X-bit labs

MSI DR16-B2 DVD±RW Dual Layer Burner: Repeated Success or New Heights? (page 17)

Category: Storage

by Vasily Melnik

[ 09/27/2005 | 09:43 PM ]

Rewritable DVD Media

DVD+RW Discs Burn Quality at 2.4x speed

MSI DR16-B2
 

BenQ DW1620
 

And once again we see the errors distributed in the same manner on the surface of both discs. The error rate is increasing closer to the outermost tracks. PI Failures occur rather frequently, and the PI Failure rate is near the acceptable limit, sometimes even exceeding it. You should note, however, that we deal with rewritable media and burn quality requirements are less strict for them than for write-once formats. Despite the similar distribution of errors, the burn quality is higher on the disc recorded by the BenQ DW1620. It has fewer PI Errors and Failures in total. The average PI Failure rate is somewhat higher on the disc recorded by the MSI DR16-B2, too.

Regrettably, the DVD+RW disc recorded by the MSI DR16-B2 at 2.4x speed didn’t pass the Beta/Jitter and TA tests, even though it was read by several other optical drives I tried it in. So I don’t publish the diagrams for these tests.

4x burn speed is to be examined next.

DVD+RW Discs Burn Quality at 4x speed

MSI DR16-B2
 

BenQ DW1620
 

The difference between the devices can be seen with a naked eye. The results of the MSI DR16-B2 are quite satisfactory considering the type of the medium. The parameters are all normal. Despite the rise of the PI Error rate towards the end of the disc, the maximum number of PI Errors is still acceptable. The average PI Failure rate approaches the top limit but doesn’t cross it. So, the overall quality of the disc is satisfactory. But the results of the competing drive prove that this blank can be recorded much better: the BenQ DW1620 has four times less errors than the MSI. I want to remind you that the BenQ had serious problems with burning media of this format. As you see, these problems were successfully solved in the new firmware.

Unfortunately, the DVD+RW disc recorded by the MSI DR16-B2 at 4x speed didn’t pass the Beta/Jitter and TA tests, although it was successfully read by several drives I tried it in. So I don’t publish the diagrams for these tests but move on to DVD-RW discs.