Verbatim 4x DVD-R Dual Layer media review

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Posted on 22 Jun 2005 by SirQUK

Conclusion

Verbatim continue to produce media based on well respected stamper technology and patented dye technology developed by their parent company Mitsubishi Kagaku Media with the introduction of the Verbatim 4x DVD-R Dual Layer media. Just like the Verbatim 2.4x DVD+R Double Layer media we reviewed a while back that they continue to produce an excellent recordable disc for long term archival needs with all the pieces of media tested recorded for use in this review being perfectly readable and offering very good playback and transfer test results.

The reported Pi Error and PI Failure results in our Quality tests section showed very low error levels with generally very good beta/Jitter/TA and peak shifts results at a 4x recording speed. The exception to this was the Liteon 1693S with firmware KS04 which seemed to have very even beta although this disc was perfectly playable in our DVD standalone players capable of reading this media.

Most of our review recording devices saw the Verbatim 4x DVD-R Dual Layer media as having a maximum recording speed of 6x and we hope to bring you some overspeeding results via our Media forum as we manage to source some more pieces. Judging by the very good Quality tests results we are happy to predict that 6x recording should not be an issue for this media on any of the drives supporting 6x recording.

One of the main concerns during early testing of this media was the fact that it took a while for recording software to know exactly how to record this media but by using CopyToDVD , perfectly working DVD Video compilations where recorded and all of our newer standalone DVD playback devices where happy to play the recorded Verbatim 4x DVD-R Dual Layer without any issues. As with the DVD+R version Verbatim released, some of the older DVD playback devices did find it hard to read the media but overall playback compatibility was very acceptable and we had no problem fast forwarding, rewinding or skipping chapters during tests.

All this doesn't come cheaply though as companies have found it increasing difficult to produce a low cost Dual Layer media which has long term archival backup qualities and Verbatim will be charging the equivalent of around Ł4 a disc in the United Kingdom. But with potential speeds of 6x available the average time to record this media could be as little as 18 minutes and with no need to compress or remove anything from a DVD backup of your original DVD Video, quick Dual Layer DVD Video archival is now possible and on supported drives the quality is excellent.

The Verbatim 4x DVD-R Dual Layer media offers the user confident backup upto a maximum of 8.5GB with both recording layers being of very good quality. Playback compatibility was also very good but we will point out that CDR-Zones own Liteon 1693S was unable to read the Verbatim 4x DVD-R Dual Layer media without very long seek times and also producing what could only be describes as a scratch or mark near the beginning of the disc where it had the issues seeking whilst trying to scan with KProbe. This combined with the Liteons bad beta test results suggests to us that a tweak is needed to fix this issue before we can recommend it to our readers for the recording of this media but this was the only issue with any of our tested PC writers that we could find during testing.

So its expensive but it gives very good quality results time after time and offers Multisession support on supported writers with software such as Nero burning ROM with more software adding support soon. Capable of 6x recording speeds with maybe higher speeds to come ( the 2.4x version did manage 8x on adjusted firmware in private testing with very good results for a 400% overspeed ), 14 minute Dual Layer recording is maybe not far away which equates to the same as recording 2 single layer 16x recordable media.

It is arguably the best Dual Layer media produced so far quality wise and we hope that Verbatim and Mitsubishi® Kagaku Media continue to keep the quality at the same level in the batches of this media released to the general public.

Just as the testing for this review had finished it was announced that Nero would have multisession support for DVD-R Dual Layer media standard, adding a new ability to DVD-R Dual Layer media never previously available for the DVD+R version. Now it is possible to use your DVD-R Dual Layer media to do daily backups of your important records and instead of perhaps using one disc per day, now you can have a whole weeks worth on one single disc with very good quality.

In summing up we feel that if it was possible to half the price of this media and still keep the quality we feel that this could be a very big seller but wether it is possible to produce this technology any cheaper is doubtful - the Verbatim 2.4x DVD+R Dual Layer version is stil priced at Ł4 itself in the UK.

It is however still very expensive in UK stores at least and it could be some time before the general public are able to fully embrace the Verbatim 4x DVD-R Dual Layer media for general use.

About Verbatim:

Verbatim is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Media and provides information storage products, computer and imaging consumables, and related accessories, which deliver valuable solutions to customers and end users.

They deliver products and services that exceed customer expectations by leveraging our technology leadership, as well as our world class manufacturing, marketing, and distribution capabilities.

They are able to market the latest and innovative products due to the extensive research and development that is undertaken by parent company Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation in Japan.

Our entire product range meets extremely high standards of quality that are set by Verbatim as a corporation. No matter what product, or where in the world it is manufactured, every product meets the Verbatim standard of quality - which is second to none.

About Mitsubishi® Kagaku Media:

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation is an integrated chemical company that was created by the merger of Mitsubishi Kasei Corporation and Mitsubishi Petrochemical Co., Ltd. on October 1, 1994. Mitsubishi Chemical's wide-ranging operations make it one of the top ten chemical companies in the world.

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