BenQ DW830A DL Recorder - page 4

- Tests

We burned two DVD+R DL media with BenQ DW830A. The first one was a DVD-Video, while the second one was filled with data (Mp3, Mpeg4 movies). For all burning tests we used CopyToDVD v3.09.

• DVD-Video Test

For the DVD-Video Test, we used the "Gladiator Movie - Special Edition" disc1 with a total size of 6.86GB. First we transferred the move to the HD with DVD Decrypter (ISO format - single file):

Afterwards, we launched CopyToDVD. The friendly wizard welcomed us and here, we can select the main tasks:

For our test, we used the "Movie & Pictures" selection and furthermore the "Write DVD Video" option.

The software prompts us to select the Video_TS/ISO image folder. We select the "GLADIATOR.ISO" image (hard disk) and the DW830A burner:

The burning procedure started and finished after 39:14 mins. Unfortunately, CopyToDVD doesn't offer the final burning screen, but we were able to see the burning procedure at the log file. The disc was successfully written as CopyToDVD reports:

5/5/2004 8:32:01 ìì info ********** Report session closed ***********
5/5/2004 8:31:53 ìì info Write completed
5/5/2004 8:30:57 ìì warning Padding 16384 bytes due to wrong image size
5/5/2004 7:52:42 ìì info Starting write buffer
5/5/2004 7:52:42 ìì info Starting to write...
5/5/2004 7:52:42 ìì info Buffer under-run proof not detected
5/5/2004 7:52:42 ìì info Optimal L0 boundary set to LBA 1797264 (3,43 Gb.)
5/5/2004 7:52:42 ìì info Writing speed selected 2,4x
5/5/2004 7:52:42 ìì info Open Image file "C:\GLADIATOR.ISO"
5/5/2004 7:52:42 ìì info Available sector size : 4173824
5/5/2004 7:52:42 ìì info Unknown medium type
5/5/2004 7:52:42 ìì info Detected media $002B: Dual Layer DVD+R
5/5/2004 7:52:42 ìì info Start Browsing file structures
5/5/2004 7:52:42 ìì info Supported Media: DVD+R, DVD+RW, CD-R, CD-RW, DL DVD+R
5/5/2004 7:52:42 ìì info Writing device used: 0:1:0 - BENQ DVD DL DW830A B4A8 [F] (Ide)
5/5/2004 7:52:42 ìì info Using Patin-Couffin driver Version 1.22, Internal revision 22
5/5/2004 7:52:39 ìì info Using single file/folder write mode.
5/5/2004 7:52:39 ìì info ParamStr 1 = "C:\GLADIATOR.ISO"
5/5/2004 7:52:39 ìì info ParamStr 0 = "C:\PROGRA~1\vso\COPYTO~1\copytocd.exe"
5/5/2004 7:52:39 ìì info User default language : 1032 (0x0408h) - Greek
5/5/2004 7:52:39 ìì info System default language : 1032 (0x0408h) - Greek
5/5/2004 7:52:39 ìì info Version 3.0.9.20
5/5/2004 7:52:39 ìì info Title : CopyToDVD
5/5/2004 7:52:39 ìì info ExeName : "C:\PROGRA~1\vso\COPYTO~1\copytocd.exe"
5/5/2004 7:52:39 ìì info OS : Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
5/5/2004 7:52:39 ìì info ******************** Report session started ********************

The warning message "Padding 16384bytes..." isn't something worrying, as CopyToDVD explains "...some writer need to have an image size to be a multiply of 16kb block, so it is just a empty sector to respect granularity.We plan to change this warning message soon to something, less scary...".

We begin with a CD-DVD Speed transfer test of the recorded disc using the DW830A as a reader. The reading curve was perfect (CAV), started at 3.15X, ended at 7.14X while the average reading speed was 5.41X:

The disc was scanned for PI/PO error levels with LiteOn SOHW-812S @ 4X reading speed:

As we can easily notice, the 812S drive reports high PI/PO error rate at Layer 1 (layer below disc label). A high spike reached the 320, but we are not so sure if the above results are correct. We used PowerDVD v5.0 and watched DVD-Video file at the SOHW-812S drive without any issues, even at 32X FF/FW. Below is the CD-DVD Speed graph using the LiteOn SOHW-812S drive. The reading curve is almost perfect as well:

BenQ comments that high PI/PO errors as reported from LiteOn readers (at Layer 1) are not correct, since proper hardware adjustments should made in the reader in order to retrieve correct error information. Even the well known AudioDev CATS analyzers had to modify drives to properly measure L0 & L1. Don't forget that in order the laser to read the L1 data, it passes through L0 layer, affecting the error rate sum. Assuming that this statement is correct, there is a big question, if and how we can measure DL media with normal drives...

• Data Tests

We created a Data project with CopyToDVD, sized 7.96GB. The data are Mpeg4 (XVid) and Mp3 files. In order to use the build-in file size measuring calculator you have to select the "DVD-9" tab. However not that the available space on the disk is7.96GB, and not 8.55GB as CopyToDVD allows you to add:

We pressed the "Write" button, and the writing process started. The duration of the recording was 47:27mins, while the log file gives us the useful details:

6/5/2004 12:37:29 ðì info ********** Report session closed ***********
6/5/2004 12:37:26 ðì info Write completed
5/5/2004 11:52:08 ìì info Starting write buffer
5/5/2004 11:52:08 ìì info Starting to write...
5/5/2004 11:52:08 ìì info Buffer under-run proof not detected
5/5/2004 11:52:08 ìì info Optimal L0 boundary set to LBA 2085664 (3,98 Gb.)
5/5/2004 11:52:08 ìì info Writing speed selected 2,4x
5/5/2004 11:52:08 ìì info Open Image file "C:\Documents and Settings\admin\Application Data\CopyToDvd\COPYTODVD_05052004_235207_681.cache"
5/5/2004 11:52:08 ìì info Available sector size : 4173824
5/5/2004 11:52:08 ìì info 120mm DVD Single Layer
5/5/2004 11:52:08 ìì info Detected media $002B: Dual Layer DVD+R
5/5/2004 11:52:07 ìì info Number of files 204 - Number of folders 11
5/5/2004 11:52:07 ìì info Number of files 204 - Number of folders 11
5/5/2004 11:52:07 ìì info 120mm DVD Single Layer
5/5/2004 11:52:07 ìì info Detected media $002B: Dual Layer DVD+R
5/5/2004 11:52:07 ìì info Continue button pressed
5/5/2004 11:52:05 ìì info Drive not ready - Code 06 28 00 [Unit attention, Not ready to ready change, medium may have changed]
5/5/2004 11:52:03 ìì info Finished browsing files - Data size 7,96 Gb.
5/5/2004 11:52:03 ìì info Start Browsing file structures
5/5/2004 11:52:03 ìì info Supported Media: DVD+R, DVD+RW, CD-R, CD-RW, DL DVD+R
5/5/2004 11:52:03 ìì info Writing device used: 0:1:0 - BENQ DVD DL DW830A B4A8 [F] (Ide)
5/5/2004 11:52:03 ìì info Using Patin-Couffin driver Version 1.22, Internal revision 22
5/5/2004 11:52:03 ìì info Using File/Directory list.
5/5/2004 11:52:03 ìì info ParamStr 4 = "/writespeed=2.0"
5/5/2004 11:52:03 ìì info ParamStr 3 = "/writedevice=F"
5/5/2004 11:52:03 ìì info ParamStr 2 = "/volumename=DL_Test_2"
5/5/2004 11:52:03 ìì info ParamStr 1 = "/fl=C:\PROGRA~1\vso\COPYTO~1\~c2c_fl.tmp"
5/5/2004 11:52:03 ìì info ParamStr 0 = "C:\PROGRA~1\vso\COPYTO~1\CopyToCd.exe"
5/5/2004 11:52:03 ìì info User default language : 1032 (0x0408h) - Greek
5/5/2004 11:52:03 ìì info System default language : 1032 (0x0408h) - Greek
5/5/2004 11:52:03 ìì info Version 3.0.9.20
5/5/2004 11:52:03 ìì info Title : CopyToDVD
5/5/2004 11:52:03 ìì info ExeName : "C:\PROGRA~1\vso\COPYTO~1\CopyToCd.exe"
5/5/2004 11:52:03 ìì info OS : Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
5/5/2004 11:52:02 ìì info ******************** Report session started

The CD-DVD Speed transfer test of the disc is illustrated below. The reader here is the same BenQ drive. The reading curve was perfect, started at 3.15X, ended at 7.59X while the average reading speed was 5.68X.:

The disc afterwards was scanned for PI/PO levels with LiteOn SOHW-812S @ 4X reading speed:

As we can easily notice, the 812S drive reports high PI/PO error rate at Layer 1. There are some spikes reaching 412 PI and several high PO spikes, but again we are not so sure if the above results are correct. Below is the CD-DVD Speed graph using the LiteOn SOHW-812S drive. The reading speed drops just before and after the 4GB mark (layer change), and this is where the drive reports high PI error rate.