DVD Drive Speed

1x DVD-ROM drives provide a data transfer rate of 1.321 MB/s (11.08*10^6/8/2^20) with burst transfer rates of up to 12 MB/s or higher. The data transfer rate from a DVD-ROM disc at 1x speed is roughly equivalent to a 9x CD-ROM drive (1x CD-ROM data transfer rate is 150 KB/s, or 0.146 MB/s). DVD physical spin rate is about 3 times faster than CD (that is, 1x DVD spin ~ 3x CD spin), but most DVD-ROM drives increase motor speed when reading CD-ROMs, achieving 12x or faster performance. A drive listed as "16x/40x" spins a DVD at 16 times normal, or a CD at 40 times normal. DVD-ROM drives are available in 2x, 4x, 4.8x, 5x, 6x, 8x, 10x, and 16x speeds, although they usually don't achieve sustained transfer at their full rating. The "max" in DVD and CD speed ratings means that the listed speed only applies when reading data at the outer edge of the disc, which moves faster. The average data rate is lower than the max rate. Most 1x DVD-ROM drives have a seek time of 85-200 ms and access time of 90-250 ms. Newer drives have seek times as low as 45 ms.

1x = 11.08 Mbps (1.32 MB/s)
2x = 22.16 Mbps (2.64 MB/s)
4x = 44.32 Mbps (5.28 MB/s)
6x = 66.48 Mbps (7.93 MB/s)
8x = 88.64 Mbps (10.57 MB/s)
10x = 110.80 Mbps (13.21 MB/s)
16x = 177.28 Mbps (21.13 MB/s)

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