Passing to the DVD Format we measured the drive's performance not the conventional way but we rather divided the test results in

A) DVD-ROM Single Layer media (Pressed)
This contains both normal 4.7GB sized DVD-ROM media and artificial scratched media, like the Abex TDR-821/TDR-825, its interesting to see if the media will slow down when it encounters such error at a DVD media.

The best performance came from Pop-up (Optiarc AD-7560A), which didn't slowed at all even with the artificial scratched media. The second best performance is very close as with the top 5 drives. The worst drives are the Cocopa ECD813-Y (TSSTcorp SN-208AB) and the Rioddas BT-638 (PLDS DA8A5SH) since both dropped down their reading speed to read the test discs...

B) DVD-RAM Single Layer media

For this test we used an already burned Maxell 5X DVD-RAM media to check if all drives will read the discs at the same speed. While DVD-RAM is not very popular some users might find this test interesting.

The two based HLDS drives gave the higher performance with 4.58X average reading speed.

C) DVD-ROM Dual Layer media (Pressed)

For this test we used a variety of DVD-ROM / DVD-Video DVD9 pressed discs, mainly from Abex with normal surface and artificial scratched Some drives encountered slowdowns when reading such artificial scratched media, others didn't (at least so much). For sure we want the highest possible reading results. To our surprise the Pop-up (Optiarc AD-7560A) refused to recognize any Dual Layer DVD-ROM / DVD-Video discs we inserted...this results automatically a zero (0) score.

The best score comes from HLDS PortableDVD (HLDS GP96Y) with 5.60X average reading speed, with DVD-ROM/DVD-VIDEO (unencrypted) media. The drive did slowed down with the ABEX TDV-541, which dropped the overall score again it was much faster than the competition.

D) DVD Re-writable media (DVD-RW & DVD+RW)

At this test we used already burned DVD-RW and DVD+RW media to test the drive's performance.

The best performance came from the Pop-up (Optiarc AD-7560A) while the two next drives were very close.

E) Dual Layer Write able DVD Discs

At this test we used two already burned Verbatim DVD-R DL and Verbatim DVD+R DL media and we used them with all the tested drives. This time all drives recognized the inserted media.

The best performance came from the Rioddas BT-638 (HLDS GU10N) with 5.80X average reading speed.

F) DVD-Video Decrypt Ripping Speed

Some users who have many DVD-Video might want to transfer their data into a NAS server. At this case a high reading/decrypt speed will be life savior. Most drives at this test seem to "limit" their ripping speed to 3.00X.

The best performance came from Haiway (TSSTcorp TS-633C) with an average of 5.80X.

After all the above tests, we must come to a conclusion, which drive is the best for reading DVD media? Well that depends upon the use, but in general we can say that the drive with the most score points earns our trust.

The best drive for reading DVD media was the HLDS PortableDVD (HLDS GP96Y) with a very good and sustain performance among a variety of media.