In order to test the writing quality and readability of the burned media we used two readers with two software applications:

• The LiteON SOHD-167T with patched firmware being able to read DVD5 up to 16X CAV and DVD9 up to 10X CAV. For the transfer rate tests we used the latest Nero CDSpeed version.
• The Plextor PX-716A with the latest available firmware. For scanning the disc, we used the latest PlexTools version at 2X CLV reading speed, BURST mode, with middle accuracy.

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

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

16X DVD+R Writing Speed

• CMC Magnetics 16X DVD+R @ 16X

• Maxell 16X DVD+R @ 16X

• Optodisc 16X DVD+R @ 16X

• Philips 16X DVD+R @ 16X

• Ricoh 16X DVD+R @ 16X

• RiDisc 16X DVD+R @ 16X

• TDK 16X DVD+R @ 16X

• Traxdata 16X DVD+R @ 16X

• Verbatim 16X DVD+R @ 16X

- Summary

It is known that the Philips chipset used by BenQ is biased more towards +R media than -R media. This can be seen in the above graphs, since with all +R 16x media, the burning quality was better than with -R 16x media. A small exception is Traxdata 16x media. We can't really pick one media that performs better than the others. RiDisc, Verbatim, Ricoh and Optodisc look to be slightly better than all the others, but what's the point in finding which is better when all the media are burned at such high quality?