BenQ 16x DVD+R media review

Conclusion

So what did I think about this latest 16x DVD+R offering from BenQ? Did the Picfect technology work as hoped for and was there a good range of compatiability across the used review recording devices?

Well certaintly I can confirm that during tests for this review that all recordings achieved a level of potential errors that are within set specifications for reliable recordings across both spindles used during this review. I didn't find a single bad disc in either of the spindles and the recording layer looked very clean indeed with no obvious defects. The BenQ 16x DVD+R media also had rated speed recording speeds available on all drives showing a very good level of support of this media. But there was variation in recording times between spindle A and B. As mentioned earlier in the review spindle A achieved 16x recording speeds on all of the used recording devices but spindle B could only achieve 12x - 14x max consistently on both the LG GSA-4166B and Plextor PX-760A Premium drives. Even with Power Record and Auto Strategy disabled, the Plextor refused to record spindle B at 16x and it is fair to say that both of the drives logic found spindle A preferrable during this review speed wise.

The NEC ND-4570A recorded both spindles at 16x with some variation in recording times although from the Beta Jitter results I would say that Jitter is getting quite high towards the outer edge of the disc. This seems to be common for a lot of 16x recordings on NEC 4.x.x.x series drives when scanned with Plextor drives and a high speed transfer test in the NEC itself showed a decent enough transfer graph. For DVD Video playback at 1x this should again be no problem at all as the potential errors are to be considered good.

Both the the Pioneer DVR 110 and Philips DVDR1660P1 recorded both spindles with arguably the best overall quality. Indeed with Solidburn enabled, the Philips produced exellent results in all of the tests used in this review and edged out the Pioneer in this department. With solidburn off the reported Jitter levels where more in line with the Pioneer results, but I am going to recommend users leave it on and understand that this will add some 20 seconds onto a typical 16x recording to the BenQ 16x DVD+R media. Again like with both the LG and Plextor drives, significantly faster recording times where noted with spindle A over spindle B.

BenQ are also known to use the same manufacturers for their media and this adds some buying comfort to the end user. You will always know what you are buying and not worry about media from different manufacturers under the BenQ branding. I believe this is a point well worth making too as many companies know use different dyes dependant on supply and demand around the world which makes it hard to compare quality on a consistent basis.

In summin up the BenQ 16x DVD+R media lived up its claim of consistent levels of potential errors and I don't think there is anything to worry about quality wise. It also has a very good level of compatiablity with all drives used offering 16x rated speed recording strategies in place where media quality allowed. But you may not always get equal recording times across different spindles as I found out during this review. If you get a batch equal to spindle A in this review you can expect to achieve consistent 16x recording times if using similar hardware to this review but if you get spindle B quality you can expect all drives to achieve slower recording times ( sometimes as much as 40 seconds ) and sometimes even 12x recording speeds. As always I look forward to hearing your comments and results with this media in the Media forum.

Sponsors of this review

I would like to take this moment to thank the companies who provided the media as well as most of the hardware for this review. Without the generous and ongoing support of these companies this review would not of been possible in such detail - Thank you!

• SVP communications for providing the Pioneer DVR 110, NEC ND-4570A and LG GSA-4166B DVD writers used in this review.
• Plextor Europe for providing the Plextor PX-760A Premium DVD writer used in this review.
• Philips For providing the Philips DVDR 1660P1 DVD writer used in this review.