Indepth analysis of DVD+R media results
The DVD+R media support was very good overall with all tested brands of media attaining at least some form of good support from the NEC ND-4550A with some expections detailed next. We also noted some slower recording times at 16x recordings compared to earlier NEC models. The average recording time at 16x was 6 minutes 5 secs and the average recording time for 8x media was a very slow 9 minutes 57 seconds.
One brand of tested 16x+R media could not be recorded at its maximum rated speed, this being the Ridisc Purple which had a maximum supported speed of 12x. Media with the CMC MAG M01 media ID code has proved troublesome at 16x on some writers and NEC seem to have taken the conservative approach to ensure the best possible quality recording.
So where media quality allowed we got some very acceptable recordings with the highlight being Taiyo Yuden 8x DVD+R having a maximum supported speed of 16x. With very nice results for a 100% overspeed we feel a lot of 16x media could only wish it was this well supported. Media such as the Traxdata, Verbatim, Philips, Samsung and Ricoh 8x recordings gave very agreeable results.Taiyo Yuden, Verbatim and TDK branded media recorded with a very good level of quality. Different brands of media using the Taiyo Yuden dye codes all recorded with consistently good levels of quality. The Traxdata, Datawrite Yellow, Ridisc Xtreme, Ridisc purple and BeAll 16x DVD+R media results could be better but where still of a good and readable short term quality in our opinion.
You may notice that the Datawrite Red and Ricoh 4x media both use the same manufacturer for their media with varying results. The Ricoh 4x DVD+R media being the premium version of the dye recorded with very low errors while the Datawrite Red had a speckled dye appearance which shows as high PIF concentrations on our K-Probe test. This shows the varying results you may find when using media seemingly manufacturred by the same company but sold under different brand names. There are many instances of this effect during this review and that was the main reason for testing so many different brands. Some are good for long term archivity and some will be fine for short term backups only.The same could also be said for media sold under the same branding but sold made in different locations in the world. Our Verbatim media could be made in any one of at least five different locations with varying results. We have found that Verbatim media with the made in Taiwan or Made in India markings to be the most consitent during our tests.
Our DVD+R Double Layer and DVD+RW tests brought out some mixed results. The highlights for sure are the 8x recording speed of the Verbatim 2.4x Double Layer by default in the firmware. With very nice results for a near 400% overspeed this was very nice to see. This media is still very expensive and the ability to record it so fast really does soften the blow when paying the price for this media. This was not matched by the support for the Traxdata and Ridisc Xtreme 2.4x Double Layer media. Although not of the same quality as the Verbatim version, we have found 4x can be achieved with much better quality than the NEC offered under present firmware.
Onto the DVD+RW results, rated speed support for most types of tested media was found during our tests although problems where found. The Traxdata, Verbatim and Memorex 4x DVD+RW media recorded with very good quality over a succession of rewrite cycles. The Traxdata 8x DVD+RW media however, became unreadable after just 2 rewrite cycles. Further testing in other recording devices did not seem to have this issue with this media. Not matter how many pieces of Traxdata 8x DVD+RW we rewrote with the NEC ND-4550 the same outcome was noted and we advise against recording valuable data with this media/writer combination under present firmware.
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