Disc Quality tests
Having recorded the maximum amount possible onto the Maxell 16x DVD+R media at its rated recording speed of 8x and above to all available review drives with Nero CD-DVD Speed, the next stage of this review will concentrate on Disc Quality.
The first part of the Quality tests involved scanning all the pieces of Maxell 16x DVD+R media recorded on each review recording device with the Plextor PX-760A using Plextools Q-Check tests to find out how many potential SUM8 (PI Errors) and Sum1 (PI Failures) a playback device would have to correct whilst playing or transferring the recorded media. This also enabled me to obtain which of the 5 recorded pieces of media most matched the average result. The average disc shown below was then subjected to a Beta and Jitter test. Although more tests are available I believe I am showing the most common factors in overall disc quality for the average user.
"As the whole purpose of reviewing media for our readers is to try and obtain a good idea of the average quality of a given media, I have come up with this new methodology for gauging these factors. These are my own personal views and by no means as accurate as an Industry C.A.T.S device for measuring the quality of a disc but I believe I have come as close as I possibly can do with the equipment available to the average user."
I will not expect that every piece of media is capable of producing this
with such influences as media/ hardware tolerance levels and packing/delivery methods having an impact. I will however expect the results not to consistently stray too far from set standards for a recommended media. It is also the sum of all tests that I use to gauge the overall quality of the media and not one test alone.
The less Sum1 and Sum8 that are found on a media then in theory the better the chances are of good long term playback for this media without data loss becoming a significant problem. That's not to say that recordings with high Sum1 and Sum8 levels will be bad - the error correction logic of DVD playback and transfer devices are capable of correcting many potential errors. There is just more chance they might be affected by such influences as dirt or fingerprints. Different scanning devices scan slightly differently but basic guidelines using a Plextor drive are that Sum8 should not exceed 280 for sustained periods and Sum1 should not exceed 4 for sustained periods. You don't want to see any reported POF's (Parity Outer Failures) as these normally should result in uncorrectable errors!
Jitter and beta must remain within set specifications for a Plextor scan (Beta should not exceed +15 or -5 for sustained periods with the more level the result the better). Jitter should stay within the lower half of the graph for best results. Reading devices with good jitter correction ability should be able to read higher reported levels better than those that don't.
Overview of Disc Quality results:
Some very pleasant results where achieved during this part of the testing with all used recording devices producing results that are to be considered well within set specifications for such tests. The most pleasing results being the Philips DVDR1660P1 under firmware P1.6 and the Plextor PX-760A under firmware 1.05. The extra logic enabled on these recording devices really did get the best of the Fujfilm 16x DVD+R media. The Samsung SH-S182M and Pioneer DVR 111D recording devices under respective firmwares offered a very good combination of speed vs quality results. The Optiarc AD-7173A could be more favourable but still, workable recordings at their respective maximum recording speeds had been delivered. I have used other batches of media using this Media ID code which have given much more favourable results.
Extra tests :
In the extra tests carried out on this media, I found that leaving Solidburn disabled for this media on the Philips DVDR1660P1 resulted in slightly higher reported Jitter values then when tested in this review under the default settings as well as more elevated Sum8/1 levels. You can expect about a 15-20 second quicker recording time with Solidburn disabled but I recommend leaving it on for maximum quality. With the Plextor PX-760A Premium, Auto Strategy was forced to create a new entry in its database and this was used to compare results. The new entry produced very similar results but again, the Auto Strategy logic is there for a reason and I always advise using it. I would also like to mention that firmware 1.06 for the Plextor PX-760A really does improve recording quality for this media over previous firmwares which struggled to produce a likeable recording in earlier testing for this review.
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