CDR-Zone.COM and Big Pockets present the Verbatim 8X DVD-R Printable media review.

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Posted on Wednesday 26th of May, 2004 at 15:18 by SirQUK
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Features
Packaging and presentation
DVD-R information
Burning
Verification and error checking
Printing to the media
Conclusion

Many thanks must to goto Big Pockets for sending us this media to review for our CDR-Zone readers. In this review we get to look at the 'PHOTO PRINTABLE' 8x DVD-R media from Verbatim.

"Verbatim's DVD-R media are compatible with DVD-R drives, including Apple and Pioneer, and are read compatible with most DVD-ROM drives and DVD-Video players. Use Verbatim DVD-R media for a data archiving, PC backup, audio/video recording, and more. The photo printable media ensures 100% compatiability with modern injek DVD printers"

Features:

Manufactured by Verbatim
Lead In Info MCC 02RG20
Advanced AZO recording layer
Metal AZO Recording Layer
Highest level of recording stability
Superior archival life
For Video (CLV) and Data (CAV) applications
Top Surface Colour White Printable
Writing Surface Colour Purple
Write Speed 1x-8x certified
Max Storage Data 4.7Gb
Max Storage Time 120min
Available in Jewel Case or Video Tall box

Packaging and presentation:

Our test media arrived in a pack of 10 discs, each disc having its own jewel case ensuring no damage could be done to the discs The top writing surface of the disc is a plain white printable surface.

The recording surface is a dark purple and manufactured using the award winning quality dye from the Mitsubishi factory.

DVD+R information:

In these tests the software used for all the recording where CopyToDVD 3 and DVD Decrypter 3.2.2.0.

VSO softwares new Media information utility - VSO Inspector was used for gathering our information about the inserted media, DVDInfoPro, CDCheck, and Nero CDSpeed were used to check the recorded DVD for errors, and the hardware used was the Pioneer 107 DVD+/-RW drive.

As the above screenshot from VSO Inspector shows, the Media Code/Manufacturer ID of MCC 02RG20 is proof that it manufactured with the well proven, extremely high quality and Mitsibushi dye with the available burning speeds of 1x, 2x, 4x and 8x -R and a total capacity of 4.38 GB and compatiability problems should not be present with both PC and standalone DVD Players.

Nero CD\DVD Speed comfirming the ID code:

Readers who may have used the famed 4x printable discs will recognise the familar look to these discs.

Mitsubishi are acknowledged as one of the leading manufacturers of DVDR+/- media in todays market, producing one of the most compatiable dyes around.Very often, it is even possible to record Verbatim DVD media past it rated speed and still obtain no errors on your media.

Burning:

To test the DVD-R Media at various recording speeds the latest version of CopyToDVD from VSO-software was used to burn a Video DVD and Data DVD from my Hard drive. DVDDecrypter was used to burn an ISO image of the same Video DVD.The entire process should take between 8 and 9 minutes to complete at 8x.

" A note worth mentioning here, is that your DVD writer may need a firmware upgrade to write these discs at their certified speed as they are new on the market."

The above picture shows CopyToDVD burning the media at 8x.

The above picture shows DVDDecrypter burning an ISO image at 8x.

Verification and error checking:

VSO Inspector was used to check the recorded DV for any bad sectors that might be present. As the screenshot below shows, no bad sectors where found during the scan:

To check for any errors on the recorded DVD, both the DVDInfoPro "CD\DVD error test" utility and CDChecks Media error check function were used to Verify the recorded Media. The tests show that no read errors were reported.

DVDInfoPro reported no errors with its check utility:

CDCheck reported no errors with its check utility:

A second test was carried out to verify the DVD-R file structure. Both DVDinfoPro and CDChecks "Compare" utilities compared the files on the DVD+R to the original source files on the Hard Disk.

DVDInfoPro reported no errors with its compare utility:

CDCheck reported no errors with its compare utility:

As shown in the images above you can see the files on the DVD-R are identical to to the source files on the Hard Disk.

To check the playback, the DVD-R , the same playing tests has used on our Verbatim Movie Reel review where carried out.. Both the software and standalone DVD Players played the DVD without any effort at all and no gliches or video distortion was seen.

Printing to the media:

To see how well the disc could be printed to, the Epson R300 photo printer was used to print directly onto the disc. The screenshot above shows how well the print came out, with no blotches or smears on the disc. Very effective huh?

Conclusion:

The Verbatim 8x DVD-R media burnt perfectly at 8x using both CopyToDVD and DVDDecrypter, using different burning modes. No Errors where found on the 5 DVD-R's used during these tests. All the Video DVD-R's played perfectly on all standalone DVD players they were tested on.

The writing surface was easy to print onto and the results of the printing did not effect the quality of the recorded disc. It seems Verbatim are keeping up their good record for making quality media for todays faster recording needs. CDR-Zone have no hestitation in recommending this media to anyone that wants good reliable error free backups of their Data/Video needs, with the ability to directly print a distinctive photo for easy archiving.

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