1. Installation - Retail Package
Philips DVDRW885K Double Layer - Page 1
Philips
was the first manufacturer to develop DL recording, in cooperation with
Mitsubishi Chemicals. The brand new recorder from Philips supporting this
feature is the DVDRW885K. The recording speed for this
format is up to 2.4X. The drive also supports DVD+R/RW recording with speeds
at 8X and 4X respectively. In the CD category, the drive offers 24X for
CD-R and 16X for CD-RW media.
Below are summarized the drive's features according to Philips:
- 8.5 GB storage capacity
Single sided double layer disc with 8.5 GB storage capacity.
- Single sided, double layer
Two layers accessible from the same side of the disc, so no need to turn
the disc.
- Dynamic Calibration
Dynamic Calibration optimizes DVD writing quality of high-speed DVD+RW drives.
- DVD compatibility
DVD Compatibility ensures playability of self-made DVD discs on as many set-top
players and DVDROMs as possible.
- Seamless Link
Seamless Link prevents loss of discs caused by writing errors.
- Thermo Balanced Writing
Always the best and fastest recording of any of your recordable discs.
- Smart disc detection
Application software feature detecting the actual disc used and automatically
selecting the correct applications.
- Extensive Software Package
Complete software bundle offering all functionality in a simple intuitive
way.
- How to.. manual
Photo guided step by step tour through both installation process and applications.
- Intuitive Software Launcher
Intuitive launch screen to provide an overview of all available applications
and to start them.
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 position on the disc and temperature inside the drive. The graph below
shows the writing graph of the Philips 8x DVD+R/RW on a Philips 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 which will result 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 for 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 from each other, some effort is taken to synchronize
the Tilt Calibrations with the disc position dependent component of Walking
OPC.
- Specifications
|
|
Interface |
ATAPI / E-IDE |
Buffer Size |
2 MB |
Recording format |
UDF and ISO 9660 |
Access Time |
120ms on CD, 140ms on DVD |
Write Speed |
8x on DVD+R, 2.4x on DVD+R DL, 4x on DVD-R,
24x on CD-R |
Rewrite Speed |
4x on DVD+RW, 2x on DVD-RW, 10x on CD-RW |
Read Speed |
12x on DVD-ROM, 7x on DVD+R DL, 7x on DVD+R,
7x on DVD+RW, 7x on DVD-R, 7x on DVD-RW, 40x on CD-R, 32x on
CD-RW |
Supported Formats |
8cm discs, CD-Audio, CD-Bridge,
CD-Extra, CD-I, CD-Recordable, CD-Rewritable, CD-ROM, CD-Text,
DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-ROM, DVD/R, DVD/RW, Photo CD
|
Writing mode |
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 |
Support OS |
Windows 98 SE, 2000, ME, XP |
Dimensions
|
20x15x4 cm (LxWxH) |
Weight |
0.95 Kg |
Support both 8 cm and 12 cm disc of CD and DVD family |
|
|
More information about the drive in the following screenshots from Nero Info
Tool and DVD Info Pro:
- Retail package
Below is given the retail packages with all the appropriate inclusions.
You can see written on the box, the capacity of 8.5GB.
The specific DL media is from Mitsubishi Chemicals.
- The drive
The DL logo on the upper left makes the difference.
Removing the screws and opening the drive's cover voids the drive's warranty.
For reference reasons, we post the following pictures.
The main chipset comes from the NEXPERIA series.
- Installation
The Philips drive was connected to our test PC and was identified
as "PHILIPS DVDR885P" under
WinXP. All tests were done with firmware P0.6.
In the following pages we have the results of the Philips DVDRW885K in comparison
with the previous Philips model, the DVDRW824P.
2. Data CD Reading Tests
Philips DVDRW885K Double Layer - Page 2
Data CD Reading Tests
In order to test the reading performance of the Philips drive, we used the latest
version
of
NeroCDSpeed
and different types of media according to the test.
- Pressed CD results (Click for
CDSpeed results)
- CD-R Media results (Click for
CDSpeed results)
- ReWritable Media (Click for
CDSpeed results)
To check the reading performance of the Philips with HS-RW media, we used
NeroCDSpeed and a HSRW disc from Mitsubishi Chemicals.
The performance of the two drives is almost identical.
3. Error Correction Tests
Philips DVDRW885K Double Layer - 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:
1062767
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num:
52449
|
Avg:
-73.7dB(A)
|
Max:-11.5
dB(A)
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num:
3106
|
Avg:
1.8 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)
|
Although the overall score for the Philips drive is not the best we have seen,
the score of 76.2 points was quite
acceptable, the 721R test disc being a difficult disc to read. During the
error correction test, the software reported 1062767 total
errors, which is about average. An average number of 1.8 samples were muted
while no samples were skipped, meaning
that the drive managed to process all errors.
- ABEX TCD-726
Errors total
|
Num:
0
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num:
4
|
Avg: -94.0dB(A)
|
Max:
-87.6 dB(A)
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num:
0
|
Avg: 0 Samples
|
Max:
0 Samples
|
Skips Samples
|
Num:
1
|
Avg:
185.0 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.
Winamp, PowerDVD, Windows Media Player). Each level is considered as passed,
if the tone coming out
from the speakers is clear and 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
|
Philips DVDRW885K |
5/5
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
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 overall average score for the Philips DVDRW885K is 79.9 points
out of 100.
4. DVD reading tests
Philips DVDRW885K Double Layer - Page 4
DVD reading tests
- Single Layer DVD-ROM (Click
for CDSpeed results)
To check the reading performance of the Philips drive with single layer DVD-ROM,
we used NeroCDSpeed and the 820A test disc from Abex.
- 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 progressing outwards towards to the outer tracks
for each layer. The tools for this test are Nero CDSpeed and the Abex 840
test disc.
- 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.
- DVD Ripping Tests
We measured the DVD-Video ripping speed for the Philips drive using
the latest version of DVD Decrypter. The DVD Video title is the "Matrix" pressed
DVD-Video.
You will notice that with ripping, there has been some improvment
in speed since the DVDR824P.
- DVD Recordable / Rewritable reading Tests
The chart below shows the Nero CDSpeed average reading speed results for
the following formats with media from Mitsubishi Chemicals:
The performance in all tests is almost identical with both drives.
5. DVD Error Correction Tests
Philips DVDRW885K
Double Layer - Page 5
DVD Error Correction Tests
In the following tests we examined the DVD reading capabilities of the Philips 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.
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 and instead defective areas ranging in dimensions from 0.5 to 1.1 mm. There are also fingerprints with height between 65 and 75 micrometers.
- 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.
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 (micrometres).
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.
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 micrometres high fingerprints.
.
In all tests the Philips drive managed to read the contents successfully without
reporting any read errors. Only in the case of the TDR-825 test disc, the drive
slowed down for a while in order to read the disc.
6. Protected Disc Tests
Philips
DVDRW885K Double Layer - Page 6
Protected Disc
Tests
- Reading Tests
To create an image of the various protected titles onto a hard disk, we
used Alcohol 120% and the appropriate settings, depending on the protection
type of the inserted discs. Below are summarized the capabilities of the Philips
drive, according to CloneCD software. The summary below shows that the drive
supports writing of CD+G under RAW DAO:
The game titles we used to test the reading speed 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
- Writing Tests
The Philips drive drive supports the DAO-RAW
writing mode. For checking the drive's EFM correction status, we used 3 different
game titles
with different SafeDisc versions.
After making the image files of the various titles to the hard disk, we burnt
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 worked (game installed / played normally), or not.
Drive
|
SD v3.1
|
SD v2.9
|
SD v2.8
|
SD v2.60.052
|
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 |
Philips DVDRW885K
|
This recorder is designed for Double Layer recording and not for game
backups. The results confirm this.
7. DAE Tests
Philips DVDRW885K Double Layer - Page 7
DAE Tests
- Pressed and CDR AudioCD results
The Philips DVDRW885K supports 40x maximum reading DAE speed with CAV reading
strategy.
Nero CDSpeed shows that the drive surpassed the specifications.
The test finished with a maximum DAE
speed of 42.8x plus very good seek times.
To test the ripping speed of the DVDRW885K, we ripped the contents of the
same audio disc to our hard disk, using the CDDAE software. For CD-R media
we used
a
clone of the pressed disc.
The ripping speed seems to be faster with the older drive.
- Support of 90/99mins AudioCDs
The Philips drive managed to rip the contents of our 90/99min test
discs
successfully.
- Reading/Ripping Protected AudioCDs
For this test procedure, we used two audio discs with different
audio protection schemes. We tested for 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 |
Philips DVDRW885K
|
OK
|
OK
|
Philips DVDRW824P
|
OK
|
OK with some problems
|
The DVDRW885K model managed to playback and rip the
contents of both protected audio discs without problems, while the DVDR824P
had problems with CDS200 files during playback where it produced
muting and skip errors.
- Cactus Data Shield 200.0.4 - 3.0 build 16a (Aiko Katsukino - The Love
Letter)
|
CDS 200.0.4 - 3.0 build
16a
|
Philips DVDRW885K
|
OK
|
8. CD Recording Tests
Philips DVDRW885K
Double Layer - Page 8
CD Recording Tests
- CD-R Writing Tests
To test the writing speed and writing method of the drive we used a blank
80min CD-R disc from BenQ and NeroCDSpeed
to emulate the writing process.
The
writing emulation process confirmed the 24x maximum writing speed of the Philips
drive. DVDRW885K used P-CAV writing strategy while the reported average speed
was 23.50X. The process started at 18.24X and the speed increased until
the 14min mark, after which and up until the end of the
writing process the speed was constant at ~24X.
- Recording Times
We created an 80min data compilation with Nero Burning Rom and recorded it on a 700MB disc.
- CD-RW Writing Tests
To test the writing speed and writing method of the drive we
used a blank 74min CD-RW disc from Mitsubishi Chemicals and Nero CDSpeed to
emulate the writing process.
The
disc was written with an end speed of 10.14x while the average reported speed
was only 9.95X . The RW media was written with CLV.
Below we provide a comparison of the two drives where we used Nero Burning
Rom software to burn a 651MB data compilation onto 24x US-RW media from MC.
Both drives have the same specifications for CD recording.
CD Overburning
-80min
- 99min
The Philips drive supports overburning for the CD.
9. Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests
Philips
DVDRW885K Double Layer - Page 9
Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests
The Philips DVDRW885K supports a maximum writing speed of 24x and uses P-CAV
writing strategy for the writing tasks. Since this
supported
writing speed could be considered as a safe writing speed, we expect
to see quality results.
- 3T Pit results
The CD recording quality for the Philips drive, according to our measurements,
is very good in all cases except with Traxdata media which
revealed the highest jitter values among all media. The
average levels are
lower than the 35ns RedBook limit, except for Traxdata which is only a
little higher. The average values are given below.
- 3T Land results
As with the Jitter Pit levels, we come to the same conclusions with the Jitter
Land values, with Traxdata media displaying the highest readings.
Recording Speed |
Average 3T Pit Jitter (ns) |
Average 3T Land Jitter (ns) |
> 35ns |
Max 3T jitter values (ns) |
Traxdata 52X |
35.71 |
37.80 |
Yes |
38 Pit, 42 Land |
MMore 52X |
30.12 |
31.10 |
Yes |
33 Pit, 36 Land |
BenQ 48X |
28.59 |
30.41 |
No |
30 Pit, 34 Land |
Mam 52X |
29.41 |
29.54 |
No |
31 Pit, 31 Land |
Maxell 48X |
31.34 |
30.61 |
No |
34 Pit, 33 Land |
The CD recording quality is very good for the drive as we expected. A future
firmware upgrade will probably include Traxdata media as well.
10. C1 / C2 Error Measurements
Philips DVDRW885K Double Layer - Page 10
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 v2.12
and the reader is the Plextor Premium drive.
MEDIA |
C1 |
C2 |
CU |
Traxdata |
Avg/Sec |
2.2 |
0 |
0 |
Max/Sec |
37.0 |
28.0 |
0 |
Total |
10770.0 |
105.0 |
0 |
BenQ |
Avg/Sec |
2.3 |
0 |
0 |
Max/Sec |
24.0 |
0 |
0 |
Total |
11214.0 |
0 |
0 |
Maxell |
Avg/Sec |
2.4 |
0 |
0 |
Max/Sec |
114.0 |
42 |
0 |
Total |
11681.0 |
65 |
0 |
MMore |
Avg/Sec |
2.3 |
0 |
0 |
Max/Sec |
37.0 |
2.0 |
0 |
Total |
11222.0 |
2.0 |
0 |
Mam |
Avg/Sec |
0.6 |
0 |
0 |
Max/Sec |
29.0 |
0 |
0 |
Total |
3033.0 |
0 |
0 |
-
Traxdata 52X recorded at 24X
Disc |
ID Code |
Traxdata 52X |
Ritek 97n15s17f |
Benq 48X |
Acer 97m22s67f |
Maxell XL-S 48x |
Ritek 97m15s17f |
MMore 52X |
unknown 97m17s06f |
Mam Golden Dye52X |
Mitsui Chemicals 97m27s58f |
Once again, according to Plextools, the recording quality
is rather good. The C1 levels are low and there was only one case of
C2 error, this with Traxdata media.
11. DVD Recording Tests
Philips DVDRW885K Double Layer - Page 11
DVD Recording Tests
- Writing Performance
The new Philips DVDRW885K supports, as we had expected, only DVD+R/RW
writing. The new feature here is the DL recording ability.
2.4X DVD+R DL
8X DVD+R
Nero
CDSpeed confirmed the 8x maximum writing speed. The process started at 4.90x
and finished at 8.02x resulting in an average speed of 7.43x.
The writing strategy of the drive for the plus writable format
was Z-CLV and NeroCDSpeed confirmed the smart writing control as shown on the
screenshot below.
The spikes on the transfer graph are as a result of the Walking
Optimal Power Calibration (WOPC) feature. Burning
power is dynamically adjusted to ensure
the writing quality throughout the whole burning process.
4X DVD+RW
For
+RW media, the supported writing speed is 4x. That speed was confirmed by
Nero CDSpeed after the end of the writing emulation. The test started at 4.04x
and finished with an end speed of 4.04x while the reported average speed was
3.96x (due to the negative spikes caused by the smart writing control).
- Burning Tests
The following graphs show the maximum writing speed of the three devices
with all available DVD writable and rewritable media.
With the plus writable and rewritable formats, the three devices support
the same maximum writing speeds, 8x and 4x respectively. The graph shows that
the
Philips DVDRW885K
was
the fastest on +R writing at 8:11min. With the minus format, the supported
speed of the Philips drive is only 4x and therefore
the drive finished the writing task in just under double the time compared
to the
other
two drives.
-
Mitsubishi Kagaku DVD+R DL
Media
|
Code
|
Speed |
Philips DVD+R DL
|
MKM 001
|
2.4X |
CMC 8x DVD+R
|
CMC MAG E01
|
8X
|
Philips 8x DVD+R
|
PHILIPS C08
|
8X
|
Traxdata 8 x DVD+R
|
RITEKR03
|
8X
|
Traxdata 4x DVD+R
|
RICOHJPNR01
|
8X
|
BenQ 4x DVD+-R
|
DAXONAZ1
|
8X
|
MCC 4x DVD+R
|
MCC 002
|
8X
|
MMore 4x DVD+R
|
MBIPG101
|
4X
|
MKM 4x DVD+RW
|
MKM A02
|
4X
|
Traxdata 4x DVD+RW
|
RICOHJPNW11
|
4X
|
DVD Overburning
The Philips drive failed Nero's overburning test.
12. KProbe PI/PIF quality results
Philips DVDRW885K Double Layer - Page 12
KProbe PI/PIF
quality results
The following screenshots show the PI/PIF scans for various DVD-/+R and DVD-/+RW
media, recorded with the Philips drive at the maximum permitted speed.
The software used for the measurements was KProbe v2.1.0, the ECC was set
to 8 and the reading at 8x, with the LiteOn LDW-811s as the reader. The specific
methodology is very dependent on the drive used as a reader, while the reliability
of the
PI/PIF
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 used came from Traxdata, CMC, Philips, Mitsubishi
Chemicals , BenQ and MMore. Further details about each disc type are presented
at the bottom
of this page.
-
CMC Magnetics DVD+R 8x (Recorded
at 8x)
-
Philips 8x DVD+R (Recorded at 8x)
-
Traxdata 8x DVD+R (Recorded at 8x)
-
Traxdata 4x DVD+R (Recorded at 8x)
-
BenQ 4x DVD+R (Recorded at 8x)
-
Plextor 8x DVD+R (Recorded at 8x)
-
MCC 4x DVD+R (Recorded at 8x)
-
MMore 4x DVD+R (Recorded at 4x)
-
3A 8x DVD+R (Recorded at 8x)
-
Maxell 4x DVD+RW (Recorded at 4x)
Servo error reported.
-
Mitsubishi Kagaku 4x DVD+RW (Recorded at 4x)
Servro error reported.
-
Traxdata 4x DVD+RW (Recorded at 4x)
Servo error reported.
-
CMC 4x DVD+RW (Recorded at 4x)
Servo error reported.
In this case, Kprobe reported servo error at the end of the disc. We tried
twice to burn the media but both times the same message was produced. Both
recorded media were brand new.
Media
|
Code
|
Time |
CMC 8x DVD+R
|
CMC MAG E01
|
8:11 |
Philips 8x DVD+R
|
PHILIPS C08
|
7:58 |
Traxdata 8 x DVD+R
|
RITEKR03
|
7:59 |
Traxdata 4x DVD+R
|
RICOHJPNR01
|
8:09 |
BenQ 4x DVD+-R
|
DAXONAZ1
|
8:07 |
Plextor 8x DVD+R |
YUDEN000T02 |
7:59 |
MCC 4x DVD+R
|
MCC 002
|
9:58 |
MMore 4x DVD+R
|
MBIPG101
|
14:41 |
3A 4x DVD+R |
Plasmon1C01 |
7:52 |
Maxell 4x DVD+RW |
PHILIPS041 |
14:27 |
MKM 4x DVD+RW
|
MKM A02
|
14:31
|
Traxdata 4x DVD+RW
|
RICOHJPNW11
|
14:29
|
CMC 4x DVD+RW
|
CMC MAG W02
|
14:31
|
Kprobe reported quite acceptable PI/PIF mesurements for almost all written
media with the Philips writer. However there were a few cases with increased
PI/PIF values and one with error. As for the servo errors with DVD+RW media,
it is not a problem of the Philips drive but probably a bug from Kprobe.
13. KProbe PI/PIF quality results for DL
Philips DVDRW885K Double Layer - Page 13
KProbe PI/PIF
quality results for DL
In order to examine the Double Layer recording quality of the Philips DVDRW885K
drive, we first measured the original pressed movie, using as a reader
this time the LiteOn
SOHD-167T.
DVD Pressed movie
Philips 2.4X DVD+R DL (Booktype DVD-ROM)
As was expected, the difference between our pressed movie and the copied
is the quality of the second Layer. For the first Layer, the writng quality
is the same as with
the pressed
disc.
In
the
second
Layer,
the
PI/PIF
levels
are
slightly
increased. The recording quality is very good.
14. Booktype Feature
Philips
DVDRW885K Double Layer - Page 14
Booktype
Feature
The BenQ Book Type Management program allows you to freely
choose between DVD+RW or DVD+R media to be written as DVD-Rom book type,
the most
recongnizable format for DVD players.
The drive is set by default to DVD-ROM for highest compatibility. It is not
recommented to set it at DVD+R.
15. 885K vs. SA300 - Page 1
Philips
DVDRW885K
Double
Layer
-
Page
15
885K vs. SA300 - Page 1
For checking exactly what the DVDRW885K reports with CDSpeed Quality Test,
we used three different media, burned on other recorders. Each
media was then
measured
with
the
well known AudioDev SA300 DVD CATS system at 1X.
The Philips drive supports only PI and Jitter. We will compare our CDSpeed
Quality Test results at the following
reading speeds against the CATS system measurements :
Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested DVDRW885K
drive. Notice that using other 885K drives can produce totally different results.
#1st Test Disc - PISum8 Comparison - 8X Reading speed
The PI error rate trend line follows closely the SA300's, however with
totally different value levels. Notice that although the speed was set at 8X,
the reading
was
done at 2X. The Jitter
levels similarly, also follow closely the SA300 output.
#1st Test Disc - PISum8 Comparison - 6X Reading speed
Here too, while the speed was set at 6X, the reading process was carried out
at 2X. The trend
is again the same only the values are at a different level.
#1st Test Disc - PISum8 Comparison - 4X Reading speed
Reading was set at 4X, however it was carried out at 1X. Once again we
notice the
same pattern as previously.
The results for the Philips drive are all similar. The trend
in each case, follows the SA300 for both Jitter and PI,
but
the values are at completely different levels, especially for the PI measurments.
16. 885K vs. SA300 - Page 2
Philips
DVDRW885K
Double
Layer
-
Page
16
885K vs. SA300 - Page 2
For checking exactly what the DVDRW885K reports with CDSpeed Quality Test,
we used three different media, burned on other recorders. Each media was then
measured with the well known AudioDev SA300 DVD CATS system at 1X.
The Philips drive supports only PI and Jitter. We will compare our CDSpeed
Quality Test results at the following reading speeds against the CATS system
measurements :
Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested DVDRW885K
drive. Notice that using other 885K drives can produce totally different results.
#2nd Test Disc - PISum8 Comparison - 8X Reading speed
The actual reading speed was 2X.
#2nd Test Disc - PISum8 Comparison - 6X Reading speed
The real speed was 2X here too.
#2nd Test Disc - PISum8 Comparison - 4X Reading speed
And once again the real speed was at 2X.
In all cases, neither the results, nor the trends are similar to those of
the CATS.
17. 885K vs. SA300 - Page 3
Philips
DVDRW885K
Double
Layer
-
Page
17
885K vs. SA300 - Page 3
For checking exactly what the DVDRW885K reports with CDSpeed Quality Test,
we used three different media, burned on other recorders. Each media was then
measured with the well known AudioDev SA300 DVD CATS system at 1X.
The Philips drive supports only PI and Jitter. We will compare our CDSpeed
Quality Test results at the following reading speeds against the CATS system
measurements :
Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested DVDRW885K
drive. Notice that using other 885K drives can produce totally different results.
#3rd Test Disc - PISum8 Comparison - 8X Reading speed
At the 8X reading speed, the drive reported a rather close PI/PIF error trend
line to what the SA300 system measured. Of course, the values are not the same
but nonetheless we can say it was a good performance.
#3rd Test Disc - PISum8 Comparison - 6X Reading speed
#3rd Test Disc - PISum8 Comparison - 4X Reading speed
This time the Jitter levels are increased in comparison with the previous
two reading speeds. The true reading speed proved to be aproximately 1~2X.
The results from Plextools approaches the trend seen in the CATS graph, but
once again the values are different. As for the Jitter, only in the last case
does it seem
to
have similar values with the CATS results. Apart from this, the trend
is the same for all speeds.
18. 885K vs. SA300 - Page 4
Philips
DVDRW885K
Double
Layer
-
Page
18
885K vs. SA300 - Page 4
For checking exactly what the DVDRW885K reports with CDSpeed Quality Test,
we used three different media, burned on other recorders. Each media was then
measured with the well known AudioDev SA300 DVD CATS system at 1X.
Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested DVDRW885K
drive. Notice that using other 885K drives can produce totally different results.
#4th Test Disc - PISum8 Comparison - 8X Reading speed
The difference beetween CDSpeed's results and those of CATS are again different.
The trend is almost the same but the values are over two times up for
the Philips drive. Things are slightly better with Jitter comparison.
The differences beetween the values are small, while the trend is very
similar. Even when we set the reading speed for the Philips drive to 8X,
the test was carried out at aproximately 2X.
#4th Test Disc - PISum8Comparison - 6X Reading speed
Once again the true reading speed with the Philips drive was 2X, instead
of 6X. The same is happening here as with 8X, with
both the Jitter and PI graphs.
#4th Test Disc - PISum8 Comparison - 4X Reading speed
Instead of the 4X reading speed that we set, the test was done at 1X.
19. DL Compatibility Tests
Philips
DVDRW885K Double Layer - Page 19
DL Compatibility Tests
For our compatibility tests, we used the two burned DVD+R DL discs with DVD-Video
content ("Gladiator Movie - Special Edition" Disc1),
PowerDVD v5.0 and Windows Media Classic.
We played our DL media at all supported reading speeds on the following
drives.The results are shown below:
Drive |
Firmware |
DVD-ROM Booktype |
LiteOn SOHW-812S |
vUSOJ |
Playback is perfect |
LiteOn LDW-811S |
vHS0Q |
Playback is perfect |
LiteOn SOHC-5232K |
vNK07 |
Playback is perfect |
Panasonic LDF-511 |
vA112 |
Playback is perfect |
Philips DVDR824P |
vP1.2 |
Not recognized |
Pioneer DCR-111 |
v1.26 |
Playback is perfect |
Pioneer A06 |
v1.07 |
Playback is perfect |
BenQ DW822A |
vB3HC |
Not recognized |
Samsung SH-W08A |
v1S30 |
Not recognized |
Plextor PX-712A |
v1.01 |
Playback is perfect |
Pioneer A07 |
v1.12 |
Not recognized |
Optorite DD405 |
v1.50E |
Playback is perfect |
Optorite DD203 |
v2.25 |
Playback is perfect |
Ricoh MP5125A |
v1.27 |
Playback is perfect |
Ricoh 5308D |
v1.B2 |
Playback is perfect |
NEC 2500A |
v1.07 official |
Playback is perfect |
LiteOn LTD-163D |
vGH5S |
Playback is perfect |
LiteOn LTD-165H |
vCH11 |
Playback is perfect |
Pioneer DVD-500M |
v1.02 |
Not recognized, drive makes noises |
Pioneer DVD-106S/2 |
v1.22 |
Playback is perfect |
Pioneer DVD-116/S2 |
v1.22 |
Playback is perfect |
Toshiba SD-1502 |
v1012 |
Playback is perfect |
Toshiba SD-1612 |
v1004 |
Playback is perfect |
Toshiba SD-1712 |
v1004 |
Playback
is perfect |
Toshiba SD-1802 |
v1034 |
Playback is perfect |
TEAC DV-516E |
v2.01 |
Not recognized |
BTC BDV-316B |
v0.47 |
Playback is perfect |
Ricoh MP5308D |
v.1.B2 |
Playback is perfect |
From 28 drives that are capable of reading DVD media, we had the following
results:
|
DVD+R DL
(DVD-ROM BookType) |
Perfect Playback |
22 |
Medium/Low/No Playback |
- |
Not recognized at all |
6 |
In addition, we tested with some standalone DVD players:
Player |
(DVD-ROM BookType |
PS2
SCPH-5004 series |
Playback is perfect |
Waitec DVD-X4 |
Disc recognized, playback is jerky |
Waitec Vision-HR |
Disc recognized, playback is jerky |
LiteON LVW-5001 |
Playback is perfect |
LiteON LVW-5005 |
Playback is perfect |
Kiss DP-1504 |
Disc isn't recognized |
Philips DVD-720SA |
Playback is perfect |
Philips DVD-763SA |
Philips DVD-963SA |
Pioneer DV-464
|
Pioneer DV-370
|
Pioneer DV-454
|
Pioneer DVR-7000 |
Pioneer DV-656A |
The compatibility of DL media, burned with the Philips drive, is good. In
almost all cases the media was playable.
20. Conclusion
Philips
DVDRW885K Double Layer - Page 20
Conclusion
After finishing our review, we concluded that the drive's performance
was rather good. As a CD reader, the DVDRW885K had high speeds and very good
seek times
in all modes. As for the CD error correction, it was acceptable but we would
like it to be better.
In the DVD tests, once again the drive showed good reading speed and
low seek times. With scratced DVD media, the drive's ability to read
over the
defective
areas was very good, where in our tests, no errors were reported. There was
only one case where the speed dropped in order to read a scratch sized up to
1.1mm.
The ripping speed was also fast.
Game protections are still a problem for the Philips drive. SafeDisk protected
games newer than v2.51 cannot be backed up with the drive.
The ripping speed for all game types we tried was good although it could
be better. However,
we
consider that this recorder is designed for Double Layer recording
and not for games backups.
Both the Key2Audio and the CDS200 protection schemes were not a problem for
the DVDRW885K drive. In addition, it managed to rip the contents of our 90/99min
test
discs
successfully.
The CD recording quality is very good with all the media we tried. This was
expected since the maximum supported 24X speed is not too high. But we would
like better behavior with Traxdata media. So perhaps, in a future firmware
release, this should be addressed.
As for the writing quality with the DVD media, it was good. However, there
were some cases with specific media where the PI/PIF levels were increased.
This
is also something that we would like to see improved.
The drive is priced at about 129 euro.
- The Good
- DL recording
- Burns most 4X DVD+R media at 8X
- Very good DVD writing quality with specific media
- Fast DVD reader & good DVD error correction
- Supports protected Audio discs (CDS200, Key2Audio)
- Booktype change feature
- The Bad
- DVD-R is not supported
- Does not backup SafeDisc2 v2.51x+ protected discs
- Like to be fixed
- DVD writing quality with specific media
- CD error correction could be better
- High C1/C2 errors with specific media (Traxdata)
- Overburning with DVD+R media