LITE-ON BD B LH-2B1S Blu-Ray Drive

Review Pages

1. Introduction
2. CD - DVD Reading
3. CD Error Correction
4. DVD Error Correction
5. TDK CDR
6. MEMOREX CDR
7. Ritek CDR
8. TY CDR
9. Verbatim CDR
10. Daxon CDR
11. MEMOREX BDR
12. TDK BDR
13. Verbatim BDR
14. TDK BDRE
15. Verbatim BDRE
16. SONY BDRE
17. DaTARIUS DVD Analyzer R 2x
18. BeAll000 P80 DVD+R
19. CMC MAG E01 DVD+R
20. MAXELL 003 DVD+R
21. MCC 003 DVD+R
22. MCC 004 DVD+R
23. OPTODISC OR8 DVD+R
24. OPTODISC R16 DVD+R
25. PRODISC R04 DVD+R
26. RITEK R04 DVD+R
27. YUDEN000 T02 DVD+R
28. YUDEN000 T03 DVD+R
29. CMC MAG AE1 DVD-R
30. CMC MAG AM3 DVD-R
31. DAXON016S DVD-R
32. FUJIFILM03 DVD-R
33. MCC 01RG20 DVD-R
34. OPTODISCR0008 DVD-R
35. Prodisc F01 DVD-R
36. ProdiscS05 DVD-R
37. RICOHJPN R03 DVD-R
38. RITEK F1 DVD-R
39. RITEKG05 DVD-R
40. TTH02 DVD-R
41. TYG01 DVD-R
42. TYG02 DVD-R
43. MKM 01 RD30 DVD-R DL
44. MKM 03 RD30 DVD-R DL
45. MKM 003 000 DVD+R DL
46. RICOHJPN D00 DVD+R DL
47. MKM 01RW6X01 DVD-RW
48. RITEKW06 DVD-RW
49. MKM A02 DVD+RW
50. MKM A03 DVD+RW
51. RICOHJPN W21 DVD+RW
52. DVD Writing Quality Summary
53. Conclusion

LiteOn's first generation Blu-Ray drive has left us with a good overall impression, showing an overall positive behavior in the basic tasks of this review.

As a Blu-Ray drive, the device successfully burned all the BD-R and BD-RE media we used in this test. Having compatibility in mind, we tested the burned discs in the other Blu-Ray drives that are currently available on the market. All discs were readable except for the TDK 50GB BD-R disc, which is not supported by the drive. Early announcements of the LiteOn LH-2B1S drive indicated that the drive would be compatible with dual-layer (50GB) BD-R media but currently, the company claims that hardware limitations do not allow this kind of support, while it promises it in the next generation of drives.

How about using the drive as a Blu-Ray movie player? Unfortunately, we were unable to test any titles with the drive, since as yet, no releases have been forthcoming in the European region. But the drive is only one link in the chain of devices required to play a HD title. As it is widely discussed over the internet, in order to play HD content titles, a compatible HDCP monitor or HDMI TV set is required as well as an appropriate graphics card (HDCP) and the latest Nvidia or ATI drivers.

The drive is very fast with the more traditional CD and DVD media in either writing or reading. The supported 12X writing with DVD±R media provides the drive a small edge compared to the other Blu-Ray drives currently on the market, as well as the 32X speed for CD-R.

In our suite of tests, the drive proved a very capable reader with both CD and DVD defective media. With burning CD and DVD media, it provided adequate quality, probably in part due to the fact that burning was done at lower speeds. However, some MIDs were not supported by the drive, making the specific discs unreadable. In some other cases, the drive refused to complete a burning session. But all these issues may be fixed through a firmware release, so we expect that LiteOn will update the drive soon.

All in all, the LiteOn LH-2B1S could be an attractive triple-format Blu-Ray burner for all those who are willing to pay US$545-699 (according to online prices).

Pros