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This story was printed from CdrInfo.com,
located at http://www.cdrinfo.com.
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Appeared on: Monday, June 7, 2004
Samsung SH-W08A


1. Package - Installation

SAMSUNG SH-W08A DVD±R/RW recorder - Page 1

 

Samsung's new 8x DVD dual format optical disc drive is compatible with all current formats such as DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW media and CDs.

- Features

The drive features 8x DVD+/-R writing, 4x DVD+/-RW rewriting, 32x CD-R writing, 16x CD-RW rewriting, 40x CD-ROM reading, 24x CD-RW reading and 12x DVD-ROM reading. Buffer underrun protection and DVD-RAM reading (only) are supported.

- Specifications
Host/Interface

ATA / ATAPI, PIO mode 4, Ultra DMA Mode 2

Disc Data Capacity

CD: 74min/650MB, 80min/700MB

DVD: 4.7GB

Usable Discs

CD: CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-DA, CD+E(G) CD-MIDI, CD-TEXT, CD-ROM XA, Mixed Mode CD, CD-I, CD-I Bridge (Photo-CD, Video-CD), Multisession CD (Photo-CD, CD-EXTRA, Portforio)

DVD: DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-RAM (Read Only)

Write data transfer speed

DVD+R: ZCLV 8X (Max 10.8MB/sec)

DVD+RW: CLV 4X (Max 5.4MB/sec)

DVD-R: ZCLV 8X (Max 10.8MB/sec)

DVD-RW: CLV 4X (Max 5.4MB/sec)

CD-R: ZCLV 32X (Max 4.8MB/sec)

US-RW: ZCLV 16X (Max 2.4MB/sec)

HS-RW: CLV 10X (Max 1.5MB/sec)

CD-RW: CLV 4X (Max 0.6MB/sec)

Read data transfer speed

DVD+R: CAV 8X (10.8MB/sec)

DVD+RW: CAV 4.8X (6.3MB/sec)

DVD-R: CAV 8X (10.8MB/sec)

DVD-RW: CAV 4.8X (6.3MB/sec)

DVD-RAM: ZCLV 2X (2.7MB/sec)

DVD-ROM(Single): CAV 12X (16.2MB/sec)

DVD-ROM(Dual): CAV 8X (10.8MB/sec)

CD-ROM: CAV 40X (6.0MB/sec)

CD-R: CAV 40X (6.0MB/sec)

US-RW: CAV 24X (3.6MB/sec)

HS-RW: CAV 24X (3.6MB/sec)

CD-RW: PCAV 6X (0.9MB/sec

Access time

DVD-ROM: 130ms

CD-ROM: 110ms

Buffer memory 2 MB with Buffer Underrun Protection
Mounting Method Horizontal/Vertical (cannot use 80 mm discs)
Audio output Digital and Analogue output
Weight 1.0kg
Dimensions (WxHxL) 146mm x 41.5mm x 189.5mm

The drive uses a 2MB buffer memory store and supports RAW DAO 96 writing (CD). The drive does not support DVD-RAM, DVD+R DL and Mount Rainier writing features as well as DVD+R DL 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 retail package includes a 40-pin interface cable, audio cable , four screws to install the drive, installation instruction sheets and software program (Pinnacle's Instant CD/DVD 8.0).

The drive's front panel color is white. On the tray loader, at left we can see the Samsung logo and on the right side the DVD R/RW logo, RW DVD+ReWritable logo, ultra Speed Compact disc Rewritable logo. Below the tray from left to right we can also see the power led, the eject button and the emergency eject hole

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 also manufactured by Toshiba.

- Installation

The device was connected to our test PC and was identified as "SAMSUNG DVD R/RW SH-W08A" under WinXP. All tests were done with firmware revision 1S30.

The following pages include test results for the Samsung drive, in comparison with the Toshiba SD-R5272 and the TDK 880N, since all have about the same features.


2. Data CD Reading Tests

SAMSUNG SH-W08A DVD±R/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 has a good transfer rate compared with the other two drives, where there is very little between them.

The reported seek times for the Samsung drive are good for all modes except the full seek time which is slightly high.
- 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 Samsung 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

SAMSUNG SH-W08A DVD±R/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: 1011388
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
Num: 48656 Avg: -72.4 dB(A) Max: -17.5 dB(A)
Error Muting Samples
Num: 7370 Avg: 2.3 Samples Max: 236 Samples
Skips Samples
Num: 4 Avg: 6.0 Samples Max: 6 Samples
Total Test Result
68.8 points (out of 100.0 maximum)

The drive exhibited average performance. The total error count is not all that high but the maximum loudness error level could be better. There were four skipped samples and the total score of 68.8 is an average score.

- ABEX TCD-726

Errors total
Num: 13
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
Num: 4 Avg:-86.8 dB(A) Max:-63.6 dB(A)
Error Muting Samples
Num: 0 Avg: 0 Samples Max: 0 Samples
Skips Samples
Num: 0 Avg: 0 Samples Max: 0 Samples
Total Test Result
94.2 points (out of 100.0 maximum)

The Abex TCD-726 test disc is a usually a simpler case for error correction. The Samsung drive performed well here. The total error count isn`t high, while there aren`t any skipped samples or muted samples. The total score of 94.2 out of 100 is good.

- 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
Samsung SH-W08A
5/5
5/5
5/5
3/5
0/5

The drive performed slightly better than average. It managed to playback 5 out of attempts for the first three of the five levels. The fourth level sounded good for three of the five attempts while the fifth level did not play well at all. The attempt can be considered slightly better than average since most drives manage to play only up to the third level, failing all attempts in the fourth and fifth levels.

- Summary

Test Disc
Reading Speed
Score
ABEX TCD-721R
Max
68.8
ABEX TCD-726
94.2
Average Score
81.5

The total average score with both test discs for the drive is satisfactory.


4. DVD reading tests

SAMSUNG SH-W08A DVD±R/RW recorder- Page 4

DVD reading tests

- Single Layer DVD-ROM (Click for CDSpeed results)

Again, as was the case with CD media, the Samsung drive's reading speed is very close to that of the other two drives.

The seek times are also good but again the full seek is a little high.

- 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 be good.

- 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 Samsung drive using the latest version of DVD Decrypter. The DVD Video title is the "Matrix" pressed DVD-Video.

Here, the Samsung drive was the slowest. The reported 3015 kb/s is a good deal slower than the other two drives.

- DVD Recordable / Rewritable reading Tests

The chart below shows the Nero CDSpeed average reading speed results with the following media:

-DVD-RAM

Samsung supports DVD-RAM reading and the company reports that the drive can read DVD-RAM media with Z-CLV mode at 2x speed (2.7MB/sec). The tested discs were a Panasonic DVD-RAM type 2 and a Maxell 3x DVD-RAM Ver2.1. Both of them gave us read errors a little bit before the end.

The disc was read at 2x CLV. Below is the same disc read with the Toshiba SD-R5272 drive.


5. DVD Error Correction Tests

SAMSUNG SH-W08A DVD±R/RW recorder- Page 5

DVD Error Correction Tests

In the following tests we examined the DVD reading capabilities of Samsung 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. At the point on the disc's surface where we have the largest scratches (just before the 1.5 GB mark), the graph shows a large number of speed changes (yellow dots) as the drive tries to read past this difficult part of the disc.

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 read 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 increased smoothly in the first layer and decreased similarly during the second. 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.

No errors or speed drops were reported. This disc was not a problem for the Samsung drive.

 


6. Protected Disc Tests

SAMSUNG SH-W08A DVD±R/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 Samsung 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

Samsung managed to rip the contents of all test discs successfully. The Toshiba drive had the fastest times especially with SafeDisc where it was way faster than either the Samsung and TDK drives.

- Writing Tests

The Samsung 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 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 v3.1

Sims Superstar SD v2.9
Sims Unleashed SD v2.8
Serious Sam-Second Encounter v1.07
SD v2.60.052
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
No
No
No
Yes
Creative CD5233E
Yes

Samsung
SH-W08A

Yes

While the drive managed to make working backups of all the game titles we tried, with SafeDisc version 3.1 (Fifa 2004), the burned CD played only on the Samsung itself. With SafeDisc versions 2.9 and 3.1, working backups were possible only with EFM on.


7. DAE Tests

SAMSUNG SH-W08A DVD±R/RW recorder- Page 7

DAE Tests

- Pressed and CDR AudioCD results

The Samsung drive uses 40x 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 31.50x, while at the end of the reading process it reached a maximum speed of 41.62x. 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 17,5x, is satisfactory.

The same pressed audio disc was copied onto a CD-R and was read again with CDspeed.

Again, the Samsung returned an acceptable extraction speed.

- Advanced DAE Quality

In the Nero CD Speed Advanced DAE test, the Samsung drive returned an average speed of 17.39x, which is a good performance, and a quality score of 100. According to CDSpeed, the drive can read Cd Text and Subchannel Data but doesn`t support Leadin and Leadout.

- Support of 90/99mins AudioCDs

The Samsung drive managed to playback a full 99min audio CD without problems, but didn`t managed to play the 90min test disc, having read problems with the last 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
Samsung SH-W08A
Recognize the disc but cannot rip or play the contents
OK
TDK 880N
OK
OK
Toshiba SD-R 5272
OK
Recognize the disc but cannot rip or play the contents

The Samsung drive played back successfully only the CDS200 but failed with the Key2AudioCD protected disc.

The drive recognize the contents of the disc:

...but cannot rip them:

CDS 200.0.4 - 3.0 build 16a
Samsung SH-W08A
Recognize the disc but cannot rip or play the contents

8. CD Recording Tests

SAMSUNG SH-W08A DVD±R/RW recorder - Page 8

CD Recording Tests

- CD-R Writing Tests

The Samsung drive supports the 4x, 12x, 16x, 32x, 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 32x P-CAV recording. The average speed was 23.24x.

 

 

 

 

- Recording Times

We created an 80min data compilation with Nero Burning Rom and recorded it on a 700MB disc. The drive needed 4:14 to conclude the burning procedure which was the second fastest time among the three drives.

In the following graph you can see the recording times with various media brands.

With MAM media, the drive needed needed 5:34min because the drive did not support 32x writing with the MAM disc.

- CD-RW Writing Tests

The Samsung drive supports 16x Z-CLV 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 16x rewriting. The average speed at the end of the test was 15.76x.

 

 

 

 

We also used Nero Burning Rom software to burn a 24x US-RW 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 5:08 minutes.

- Other features
Overburning
No
CD text reading/writing
Yes

9. CD Writing Quality - 3T Jitter Tests

SAMSUNG SH-W08A DVD±R/RW recorder - Page 9

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 Samsung performed well with some of the media brands we used. BenQ, MAM and Taiyo Yuden proved to be very good combinations with the Samsung recorder, whereas MMore and Traxdata 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 BenQ, MAM and Taiyo Yuden media produced acceptable results.

Recording Speed
Average 3T Pit Jitter (ns)
Average 3T Land Jitter (ns)
> 35ns
Max 3T jitter values (ns)
MMore 52x
35,78
33,17
Yes
42 Pit, 40 Land
BenQ 48x
29,51
29,85
No
31 Pit, 33 Land
Traxdata 52x
38,59
39,88
Yes
52 Pit, 50 Land
Mam 52x
30,68
26,80
No
38 Pit, 34 Land
Taiyo Yuden 48x
32,10
31,20
No
36 Pit, 34 Land
- Summary

The drive performed poorly with two of the media brands, MMore and Traxdata, while with BenQ, MAM and Taiyo Yuden media it had very good values

On the following page we check the C1 and C2 error rates for the same discs.


10. C1 / C2 Error Measurements

SAMSUNG SH-W08A DVD±R/RW recorder- Page 10

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
Taiyo Yuden
Avg/Sec
0.6
0
0
Max/Sec
19
2
0
Total
2771
2
0
MMore
Avg/Sec
5.8
0.1
0
Max/Sec
68
34
0
Total
27669
408
0
BenQ
Avg/Sec
2.4
0
0
Max/Sec
31
0
0
Total
11409
0
0
Traxdata
Avg/Sec
2.4
2.3
0
Max/Sec
50
270
0
Total
11579
10939
0
Mam
Avg/Sec
2.4
0
0
Max/Sec
26
0
0
Total
11536
0
0
  • Taiyo Yuden 48x recorded at 32x

  • MMore 48x recorded at 32x

Below we present information regarding the CD-R media used in this test.

Disc
ID Code
Taiyo Yuden 48x
TaiyoYuden 97m24s01f
BenQ 48x
Acer 97m22s67f
MMore 52x
Unknown 97m16s06f
Traxdata 52x
Ritek 97m15s17f
Mam 52x
Mitsui 97m27s58f
- Summary

According to our measurements, the drive's CD writing quality was poor with Traxdata and MMore media, whereas BenQ, Mam and Taiyo Yuden had the best results.


11. DVD Recording Tests

SAMSUNG SH-W08A DVD±R/RW recorder- Page 11

DVD Recording Tests

- Writing Performance

The Samsung supports DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW writing. The maximum supported speed for DVD+R and DVD-R is 8x Z-CLV and 4x CLV for DVD+/-RW media.

8x DVD+R

An 8x DVD+R disc from TraxData 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 4.02x, and ended at 8.05x with an average speed of 6.44x.

 

 

CMC 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 CMC 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 Samsung and Toshiba drives, their values being very close.

The table below presents the writing speeds, media name and media code for the various discs used.
Media
Code
Speed
MMore 4x DVD+R
MBIPG101
4x
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD+R
MCC 002
4x
Mitsubishi Kagaku 8x DVD+R
MCC 003
4x
CMC 8x DVD+R
CMC MAG E01
4x
Traxdata 8x DVD+R
RITEK R03
8x
Traxdata 8x DVD-R
RITEKG05
8x
Maxell 8x DVD-R
MXL RG03
8x
CMC 8x DVD-R
CMCMAG.AE1
8x
BenQ 4x DVD-R
SONY04D1
4x
MMore 4x DVD-R
MBI 01RG20
4x
Traxdata 4x DVD-R
RITEKG04
4x
Traxdata 4x DVD+RW
RICOHJPN W11
4x
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD+RW
MKM A02
4x
Traxdata 4x DVD-RW
RITEKW04
4x
Mitsubishi Kagaku 4x DVD-RW
MCC 01RW4X
4x


12. KProbe PI/PO Quality Tests for DVD+R/RW

SAMSUNG SH-W08A DVD±R/RW recorder - Page 12

PI/PO quality results for DVD+R/RW

The following screenshots present the PI/PO results for various DVD-/+R and DVD-/+RW media, recorded with the Samsung drive at the maximum allowed speed.

The software used for the measurements was KProbe v2.1.0, ECC was set to 8 and the reading drive was the LiteOn LDW-811S at 8x 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 disc types are presented below detailed.

Cannot access the disc. We repeat the recording in a different disc and we measured again. The results were the same.

Cannot access the disc. We repeat the recording in a different disc and we measured again. The results were the same.


Media
Code
Plextor 8x DVD+R
YUDEN000T02
MMore 4x DVD+R
MBIPG101
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD+R
MCC 002
Mitsubishi Kagaku 8x DVD+R
MCC 003
CMC 8x DVD+R
CMC MAG E01
Traxdata 8x DVD+R
RITEK R03
Traxdata 4x DVD+RW
RICOHJPN W11
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4x DVD+RW
MKM A02

13. KProbe PI/PO Quality Tests for DVD-R/RW

SAMSUNG SH-W08A DVD±R/RW recorder - Page 13

PI/PO quality results for DVD-R/RW


Media
Code
Traxdata 8x DVD-R
RITEKG05
Maxell 8x DVD-R
MXL RG03
CMC 8x DVD-R
CMCMAG.AE1
BenQ 4x DVD-R
SONY04D1
MMore 4x DVD-R
MBI 01RG20
Traxdata 4x DVD-R
RITEKG04
Traxdata 4x DVD-RW
RITEKW04
Mitsubishi Kagaku 4x DVD-RW
MCC 01RW4X

As you can see from the previous page and this one, the drive had a strange behavior in the writing tests. We were unable to carry out measurements with some media, while some others could not be accessed at all. Media we managed to measure, the writing quality was good in only one case, that of MC media. With the others, the PI/PO levels were increased. A new firmware release will fix this.


14. BookType Setting Tests

SAMSUNG SH-W08A DVD±R/RW recorder - Page 14

BookType Setting

Unfortunately Samsung SH-W08A doesn't support the BookType setting option, at least with the current firmware. We don't have any news if this will be added with future firmware updates.


15. Conclusion

SAMSUNG SH-W08A DVD±R/RW recorder - Page 15

Conclusion

The Samsung drive performed well with low seek times in the CD reading tests, although full seeks were a little high. The error correction test results showed better than an average performance.

DVD reading is fast with both recordable and pressed media, along with good seek times. The drive further displayed very good error correction capabilities with the defective discs. The drive managed to playback all of our test discs without reporting any errors or problems, which means strong DVD error correction capability.

The drive managed to make partial working backups of all our protected games CDs. All the backups were playable with the same drive but not in others drives, at least for the latest SafeDisk versions. The drive also gave us acceptable ripping times for all game titles we tried.

The Samsung returned good performance only with the CDS200 protection scheme while with Key2Audio protection, the drive recognizes the disc but cannot play or rip the contents. It could play our 99min AudioCD but had some reading problems with the 90min CD, during the last tracks.

Writing with the Samsung drive CDs we had nice write quality with three out of the five various media we used. The drive has compatibility problems with MAM media as it burns them at 16x maximum speed and we also suggest avoiding Traxdata 52x media with this drive as it gave us the highest jitter results and C2 errors. The Samsung drive also failed to overburn CD-R (700MB), 90min (800MB) and 99min (880MB). We expect that all this will be fixed with a new firmware upgrade.

DVD recording revealed that the drive has low media compatibility. Certified famous 8X media were recorded at 4X. Maybe a firmware upgrade will fix this also. As for the recording quality, the results speak for themselves, where we were unable to measure half of the media brands used. However, from what media we did manage to measure, we estimate that there were many cases where the PI/PO levels were increased.

The drive aptly priced at about $92.



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