Philips 16x DVD+R media review

Conclusion

During this review, as is now standard for all CDR-Zone.Com reviews, 5 pieces of the Philips 16x DVD+R media where recorded to each drive used. This is with the exception of the Plextor PX-755A and BenQ DW 1640. Due to the extra options available on these devices more testing was required for a fuller overall report. Only the recording which most represents the average recording to each drive under the writers default settings are shown in this review. I feel this is the best way to get a good reflection on well a particular drive/media combination works.

I also subjected the recorded pieces of the Philips 16X DVD+R media to the two tier Disc Quality tests to try get as much accurate information about the recordings to the Philips 16x DVD+R media as possible. As mentioned in the Disc Quality section, the Plextor allows us a more indepth look at each individual recording. The Liteon results with KProbe in conjuction with the Transfer tests are, in my opinion, still a very valid indication of a good/bad recording. However, you do get a lot more detail about just how good/bad the recording was if using the advanced tests available on the Plextor PX-755A.

So what did I think about this latest 16x DVD+R offering from Philips? As mentioned earlier in the review Philips write the standards for DVD+R media and also pass the certification of DVD+R media. According to their website this media ID had been passed fit for 16x DVD recording and so fully compliant writers under upto date firmware versions should offer 16x recording strategies. But this is something I did not find to be the case on all writers. If you are an owner of a LG 4166B for instance, under present firmware no optimised 16x strategy is available. All other used review recording devices at least offered at least 12x strategies even if it wasn't always possible to attain the maximum available speed.

But as hoped for,the BenQ DW 1640 under firmware BSOB performed very well with the Philips media at 16x. this showed that the media was very capable of 16x recording speeds if supported well by recording devices. Even though the Pionner 109 XL could not get past 8x recording speeds on a regular basis, and if speed isn't an issue then 8 minutes and 13 seconds with very good quality is to be expected from this combination.

Now Philips are known to use different manufacturers for their range of media and so I cannot guarantee that the media I have reviewed will be the same as the batch you recieve ( although i can certainly hope so ). Depending on demand it may be different and this has to be taken into account in passing a final judgement. If the quality over subsequent batches remains at the level that I have reviewed and hardware companies can fully implement the maximum rated recording speed of 16x then this is a good quality media that should work without too many problems. Optimised for use with drives such as the BenQ DW 1640 and certaintly not liked or supported by my LG 4166B drive. As always I look forward to hearing your comments and results with this media in the Media forum.

Recording devices used for this review As always, please ensure your DVD Writer has the latest firmware to get the best compatibility with this new media. Pioneer DVR 109 XL [OEM] with firmware version 1.58 Plextor PX-755A [Retail] with firmware version 1.01 LG Electronics GSA-4166B [OEM] with firmware version 1.02 BenQ DW 1640 [OEM] with firmware version BSOB NEC ND-4551A [OEM] with firmware version 1.21

About Philips:

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is one of the world’s biggest electronics companies and Europe’s largest, with sales of EUR 29 billion in 2003. It is a global leader in color television sets, lighting, electric shavers, medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, and one-chip TV products. Its 165,300 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, semiconductors, and medical systems.

You can read all about Philips here courtesy of Wikipedia.

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!

• Philips For providing the Philips 16x DVD+R media used in this review.
• SVP communications for providing the Pioneer 109 XL, NEC ND-4551 and LG GSA-4166B DVD writers
• Plextor Europe for providing the Plextor PX-755A DVD writer.