TDK 882N Recorder - Page 4

DVD Error Correction Tests

In the following tests we examined the DVD reading capabilities of the TDK 882N drive with scratched / defective DVD media. For the tests we used CDVD Benchmark and Nero CDSpeed . The reference test media comes from ALMEDIO.

- Single Layer media

ABEX TDR-821

This is a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM with a 4.7GB capacity, and its surface has an artificial scratch of dimensions varying from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.

The following transfer rate picture comes from the CDVD Benchmark v1.21 transfer rate test.

The drive can read DVD media up to 12X speed. The scratched area did not affect the reading process. The disc was read accurately, the resulting graph is very clean and no read errors were reported. This performance indicates high error correction capabilities with this type of disc.

ABEX TDR-825

This is also a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM of a 4.7GB capacity. The data structure of the disc is exactly the same as that of the TDR-821, with the difference that there are no scratches on it but defective areas of dimensions ranging from 0.5 to 1.1 mm.

There are also fingerprints sized between 65 and 75 micrometers.

As before, the TDK 882N had no problems reading the test disc. A continuous line was produced giving no errors during the reading process. The disc was read as if there were no defective areas at all.

- Dual Layer media

ABEX TDR-841

This is an 8.5GB dual layer, single sided DVD-ROM disc with artificial scratches of dimensions ranging from 0.4 to 3.0mm, on both layers

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As seen above, the drive had problems reading this test disc. The red blob indicates that there were read errors during the reading process. However, the test was completed. It should be noted that when the NEC ND-2510A drive was tested, the drive could not even complete the test, giving too many read errors, and the disc was unreadable.

ABEX TDR-845

The disc is a single sided, dual layer DVD-ROM disc of a capacity of 8.5GB. The only difference between the TDR-845 and the TDR-841 is that the first includes defected areas and fingerprints. The dimensions of the defected areas range from 0.5 to 1.1 mm and the fingerprints are sized from 65 to 75 micro meters.

This is better. A relatively clean graph and best of all, no errors.

ABEX TDV-541

The TDV-541 is a single sided, dual layer DVD-VIDEO disc, with a capacity of 8.5GB.The disc is based upon the TDV-540 series which is designed for inspection and adjustment of DVD-VIDEO players. The discs check the layer switch operation from layer 0 to layer 1 and also include test pictures and test signals for DVD sound files.

The current TDV-541 checks also the error correcting capabilities of the drive and includes scratches ranging from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.

As with the NEC drive, so too the TDK 882N was unable to to read this test disc. According to this reading behavior, the drive can be described as a bad reader. It started to read at 1.91X, lowered the reading speed for an instance, and stopped reading right after the end of the first layer at a speed of 4.25X with a highest speed of 4.49X.

ABEX TDV-545

The TDV-545 disc is based on the TDV-540 series. It is a single sided, dual layer DVD-VIDEO disc with a capacity of 8.5GB.

The TDV-545 includes artificial black dots on the data surface, sized from 0.4 to 1.0 mm. It has also 65 - 75 micrometer fingerprints.

The TDK 882N started to read at 1.91X as before, and reached a highest speed of 4.58X. Because of the rip lock feature which was discussed earlier, the reading speed was not as high as other 8X DVD recorders, but we were happy to see that no read errors were produced.