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Name::THE SAINT From::Singapore, Singapore
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11 April, 2007
Are Cheap DVD Burners Worth the Trouble?
Just Any DVD Burner Will Not Do
It has been over a year since we last took a look at DVD burners. One reason for the delay is that there were few developments on which to report ever since the write speeds hit 16X. Manufacturers then focused on value-added features such as built-in disc labeling called LightScribe. Another reason is the incredibly cheap price level: It is absolutely possible to purchase a DVD burner for as little as $25. But there still are differences in quality.
There are various reasons why you might want to purchase a DVD burner for your PC. On one hand, it can serve as a versatile and inexpensive storage device, as recordable DVDs store 4.7 GB on single-layer discs or 8.5 GB of data onto double-layer media (DL). This provides plenty of space for storing your family pictures, wedding videos or other data. On the other hand, DVDs are the most popular medium for digital movies and audio. Most DVD players and recent car audio solutions support audio and video playback of various popular formats, and a single-layer DVD can hold over eight hours of DivX or XviD video in standard definition or 750 MP3 songs in 192 kb/s quality.
Another invaluable advantage is how DVD readers and writers probably are the most widely used storage devices today. Every new PC or notebook carries an optical drive and can at least read DVDs and CDs, and more and more computers have DVD writing capabilities. Rewriteable media allows users to re-record data many times instead of creating single-use DVDs (called WORMs - Write Once, Read Multiple). While DVDs are not extremely durable, the discs will store your data safely for several years. For very important data, we recommend redundant storage - even if your discs are kept in a safe place.
There are so many different DVD recordables and DVD writers. We recommend opting for branded products, especially the recordables, as we've already seen physical degradation of so-called no-name recordables only a few years after they were written. Storing data on a DVD is an irreversible process that burns physical marks into the dye layer(s), which is why we recommend relying on brands that you know and trust. Rewriteables utilize a phase-change recording layer, which can be altered approximately 1,000 times.
DVD Basics
There are DVD-ROM drives (Read Only Memory) and DVD burners (writers, recorders). Both read all types of DVD media, but only DVD burners write onto compatible discs. Data is read or written from or to the dye layer using a 650-nm wavelength. DVD-R by the DVD Forum was the first DVD standard, but it wasn't quite accepted by all device manufacturers, because it carried sectors which could not be written for the purpose of preventing illegal copies of copyrighted material. Some industry members them founded the DVD+RW Alliance, which developed its own standard. It's incompatible, but technically similar.
While the first DVD burner generations only supported one of the two standards, today's drives are capable of handling both (although only DVD-R products may carry the DVD logo) and there is no price difference between DVD-R and DVD+R anymore. Also, it doesn't matter which standard you use for data storage.
Single-layer discs are incredibly inexpensive and can be written in fairly quickly in five to six minutes at 16X write speed. The double-layer media (DL) is still somewhat expensive and requires at least 20 minutes to finish the 8.4 GB task. This is because the write speeds max out at 10X for DL, and the two layers have to be written consecutively.
Most DVD burners still use an UltraATA interface, but more and more devices come with modern Serial ATA interfaces. SATA has the advantage that you don't have to configure anything - just plug the device into an available SATA port. UltraATA devices require a jumper to be set to determine whether the drive runs in master or slave mode. Performance Basics
There are two different ways of operating drives that are based on rotating media. This can be at constant angular velocity (CAV) or constant linear velocity (CLV). Hard drives typically operate at a constant angular velocity, which means that the absolute velocity increases towards the outer areas of the rotating platter by maintaining a fixed rotation speed of e.g. 7,200 RPM. Optical drives such as CD or DVD drives utilize either the technology, or a combination of both technologies, called PCAV (partial constant angular velocity). And there is the option of running drives in ZCLV mode, which holds a certain speed for a given zone on the disc.
While rotation speeds are very important, vibration is a serious issue that requires attention. For this reason, many drives have vibration sensors, which throttle media rotation speeds in case of read or write failures.
Optical drives show considerably slower access times than hard drives. Typically, the laser unit is driven by a small motor, guided within a little concentric rail. The results are access times that are at least 10 times longer than with hard drives. But as many applications for DVD storage require sequential reading of information, access time can be considered secondary. Lightscribe
Labeling your own DVD is an interesting topic. The typical approach is to use a thin, permanent marker to write your title on the upper side of the DVD. This can be done with most DVDs you buy in retail channels. However, this doesn't look very professional. LightScribe is a technology that uses a drive's DVD laser unit that allows you to etch text or images onto the surface. As you can imagine, LightScribe requires appropriate recordable media and you have to insert your DVD upside down to be able to "lightscribe" it. More information can be found here.
LG GSA-H42L
LG's current DVD burner is called Super Multi GSA-H42L and it supports all DVD formats at up to 18X write speeds for DVD+R and DVD-R. It is also compatible with 6X DVD-RW and 8X DVD+RW. Double-layer discs can be written at 10X speeds. Last but not least, DVD-RAM is supported at 12X speed. CD speeds are supported at up to 48X (read and write).
According to LG's specifications, the burner's average access times are 140 ms for DVD-ROM, 175 ms for DVD-RAM and 120 ms for CD-ROM. The drive comes with 2 MB buffer, a buffer under run protection feature and it utilizes an UltraATA interface. The H42L supports LightScribe, whereas the GSA-H42N does not. We found the price difference to be small enough to justify the extra expense for the H42L with LightScribe.
The retail package comes with beige and black front panels for the drive, which allows the user to adjust its appearance to the color of the computer case. The drive is very quiet, but its DVD ripping speed was clearly too long, as Pioneer and Sony finished the same task 40% faster (11 minutes versus 27 minutes).
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Wednesday, April 11, 2007 ::
