Sony 16x DVD-R review

Transfer and playback tests

So far in this review I have reported on how well/bad the Sony 16x DVD+R media has performed on our 5 used review recording devices and given you a good idea as to how many potential errors may be seen on playback and transfer devices. One thing this hasn't proven is just how well the recorded media may be transfered at high speeds, although a reader of this review can with experience draw an educated opinion on whether the discs will transfer ok from the Disc Quality results shown earlier in this review.

But there are other factors besides basic Disc Quality that can have an effect on transfer tests. At 16x introduced levels of excess noise created at any given speed on certain devices can have a big impact. Its a common reason why many drives usually only offer a 12x max transfer speed on recordable DVD media. Another common factor is that certain devices just don't like the way other devices record to certain media ( too high laser power at certain points of the disc can affect certain reading devices ). The NEC ND 4551A device used in this part of the review seems to cope as well as any device at transfer speeds of 16x. More times than not, if this device slowdowns during transfer, then it can usually be attributed to higher amounts of potential errors such as Sum1, Sum8, Beta and Jitter than would be preferred for best quality.

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-4551A 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-4551A at its fastest reading speed of 16x for single layer media. Please click on a drive thumbnail for the results of the transfer tests on that device. LG Electronics GSA-4166B [OEM] with firmware version 1.02 NEC ND-4551 A [OEM] with firmware version 1-08 Philips DVDR1660P1 [Retail] with firmware version P1.5 Plextor PX-760A Premium [Retail] with firmware version 1.03 Pioneer DVR 111D [OEM] with firmware version 1.23

Results show that the NEC ND-4551A encountered no fatal errors during the CD Speed transfer tests, reaching its maximum single layer reading speed of 16x for all tested recording devices besides the LG GSA-4166B under firmware revision 1.02. There does seem to be some issue with the way the LG records to this media, even at lower than rated recording speeds. Only the LG itself was able to playback or transfer the recording without failure ( results available Here ). Either the LG GSA-4166B has great error correction or it simply did not find the same fault all the other tested devices encountered.

One final but no less important final test is the playback test of a DVD Video. For this review I could of chosen the LG GSA-4166B with firmware 1.02 to record a DVD Video compilation with CopyToDVD from VSO Software. But as it had so many isses with this media I do not believe it would of been a fare comparison for this media. With that in mind I chose the Plextor PX-760A premium with firmware revision 1.03 as its results are equal to most of the results achieved so far in this review.

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 areas near the end fast forwarding was not interrupted. I would also like to reconfirm that a high speed transfer on this disc did not produce any slowdowns either that may have an impact on the quality of the disc. I hope this is proof enough that the issues the LG encountered are not to do with media quality but with poor media support.