Plextor 8x DVD+R media review

Playback and Verification

During the course of testing we used CopyToDVD to record a VIDEO DVD compilation of maximum size. This was to use for our playback test on a selection of PC and standalone DVD players that we had available at the time of this review.

Recorded at the same speed and on the same devices as used for our Create CD tests in CD Speed, we scanned these discs for disc quality. We got very comparable results to the ones done earlier in this review (+/- 5% on every scan on the tests done with the discs created in CD Speed) . Given these facts we should see no problems with playback on these devices used for these tests.

During previous reviews we have found our Cyberhome 512 Standalone DVD player to be a very fussy player when it comes to DVD+R media. It only seems to like DVD+R discs with the Bitsetting set to DVD-ROM. As both the BenQ 1620A and Liteon-IT allow for easy book type changing , we used their relevant supplied bitsetting utilities to change the Book type. We tried those discs on the Cyberhome to see if it improved playback compatibility.

So remember, the discs used for these tests have normal DVD+R booktype for the Pioneer and NEC recordings, while both the BenQ and Liteon have theirs set to DVD-ROM.

What is Booktype changing and how does it work?

"Changing the booktype of DVD+R media basically tricks the reading device into thinking a normal pressed DVD-ROM has been inserted instead of a DVD+R. Players known not to like DVD+R discs quite often have great success in reading discs with their booktype changed."