Plextor 16x DVD-R media review

Transfer and Playback compatiability tests

So far in this review I have reported on how well/bad the Plextor 16x DVD-R media has performed on the 5 used review recording devices and given you a good idea as to how many potential errors may be seen during playback or transfer. But it is always nice to see some actual proove such as graphs and compatibility tests carried out on a wide range of DVD playback devices. In this part of the review I will show transfer graphs carried out on the average piece of recorded media using a popular brand of high speed PC transfer device - the NEC ND-4570A. It is capable of 16x DVD reading on DVD-R media and should show up any uncorrectable errors where transfer was impossible on this media.

Small slowdowns are accepted during a transfer but what we don't want to see is any places where data refuses to transfer on the NEC ND-4570A or any of the recordings refusing to playback properly on our review playback devices.

Nero CD-DVD Speed high speed transfer tests Below you will find the transfer tests carried out on the NEC ND-4570A at its fastest reading speed of 16x for single layer media. Please click on a drive thumbnail for the results of the transfer tests LG Electronics GSA-4166B [OEM] with firmware version 1.02 Pioneer DVR 110 [OEM] with firmware version 1.39 NEC ND-4570A [OEM] with firmware version 1.02 Plextor PX-760A Premium with firmware version 1.01 Philips DVDR1660P1 [Retail] with firmware version P1.4

Results of the disc recorded at 18x on the Plextor PX-760A Premium can be found Here for comparison.

Overview of transfer test results:

Results show that the NEC ND-4570A encountered no fatal errors during the Nero CD-DVD Speed transfer tests, reaching its maximum single layer reading speed of 16x for all pieces of the Plextor 16x DVD-R media used for this review with one exception explained below.

The disc recorded on the LG GSA-4166B was unable to complete a transfer test in the NEC ND-4570A or infact any NEC based drive I had at hand to test with ( this includes NEC ND-4551A and NEC ND-4550A ). Further transfer tests carried out on all the other used recording devices for this review had no issues with this disc either ( results available Here ). This is something that I had noted in the past with all DVD-R recordings on the LG GSA-4166B not being able to complete transfers on NEC based drives regardless of the chosen recording speed and it is certaintly an issue not limited to the Plextor 16x DVD-R media used in this review.

One final but no less important final test is the playback test of a DVD Video. For this review I chose the LG GSA-4166B with firmware 1.02 to record a DVD Video compilation with CopyToDVD of 4464Mb (4.36GB) in size to the Plextor 16x DVD-R media, again at 16x. I could of course have chosen to use an 18x recording on the Plextor PX-760A Premium but I chose the LG device has it was the only drive used during this review that had any issues to note at all. Was the NEC ND-4570A correct to refuse to transfer the disc or will this test proof that the NEC was wrong and needs some work on its reading of DVD-R burns recorded in the LG drive?

As expected at a read speed of 1x the recording showed no problems with playback in almost all of the tested playback devices, whether they be PC based, standalone or console driven. Fast forwarding the DVD Video compilation at 16x on our PRISM standalone DVD player did not show any areas near the end fast forwarding was not interrupted. It seems that its just my NEC based recording devices that have any issue with the LG GSA-4166B recording.