SONY DRU-530A DVD±RW recorder - Page 9

Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests

On an 80min 48X CD-R disc from Taiyo Yuden we burned the same AudioCD project at 4x, 8x, 16x, 24x, 32x and 40x. The 3T Pit & Land Jitter graphs are presented here.

- 3T Pit results

Looking at the graph above, we can conclude that generally the Sony drive performed well, keeping the jitter levels below the Redbook limit of 35ns at all speeds except for 40x, where it reached a fairly high level at around 45ns, and 32x which reached 37ns at the very end.

The average 3T Pit Jitter values for all recording speeds are illustrated in the following table.

The average Pit jitter for recording speeds of 24x and over is satisfactory, and very good for those below.

- 3T Land results

At 8x and 16x recording speeds, the performance is good. 4x can also be considered acceptable even though it oversteps the mark with 36ns. At all other speeds, the Land jitter performance is not good reaching a high of 52ns at 40x speed.

The following average values graph confirms the unacceptable levels at the higher speeds. At such levels, the possibility of errors or even audible clicks during playback is increased.

- Summary

With the SONY DRU-530A, the pattern that is obvious is that at higher recording speeds we have higher jitter levels, and with the case of land jitter, the levels are unacceptable.

Right after we finished the measurements, Sony announced a new firmware upgrade, which according to the manufacturer, improves the writing quality of the unit. You can download the latest firmware HERE

The following page where we check the jitter levels produced on various manufacturers discs, should give a better indication of the writing quality level of the drive.