAV).
We ripped the contents of the same audio disc to our hard disk, using the
CDDAE software.
- Advanced DAE Quality
The average reading speed of the Artec drive according to Nero's
CD Speed Advanced DAE test, is 29.86x. The quality score of the drive is 100,
while no data or sync errors were reported during the test. Thus the drive
can safely be used for on the fly copying at up to 16x reading
speeds. In addition, the drive supports Leadin reading, CD text and Subchannel
Data information, but not Leadout.
- Support of 90/99mins AudioCDs
The Artec drive managed to playback successfully the 99min test disc, while
with the 90min disc, it produced read errors and pauses during the last song,
after the
86min mark.
We then ripped the same discs to our Hard Disk. The drive managed to
rip up to 94min out of 99min where it had problems with the last track, while
there were no problem with the 90min disc.
- Reading/Ripping Protected AudioCDs
For the test procedure we used two audio discs with different
audio protection schemes. We tested both recognition and
ripping to the hard disk. The software used was Exact Audio Copy.
* Pressed Audio disc protected by Sony Key2Audio (Celine
Dion - New Day
Has Come)
* Pressed Audio disc protected by Cactus Data Shield 200 (Natalie
Imbruglia - White Lilies Island)
|
|
Key2Audio |
CDS200 |
|
EAC |
Artec VPP-8D24Q
|
OK
|
OK
|
Teac DV-W58G
|
NO
|
OK
|
Optorite DD0401
|
OK
|
Recognized the disc. Ripped
and played all tracks on the disc except the first.
|
The Artec VPP-8D24Q managed to successfully read and rip both of our protected
Audio CDs.
8. CD Recording Tests
Artec
VPP-8D24Q - Page
8
CD Recording Tests
- CD-R Writing Tests
The Artec recorder supports a maximum CD-R writing speed of 24x.
To confirm this we used
a blank 80min
CD-R disc from TY and NeroCDSpeed to emulate the writing process.
After
the end of the test, CDSpeed reported an average speed of 23.57X under P-CAV.
The ending speed at 24.94X confirmed the drives specifications.
- Recording Times
We created an 80min data compilation with Nero Burning Rom and recorded it
on a 700MB disc. The difference burn times between the drives was expected,
due to the
different maximum supported speeds for each.
Below, two graphs are presented where you can compare times
for all the supported speeds for
the Artec drive, and writing times
with different media brands.
Media |
ID code |
Taiyo Yuden Professional ULTRA 48X |
Taiyo Yuden 97m24s01f |
HiSpace 48X |
unknown 97m25s07f |
MAM SG ULTRA 48X |
Mitsui 97m27s58f |
Creation 48X |
Plasmon 97m27s18f |
BenQ 48X |
Acer 97m22s67f |
Maxell XL-S 48X |
Ritek 97m15s17f |
Ritek 40X |
Fuji 97m26s45f |
- CD-RW Writing Tests
The drive also supports 10X CLV for HS-RW media. To test the writing
speed and method used
for the Artec drive we used CDSpeed writing simulation
test with a blank 24x US-RW media from Mitsubishi Chemicals.
Once
again our test confirmed the drive's specifications.
Below we provide a comparison of the three drives where we used Nero Burning
Rom software to burn a 651MB data compilation onto 24x US-RW media from Mitsubishi
Chemicals.
The difference between the Artec and the other two drives is logical due
to the different supported speed for this type of recording.
- Packet Writing Tests
For the packet writing test we used the InCD packet writing software from
Nero and a Mitsubishi Chemicals 24x US-RW media. The tested file is a 403 MB
file (412.822 KB) and we used the drag and drop method with Windows Explorer
to write the file from our hard disk onto RW media.
Operation
|
Duration
|
Average speed
|
Read
|
2:39 min
|
17.3 X
|
Write
|
5:38 min
|
8.14 X
|
- Other features
|
Overburning
|
Up to 99 min
|
|
CD text reading/writing
|
Yes
|
9. 3T Jitter Tests - Page 1
Artec
VPP-8D24Q -
Page 9
Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests
As was mentioned before, the Artec drive supports 24x maximum writing speed.
We burned three Taiyo Yuden media, in order to test the writing quality
at all the available writing speeds.
- 3T Pit results
At all speeds, the Artec drive overshoots the 35ns RedBook limit,
with 12x being the worst.
- 3T Land results
Again, at all speeds the drive goes over the 35ns level, although
with 16x and 24x the performance is a little better. Certainly, 12x appears
to not give such good results.
|
Recording Speed
|
Average 3T Pit Jitter (ns)
|
Average 3T Land Jitter (ns)
|
> 35ns
|
Max 3T jitter values (ns)
|
|
12X
|
35.80
|
37.05
|
Yes
|
38 Pit, 40 Land
|
|
16X
|
34.00
|
33.32
|
Yes
|
37 Pit, 36 Land
|
24X
|
34.51
|
33.34
|
Yes
|
36 Pit, 36 Land
|
Generally, the drive revealed consistent writing quality and although the
35ns mark was breached, with 16x and 24x it is not by much for both
Pit and Land jitter. The 12x levels are slightly high,
so it may be advisable to avoid writing at this speed.
10. 3T Jitter Tests - Page 2
Artec
VPP-8D24Q -
Page 9
Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests
Here we examine the writing quality of the drive at the maximum allowed speed,
24x, using this time media from different brands.
- 3T Pit results
These are extremely good results with all media. The average
values, especially with BenQ and Ritek media are very low.
- 3T Land results
Again very good results, with only HiSpace media going over the
35ns limit.
|
Media Brand
|
Average 3T Pit Jitter (ns)
|
Average 3T Land Jitter (ns)
|
> 35ns
|
Max 3T jitter values (ns)
|
|
HiSpace 48X
|
32.63
|
31.22
|
Yes
|
33 Pit, 38 Land
|
|
Creation 48X
|
29.88
|
28.83
|
No
|
33 Pit, 31 Land
|
Ritek 40X
|
28.37
|
27.24
|
No
|
30 Pit, 28 Land
|
Mam 48X
|
31.29
|
29.29
|
No
|
34 Pit, 32 Land
|
BenQ 48X
|
28.56
|
27.78
|
No
|
32 Pit, 34 Land
|
Maxell 48X
|
31.49
|
29.22
|
No
|
34 Pit, 32 Land
|
The jitter levels are low with all the tested media. The writing quality is
high in all cases.
11. C1 / C2 Error Measurements
Artec
VPP-8D24Q -
Page 11
Writing Quality Tests - C1 / C2 Error Measurements
The C1 / C2 error rate was measured for the recorded discs, burned during
the previous writing tests (jitter). The software used was Plextools v2.11
and the reader is the Plextor Premium drive.
MEDIA
|
C1
|
C2
|
CU
|
TY
12x
|
Avg/Sec |
0.7 |
0.6 |
0 |
| Max/Sec |
29 |
86 |
0 |
| Total |
3505 |
3061 |
0 |
TY 16x
|
Avg/Sec |
0.4 |
0 |
0 |
| Max/Sec |
17 |
0 |
0 |
| Total |
1735 |
0 |
0 |
TY 24x
|
Avg/Sec |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Max/Sec |
19 |
0 |
0 |
| Total |
4671 |
0 |
0 |
BenQ
|
Avg/Sec |
1.6 |
0 |
0 |
| Max/Sec |
18 |
0 |
0 |
| Total |
7680 |
0 |
0 |
Creation
|
Avg/Sec |
3.7 |
0 |
0 |
| Max/Sec |
29 |
0 |
0 |
| Total |
17874 |
0 |
0 |
HiSpace
|
Avg/Sec |
3.7 |
0.1 |
0 |
| Max/Sec |
43 |
52 |
0 |
| Total |
17603 |
589 |
0 |
Mam
|
Avg/Sec |
1.2 |
0 |
0 |
| Max/Sec |
27 |
0 |
0 |
| Total |
5889 |
0 |
0 |
Maxell
|
Avg/Sec |
2.9 |
0 |
0 |
| Max/Sec |
180 |
6 |
0 |
| Total |
13787 |
14 |
0 |
Ritek
|
Avg/Sec |
0.6 |
0 |
0 |
| Max/Sec |
23 |
0 |
0 |
| Total |
2653 |
0 |
0 |
-
Taiyo Yuden 48x recorded at 12x
-
Taiyo Yuden 48x recorded at 16x
-
Taiyo Yuden 48x recorded at 24x
-
Creation 48x recorded at 24x
The CD writing quality of the drive is good. The C1 levels are low
and there were few C2 errors reported.
12. DVD Recording Tests
Artec
VPP-8D24Q -
Page 11
DVD Recording Tests
- Writing Performance
The Artec drive supports DVD+R and DVD-R writing. The maximum
supported speed is 8X and 4X respectively. With the RW format, Artec supports
4X for DVD+RW and 2.4X DVD-RW.
8x DVD+R
4x DVD-R
According to the manufacturer's specifications the drive should be capable
for 4x DVD-R recording. This was not confirmed from our tests with several
media brands. The drive can only record DVD-R discs up to 2.4x.
4x DVD+RW
4x DVD-RW
- Burning Tests
The following graphs show the maximum writing speed for all available DVD
formats. For comparison, we also include the writing times of the TEAC DV-W58G
and Optorite DD0401 drives.
The drive had good writing times for the +R format. On the other hand, since
the drive failed to burn -R media at the expected 4X speed, the
writing times were somewhat high.
The following screenshots were taken from Nero, after successful
burnings. The
recording project is the same DVD-Video compilation for all tests.
-
Ritek 4x DVD-R (recorded at 2.4x)
-
Mitsubishi Kagaku 4x DVD+RW
-
Mitsubishi Kagaku 4x DVD-RW (recorded at 2.4x)
Media
|
Code
|
Speed |
Mitsubishi Kagaku 8x DVD+R
|
MCC 003
|
8x |
CMC Magnetics 8x DVD+R
|
CMC MAG E01
|
8x |
Taiyo Yuden 8x DVD+R
|
YUDEN000 T02
|
8x |
Philips 8x DVD+R
|
PHILIPS C08
|
8x |
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD+R
|
MCC 002
|
8x |
Maxell 4x DVD+R
|
YUDEN000 T01
|
8x |
Ritek 4x DVD-R
|
Ritek G04
|
2.4x |
Maxell 4x DVD-R
|
TYG01
|
2.4x |
CMC Magnetics 4x DVD-R
|
CMC MAG AF1
|
2.4x |
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD-R
|
MCC 01RG20
|
2.4x |
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD-RW
|
MCC 01RW4X
|
2.4x |
TDK 2x DVD-RW
|
TDK502SakuM3
|
2.4x |
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD+RW
|
MKM A02
|
4x |
Maxell 4x DVD+RW
|
PHILIPS 041
|
4x |
The table above presents writing speeds of the drive, for various
media brands and formats.
- Packet Writing Tests
For this test we copied a 403 MB file (412.822 KB) from Hard Disk (on the
same PC as the recorder) in to formatted RW media, through Windows explorer
(drag and drop).
DVD-RW
|
Duration
|
Average speed
|
Read
|
2:26 min
|
2.09X |
Write
|
2:08 min
|
2.38X |
DVD+RW
|
Duration
|
Average speed
|
Read
|
2:25 min |
2.1X |
Write
|
1:22 min |
3.72X |
13. KProbe PI/PO quality tests
Artec VPP-8D24Q - Page 12
KProbe PI/PO
quality results
The following screenshots show the PI/PO scans for various DVD-/+R
and DVD-/+RW media, recorded with the Artec VPP-8D24Q at the maximum permitted
speed.
The software used for the measurements was KProbe v1.1.29, the ECC was
set to 8 and the reading to 4X with a LiteOn LDW-811s. The specific methodology
is very dependent on the
drive
used as a reader, while the reliability of the PI/PO provided output is also
not technically confirmed. Hence, we cannot safely come up
with conclusive results,
although we do make a comparison
of the drive behavior
when using
various
DVD recordable/rewritable
media.
The recordable discs we use, came from TDK, Taiyo Yuden, CMC,
Maxell , Mitsubishi Kagaku, Philips and Ritek. Further details about each
disc type are presented at the
bottom
of this page.
-
Mitsubishi Kagaku 8x DVD+R
-
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD+R
-
Ritek 4x DVD-R ( recorded at 2.4x)
-
Maxell 4x DVD-R ( recorded at 2.4x)
-
CMC Magnetics 4x DVD-R ( recorded at 2.4x)
-
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD-R ( recorded at 2.4x)
-
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD-RW ( recorded at 2.4x)
Unable to be read with several drives
-
TDK 2x DVD-RW ( recorded at 2.4x)
Unable to be read with several drives
-
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD+RW
The DVD-RW media was not playable with LiteOn players, so we couldn't measure
the writing quality for this type of format. Strangely, the media could not
be played in other drives either, from different manufacturers.
Media
|
Code
|
Mitsubishi Kagaku 8x DVD+R
|
MCC 003 |
CMC Magnetics 8x DVD+R
|
CMC MAG E01 |
Taiyo Yuden 8x DVD+R
|
YUDEN000 T02 |
Philips 8x DVD+R
|
PHILIPS C08 |
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD+R
|
MCC 002 |
Maxell 4x DVD+R
|
YUDEN000 T01 |
Ritek 4x DVD-R
|
Ritek G04 |
Maxell 4x DVD-R
|
TYG01 |
CMC Magnetics 4x DVD-R
|
CMC MAG AF1 |
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD-R
|
MCC 01RG20 |
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD-RW |
MCC 01RW4X |
TDK 2x DVD-RW |
TDK502SakuM3 |
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD+RW |
MKM A02 |
Maxell 4x DVD+RW |
PHILIPS 041 |
In most cases, the PO level was very low except for Ritek 4x -R and Mitsubishi
Chemicals 4x +RW media. Furthermore, Mitsubishi
Chemicals 4x +RW and Maxell 4x +RW media produced unrecovered read errors.
The PI levels were also in the main at acceptable levels. In general, the
DVD writing
quality
of the
drive is satisfactory.
14. Conclusion
Artec
VPP-8D24Q -
Page 13
Conclusion
|
Pros
|
Cons
|
- 8MB buffer
- Fast reading speed
on DVD/CD
- Very good DVD
error correction
- DAE speed
- Fast DVD-Video
rip
- Quality CD writing
- Quality DVD writing
(low PI/PO)
- Fast DVD+R writing
- Can playback/rip
audio protected discs
- BookType change
feature
|
- 2.4x DVD- R writing
- 24x CD-R writing
- 10x CD-RW writing
- RW Writing
- Cannot backup
protected Safedisc2 games
|
The drive is a good and fast CD/DVD reader with high reading speeds for both
CD and DVD media and seek times, which while acceptable, could
be faster.
The CD error correction is good with
both ABEX TCD-721R and ABEX TCD-726. We venture to say that although
the drive performed well, the final score should have been higher. This is
due to the 83.6
score for the 726 test disc, which is not the best we have had. As for
its performance with the CD-Check Audio Test Disc,
we can characterize it as better than average where it read 4 out of 5 for
the fourth track, and failing to read the fifth track, which is
difficult for all but the best drives.
In the DVD error correction
tests, the Artec drive had very good performance. It managed to read accurately
all of our test discs without reporting any read error. No matter what
the scratch or the defect, the drive managed to read the disc.
One of the disappointments was the inability to backup protected games. This
is definitely not the strong point of the drive.
Fortunately, the audio protections, such as CDS200 and Key2Audio,
were not a problem for the drive which also had good and accurate performance
in the
DAE tests.
According to our writing tests, performance with 10X for rewritable CD media
is low. Apart from this, the most important thing is that the drive did not
confirm
the
manufacturer's specifications for 4X DVD-R recording, producing 2.4X
CLV for this format. Maybe with the release of a firmware upgrade, that
we
believe may already exist, this will change. Another strange thing however,
is that our written RW media had problems. For the minus format, the discs
could not be read with most drives, so we didn't manage to measure their
writing quality, while for the plus format, CDSpeed
reported
unrecovered read errors.
The CD writing quality of the drive is one the strong points. While
recording at 12x will yield reasonable quality, we recommended using 16x and
24x instead, where low jitter levels will give much better quality. All
of the media brands we
tested
confirmed
this.
As for the DVD writing quality, in general it was good. There were some
cases of increased PI/PO, but with most media the levels were very good.
We
still have a question mark hanging over the -RW format, where the disc could
not be read with the LiteOn drive (and not only).
We would like to add, that the booktype management from BenQ
is working properly with the drive. So, very simply and easily, you can change
from the DVD+R
to DVD-ROM
format for highest compatibility.
The drive, already available on the market, is priced from $75~$109.