Writing Strategies

Let's have a look at the drive's writing strategies for the highest supported writing speeds. In the following CDSpeed graphs, you can see the average writing speed for a full data compilation (4.38GB), as well as the corresponding recording times.

- DVD+R media @ 18X CAV

The specific results are with Taiyo Yuden 16x DVD+R media (YUDEN000 T03), which was the sole media burned at the maximum supported 18x speed.

The 18x CAV writing strategy resulted in an overall burn time of 5:16 minutes for a full disc. The average writing speed for the 18x CAV strategy is 13.61x.

- DVD-R media @ 16X CAV

The LiteON LH018A1P vGL03 did not manage to reach the 18x writing speed with other DVD-R media we tested, although it is certain that the Taiwanese company will add more MID codes in the drive's firmware with an update.

Above, we also have a successful burn at 16x CAV, with an average speed of 11.97x.

The procedure took 6:03 minutes, which is almost one minute slower than at 18x burning for DVD+R media. Actually, the 16x writing speed is a slightly slower higher due to the frequent checks by the drive's SmartBurn function (running OPC), which shows up as downward spikes in the transfer rate graph. In addition, the 16x burning process starts at 6.75x, which is lower than the 7.57x for the 18x strategy.

- DVD+RW media @ 8X CAV

This is typical for the latest DVD burners, 8x Z-CLV strategy illustrated below, with 8x DVD+RW media from Ricoh (RICOHJP W21).

- DVD-RW 6X DVD-RW @ 6X

The drive burned the 6x DVD-RW media from Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM 01RW6x01) in 11:01 minutes.

- DVD-R DL @ 8X Z-CLV

- DVD+R DL @ 8X Z-CLV

Similar writing strategies for both DVD-R and DVD+R DL media (Z-CLV), with average writing speeds of 6.82x and 6.81x, respectively.

Having an idea of the way the LiteOn LH-18A1P vGL03 treats the various DVD recordable/rewritable formats at the highest supported recording speeds, we proceed to the writing quality tests with various MIDs. In the following pages, we present a detailed report of the writing quality for each disc, measured with the DaTARIUS DVD Analyzer R 2X system.

Each disc was burned at the maximum allowed writing speed and the DVD data compilation was created by with Nero CD DVD-Speed.

For all those who are not familiar with the measurements and the importance of the parameters provided by the DaTARIUS DVD Analyzer R 2X system, we recommend reading this article.