1. Introduction - Retail Package
Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
Page 1
has released
its first 16X recorder drive, the DVDR1640P, with support for both DVD+R and
DVD-R writing. The first rumours wanted the drive to allow up to 16X for both
formats.
Finaly, Philips announced that the maximum speed with the minus format will
be at 8X for safest recordings. As was expected, the drive would support
DL at 2.4X.
- Drive Features
Seamless
Link was initially introduced by Acer CM (now BenQ). This technology allows
a CD-RW/DVD+RW drive to automatically monitor the recording status to prevent
buffer under run from occurring.
Seamless Link allows the CD-RW drive to store the RecEnd address, the point
in the data to which the recording mechanism has progressed, and pause the
recording before a buffer under run occurs. When the buffer is again full,
a Seamless Link-enabled drive locates the RecEnd address and resumes the recording
process. The gap between the stop and restart point is closed, while managing
the recording process precisely and transparently-eliminating under run errors
while maintaining recording accuracy.
Dynamic Calibration
To ensure optimal writing quality over the entire disc at higher writing speeds,
Philips has introduced the Walking OPC algorithm. WOPC directly measures and
optimizes the actual writing quality during the writing process.
At certain intervals, the writing process will be briefly interrupted, the
writing quality directly evaluated and the writing power adjusted accordingly,
if required. The Philips DVD+R/RW writers use a more dynamic implementation
based on the position on the disc and temperature inside the drive. The graph
below shows the writing graph of the drive on a Philips 16X and an 8X DVD+R
disc.
In addition, Philips Dynamic Calibration includes a tilt calibration feature.
The best reading and writing quality can be obtained if the angle between the
disc and the laser beam is 90 degrees. However, if the disc is warped, the
laser beam will no longer be correctly positioned which will cause a distortion
of the laser spot resulting in decreased writing quality if it is not
corrected.
The tilt calibration will reposition the Optical Pickup Unit (OPU) to maintain
a 90-degree angle between the laser beam and the disc surface at all times
ensuring an optimal spot shape, even on warped discs. The frequency of the
tilt calibration depends only on the position on the disc according to a non-linear
function. Near the end of the disc, the risk of warping is higher so the
frequency of the tilt calibration will increase accordingly. As with WOPC,
the writing
process will be briefly interrupted, the tilt measured and the OPU repositioned
if required.
Walking OPC and Tilt Calibration together form the Dynamic Calibration. Although
they act independently of each other, some effort is taken to synchronize
the Tilt Calibrations with the disc position dependent component of Walking
OPC.
- Specifications
Interface:
|
E-IDE/ATAPI (Ultra DMA Mode
2)
|
Writing Speed: |
DVD+R: 16X, DVD-R: 8X, DVD±RW: 4X,
DVD+R DL: 2.4X
|
CD-R: 40X, CD-RW: 24X
|
Read Speed: |
DVD+R/-R/+RW/-RW: 10X
max
|
DVD-ROM: 16X, CD-R/RW: 40X
|
Random Access:
|
DVD: 140msec, CD: 120msec
|
Buffer Size:
|
2MB
|
|
8cm discs, CD-Audio, CD-Bridge, Stereo out (2 cinch),
CD-I, CD-Recordable, CD-Rewritable, CD-ROM, CD-Text, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-ROM,
DVD/R, DVD/RW, Photo CD |
Supported Writing Types: |
Disc at once (DAO), Fixed packet, Multi session (MS), Over-burn
writing, Packet writing, Raw mode burning, Session at once (SAO), Track
at once (TAO), Variable packet |
Recording format : |
UDF and ISO 9660 |
Connectivity |
Other connections : 12 V DC in, Analogue audio left
/ right out 2x, Master / slave select jumper, IDE interface connector |
System Requirements : |
Hard disc space : 500MB
PC OS : Windows 98 SE, 2000, ME, XP
Processor : Pentium III 500MHz or faster
RAM memory : 128 MB |
Dimensions : |
20x15x4 cm (WxDxH) inch |
Weight : |
0.95 kg |
Technical specifications
: |
Humidity : 5 - 90 %RH (no condensation)
Operating temperature range : 5 - 50 °C
Safety standards : EN60950, EN60825,UL1950
EMC standards : EN55022, EMS55024,FCC Part 15 |
The drive does not support Mount
Rainier and it uses the well known RPC II region control, allowing a user
to change the drive's region
at most 5 times. DVD-RAM media is also not supported for either reading or
writing. Below are the drive's main specs as given by NeroInfoTool and DVDInfoPro:
- Tested Kit / Software Bundle
According to Philips, the included accessories are: 4 mounting screws,
CD-ROM with software & manual, Quick install guide, User manual, DVD+R
16x blank disc. As for software, there is Nero Burning Rom 6, InCD 4, Nero
Vision express
2, Nero media Player 1, EasyWrite Reader 4, Nero Burning Rights 1.
The front bezel is exactly the same as it was with the DVR885P model and
the only difference is the number on the upper right which indicates the product
model. Although the drive supports the minus format, the appropriate logo is
not present. One striking feature is the activity leds setup which has a
separate led for CD and DVD media, between which is a third, wide led apperture
which lights red when recording and blue when reading.
On the rear panel you can see the analogue and digital outputs (SPDIF), the
IDE connector and the power input. The specific unit that arrived in our labs
was manufactured during August 2004 in Malaysia.
Removing the screws and opening the drive's cover voids the drive's warranty.
For reference reasons, we post the following images. You can click on the
mainboard picture for a higher resolution image:
The heart of the drive is the Philip's Nexperia PNX7860E chipset.
- Installation
The drive was installed as secondary master and under WindowsXP was recognized
as "PHILIPS DVDR1640P ". The drive arrived with
firmware revision P2.1 and since a newer firmware version
had been released, we flashed the drive without problems to firmware revision P2.2.
Below is a screenshot of Nero Burning Rom's specs for the drive.
In this review, we will be comparing the drive with the TDK 1616N and
the Pioneer DVR-108.
- Testing software
In order to perform our tests, we used:
- Nero CD-DVD Speed v3.21
- CDVD Benchmark v1.21
- ExactAudioCopy v0.9 beta5
- Nero Info Tool v2.27
- KProbe
v2.4.2 (Readers: For DVD media LiteOn LDW-811S firmware vHS0Q Reading
speed 8X CAV, for DL media LiteON SOHD-167T firmware 9S04 reading speed
6X CAV)
- PlexTools v2.16 (Reader: For CD/DVD Plextor PX-712A firmware v1.04, Reading speed 8X CLV for CD-R and 2X CLV for DVD media with medium accuracy)
- DVDInfoPro v2.63
- BenQ Booktype Management v8.30
- Nero Burning Rom v6.3.1.20
2. Transfer Rate Reading Tests
Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
Page 2
Transfer Rate Reading Tests
- CD Format
The Philips DVDR1640P DL supports up to 40X reading speed.
TDK leads the race with CD-R media due to its higher reading
speed of 48X. Philips and Pioneer had similar performance. The image changed
when it came to reading HS-RW media. There, Philips shone through with
its 40X reading speed while the other two competitors were limited to 32X.
-DVD Format
According to our reading tets with Single Layer madia, all
the drives performed almost with the same speeds. The differences were negligible.
With a PTP DVD-ROM disc, the starting point of the two layers
is at the inner part of the disc. The drive reads from the beginning of each
layer (inner part) progreesing towards the outer part of the disc. Pioneer
was the fastest among the drives while Philips had the second best
performance. TDK was the slowest.
With an OTP Dual Layer disc, the first layer structure is the
same as the first layer on a PTP disc. The drive reads the first layer exactly
the same way as PTP discs, and at the same speed. The starting point of
the second layer of an OTP disc is located at the outer part of the disc.
The performance of all drives was similar to that of SL media.
The DVDR1640P reported similar speed results when reading
single layer DVD±R/RW discs with 3~8 CAV resulting in a 6.25X average
speed.
The DVDR1640P ripped a full Dual Layer pressed DVD-Video movie
at an average speed of 8915kb/sec ( 6.4X), which was the fastest performance.
-Appendix
Nero CD-DVD Speed Graphs
3. CD Error Correction Tests
Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
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CD Error Correction
Tests
In the following tests we check the drive's behavior when it comes to reading
scratched / defective discs. The test discs we use are the ABEX series from
ALMEDIO.
The drive doesn't support C2 error information.
- ABEX TCD-721R
Errors total
|
Num: 1397055
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num: 60758
|
Avg:-72.8 dB(A)
|
Max: -18.5 dB(A)
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 4348
|
Avg: 1.3 Samples
|
Max: 537 Samples
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 0
|
Avg: 0.0 Samples
|
Max: 0 Samples
|
Total Test Result
|
76.1 points (out of 100.0 maximum)
|
The DVDR1640P drive displayed slightly better than average performance with
this test disc. The total error count was a little increased and the maximum
error
loudness level of -18.5dB(A) should be lower since the limit is at -35dB(A).
The error muting sample count was low, while there were no skipped
samples. The final score of 76.1 is quite acceptable.
- ABEX TCD-726
Errors total
|
Num: 0
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num: 0
|
Avg: -174.0 dB(A)
|
Max: -174.0 dB(A)
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 0
|
Avg: 0.0 Samples
|
Max: 0 Samples
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 0
|
Avg: 0.0 Samples
|
Max: 0 Samples
|
Total Test Result
|
100.0 points (out of 100.0 maximum)
|
Philips DVDR1640P
received a perfect score of 100.0 with the Abex TCD-726 test disc.
- CD-Check Audio Test Disc
The CD-Check Test Disc is a very useful tool for evaluating the Sound Reproduction
/ Error correction capabilities of a CD player. The disc offers a signal combination
with disc error patterns to rate the drive's abilities to read music and reproduce
it completely. Five tracks on the disc contain a sequence of progressively
difficult tests. These tracks are referred as Check Level-1 through Check Level-5.
The files are reproduced (played) through a software multimedia player (i.e.
Windows Media Player). Each level is considered as passed, if the tone coming
out from the speakers is smooth, continuous without interruptions, skipping
or looping. The higher the Check Level passed, the more reliable the sound
reproduction of the tested device.
Error Level
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
Philips DVDR1640P |
5/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
0/5 |
The DVDR1640P passed the first four Check Levels of the
test. In the fifth level we got several audible clicks. We should comment
that the 1.5mm defect on the fifth track is difficult for the
majority of the
drives to be handle.
- Conclusion
The Philips DVDR1640P offers good CD error correction.
4. DVD Error Correction Tests
Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
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DVD Error Correction
Tests
In the following tests we examine the DVD reading capabilities of the drive with
scratched / defective DVD media. For
the tests we used CDVD Benchmark and Nero CDSpeed. The reference test media
comes from ALMEDIO.
- Single Layer media
ABEX TDR-821
This is a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM with a 4.7GB capacity, and its
surface has an artificial scratch of dimensions varying from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.
The following transfer rate picture comes from the CDVD Benchmark v1.21 transfer
rate test.
The DVDR1640P read the disc successfully while it reached a top
speed of 16X CAV. The scratched area did not affect the reading process. The
performance
reveals good error correction
capabilities
with
scratched single layer DVD-ROM discs.
ABEX TDR-825
This
is also a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM of 4.7GB capacity. The data
structure of the disc is exactly the same as that of the TDR-821, with the
difference that there are no scratches on it but instead, defective areas of
dimensions
ranging from 0.5 to 1.1 mm.
There are also fingerprints sized between 65 and
75 micrometers.
Again, the drive read the disc without reporting any read errors.
Once again the reading speed at the end of the task was at 16X.
- Dual Layer media
ABEX TDR-841
This is an 8.5GB dual layer single sided DVD-ROM disc with artificial scratches
of dimensions ranging from 0.4 to 3.0mm, on both layers.
No errors were reported and the process finished successfully.
ABEX TDR-845
The disc is a single sided, dual layer DVD-ROM disc of a capacity of 8.5GB.
The only difference between the TDR-845 and the TDR-841 is that the first includes
defective areas and fingerprints.
The dimensions of the defective areas range
from 0.5 to 1.1 mm and the fingerprints are sized from 65 to 75 micro meters.
The TDR-845 test
disc was not a problem for the drive.
ABEX TDV-541
The
TDV-541 is a single sided, dual layer DVD-VIDEO disc, with a capacity of
8.5GB. The disc is based on the TDV-540 series which is designed for inspection
and adjustment of DVD-VIDEO players. The disc checks the layer switch operation
from layer 0 to layer 1 and also includes test pictures and test signals
for
DVD sound files.
The current TDV-541 also checks the error correcting capabilities
of the drive and includes scratches from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.
The Philips drive just ignored the defective area...
ABEX TDV-545
The
TDV-545 disc is based on the TDV-540 series. It is a single sided, dual layer
DVD-VIDEO disc with a capacity of 8.5GB. The TDV-545 includes artificial black
dots on the data surface, sized from 0.4 to 1.0 mm.
It also has 65 - 75 micrometer fingerprints.
The DVDR1640P showed excellent behavior with TDV-545 test
disc. Linear, smooth graph means very good performance.
5. Protected Disc Tests
Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
Page 5
Protected Disc
Tests
- Reading Tests
To create the image of the various protected titles to the hard disk, we
used Alcohol 120% software and the appropriate settings, according to the protection
type of the inserted discs. Below you can see the duration of each process
as well as the transfer rate in each case.
Game Title
|
Protection Scheme
|
Duration
|
Reading speed
|
PSX "NBA Jam Extreme"
|
Lybcrypt
|
1:01 min
|
1481 sectors/sec
|
Serious Sam The Second Encounter v1.07
|
SafeDisc v.2.60.052
|
43:35 min
|
128 sectors/sec
|
VRally II
|
SecuROM v.2
|
2:44 min
|
2096 sectors/sec
|
Philips was fast with PSX and SecuROM protected test games while
with SafeDisk, it needed 43 minutes to finish the task, which is common to
many drives.
- Writing Tests
The DVDR1640P DL recorder supports the DAO-RAW writing mode. For checking
the drive's EFM correction status, we used 5 different game titles with different
SafeDisc 2 versions having the latest software patches installed. After making
the images of the various titles onto the hard disk, we burned them (maximum
speed) with Alcohol 120% v1.9.2.1705. Two different discs were created for
each title; one with the "Bypass EFM error" enabled and one more
with the function disabled.
- Fifa 2004 - Safe Disc v3.1x
- The Sims Superstar - Safe Disc v2.9x
- The Sims Unleashed - Safe Disc v2.8x
- Serious Sam Second Encounter - Safe Disc v2.51.021
- Max Payne - Safe Disc v2.51.020
The table below shows the results of the attempted backups and whether they
worked (game installed / played normally), or not.
Drive
|
Fifa 2004
SD v3.1x
|
Sims Superstar
SD v2.9x
|
Sims Unleashed
SD v2.8x
|
Serious Sam-Second Encounter
SD v2.50.051
|
Max Payne
SD v2.51.020
|
EFM OFF
|
EFM ON
|
EFM OFF
|
EFM ON
|
EFM OFF
|
EFM ON
|
EFM OFF
|
EFM ON
|
EFM OFF
|
EFM ON
|
Toshiba
SD-M1502
|
No |
Yes |
Creative CD5233E
|
BenQ DW1600A
DL
|
The above table indicates that the DVDR1640P is not a suitable drive for
copying SafeDisc protected discs. Only some versions of Safedisc protection
could be
backed up.
6. DAE Tests
Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
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DAE
Tests
- Pressed and CDR AudioCD results
The DVDR1640P supports up to 40X CAV DAE speed. The following results
were reported when using Exact Audio Copy.
The DVDR1640P had the fastest performance. Pioneer follows while
TDK was the slowest.
- Advanced DAE Quality
The DVDR1640P achieved a perfect quality score of 100 in Nero's
CD Speed Advanced DAE test. The drive can read Leadin data, CD Text and Subchannel
data, but cannot read Leadout data. The reported average speed was 28.11X.
- Ripping 90mins AudioCDs
- Ripping 99mins AudioCDs
The drive can also read and rip 99min Audio CDs without any
problems. The 90min reported a read error.
7. Protected AudioCDs
Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
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Protected AudioCDs
For the test procedure we used three audio discs with different
audio copy protections. The ripping process on all protected Audio
discs was carried out with Exact Audio Copy v0.9beta5.
The tested protected Audio discs were:
- Sony's Key2Audio from "Celine Dion - New Day Has Come"
- Cactus Data Shield 200 from "Natalie Imbruglia - White Lilies
Island"
The Cactus Data Shield 200, contains artificial errors that are not easily
bypassed by the reader, while the Key2Audio contains a second session,
causing problems for readers when trying to read the Table Of Contents (TOC).
The tested tasks are:
- Recognition of the inserted disc (Yes/No).
- Ripping all wavs (with EAC's Burst Mode) to the hard disk with copy&compare
function.
- Listening to the produced wavs for any click/skips.
The DVDR1640P DL recognized up to the 12th Audio track of CDS200 disc,
and with the "Retrieve Native TOC" option removed,
it recognized the 13th Data track.
The test results are shown in the following table:
|
Key2Audio
|
CDS200
|
Philips DVDR1640P DL
|
Ripping process completed, EAC reports
no problems, Read&Test CRC comparison successful for all tracks
|
Ripping process completed, EAC reports
no problems, Read&Test CRC comparison successful for all tracks
|
The Philips DVDR1640P DL managed to playback/rip both
the Key2Audio and CDS200 protected audio discs. The drive rips 100% accurately,
and EAC did not report timing problems and at the same time, Read&Test
CRC check comparison was the same for all corresponding tracks.
- Cactus Data Shield 200.0.4 - 3.0 build 16a (Aiko Katsukino - The Love
Letter)
This
is a "special" CDS200 build, since it doesn't contain any artificial
errors during the ripping process. Most problems occur when trying to write
the ripped wav files, since the produced CD-R disc contains C2 and CU errors!
This "problem" is rumored to be connected to specific chipset weaknesses.
We ripped the disc contents with EAC and burned the wav file produced from
the Cactus Data Shield 200.0.4 - 3.0 build 16a disc with the latest Nero version
as AudioCD+CD-Text. The burned
media was checked for C1/C2 errors and for BETA/Jitter errors with PlexTools
software using Plextor
PX-712A (firmware v1.05).
|
CDS 200.0.4 - 3.0 build
16a
|
Philips DVDR1640P DL
|
Reading performed without any errors,
writing produces C2 spikes.
|
- C1C2 Error rate from PleXWriter PX-712A (8X CLV reading speed)
The C1/C2 error graphs indicate that the drive produced a
100% error free disc. After extracting all wav files with the Plextor PX-712A
and PlexTools DAE Error Correction 5th Level enabled, no errors were reported.
The drive can backup the disc accurately:
8. CD Recording Tests
Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
Page 8
CD
Recording Tests
- CD-R Format
The drive supports 8X, 12X, 16X, 24X, 32X and 40X (CAV) writing speeds.
The drive reached the 40.94X at the end of the test, according
to Nero CDSpeed. The reported average writing speed was 30.35X. Click on the
image below for details.
- CD-R Recording Times
For the burning tests, we created an 80min data compilation through
Nero Burning Rom and recorded the data on a 700MB disc. The DVDR1640P finished
the task in 3:01 minutes when writing at 40X. The TDK 1616N
was the faster due to its 48X speed while the Pioneer DVR-108 cannot really
compete due to the lower recording speed (32X).
The writing performance was stable no matter what the
inserted media brand, as our tests
showed. Below is a chart listing the corresponding recording times for various
media.
- Other features
The DVDR1640P supports overburning, writing up to 99min. and can
read/write CD-Text.
- CD-RW Format
The DVDR1640P supports 16X CLV, 24X P-CAV rewriting speeds
with Ultra Speed Rewritable Media
(US-RW). The drive also writes at 4X/10X CLV with HS-RW discs, while NS (1~4X)
CD-RW media is not supported. Below you can see the Nero CD-DVD Speed writing
simulation test with blank 24x US-RW media from Mitsubishi Chemicals. The average
writing speed was 23.40X!
We
also used Nero Burning Rom in order to burn a 24X US-RW data disc from
Mitsubishi Chemicals. The data compilation we burned had a size of 651 MB
and the duration of the recording process was 3:41 minutes.
- CD-RW Mount Rainier Tests
The Philips DVDR1640P DL does not support the Mount Rainier
format.
9. Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests
Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
Page 9
Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests
On this page we present the 3T Pit & Land Jitter graphs
when using
various media burned at the 40X CAV writing speed.
- 3T Pit results
The drive's performance was good
with most media used, even if no media managed to stay below the 35nsec Redbook
limit. The only media that had very high 3T Pit jitter values was Intenso.
- 3T Land results
Again, the worst performance came with Intenso media, while
with MMore media, we again had very low values.
On the following page we check the C1 and C2 error rates of the
same discs, to come up with more specific conclusions.
10. Writing Quality Tests - C1 / C2 Error Measurements
Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
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Writing Quality Tests - C1 / C2 Error Measurements
We measured the C1 / C2 error rate of the recorded discs we burned at the
maximum of 40X supported writing speed. The software used was PleXTools Professional
v2.16, and particularly the built-in Q-Check utility. The reader was the Plextor
PX-712A (firmware v1.05).
BenQ 80min 52X @ 40X
Traxdata 80min 52X @ 40X
SKC 80min 52X @ 40X
Taiyo Yuden 80min 48X @ 40X
Intenso 80min 48X @ 40X
Waitec 80min 52X @ 40X
MMore 80min 52X @ 40X
- Summary
The DVDR1640P drive produced some C2 errors with specific CD-R media.
However, overall we can say that the CD writing quality was good.
- Appendix
Media Label |
ID Code |
Manufacturer Name |
Lead Out TIme |
BenQ 52X |
97m22s67f |
Daxon. |
79m59s74f |
Traxdata 52X |
97m15s17f |
Ritek |
79:59.70 |
SKC 52X |
97m26s26f |
SKC Co., Ltd. |
79m59s73f |
TY 48X |
97m24s 1f |
Taiyo Yuden |
79m59s72f |
Intenso 48X |
97m32s19f |
Prodisc |
79m59s71f |
Waitec 52X |
97m28s26f |
Multi Media Masters & Machinery
SA |
79m59s74f |
MMore 52X |
97m17s 6f |
Moser Baer India, Ltd. |
79:59.74 |
11. DVD Recording Tests
Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
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DVD Recording Tests
- Writing Performance
The maximum supported speed for DVD+R is 16X (6X~16X
CAV), while for DVD-R is 8X (P-CAV), 4X CLV for DVD±RW
and 2.4X for
DVD+R DL media. The current competition offers 16X for both DVD+ and DVD-R
writing speeds and also higher DVD+R DL writing speeds, 4X.
Nero Burning Rom reported speeds are shown below.
By using Nero CD-DVD Speed's "create disc" function,
we are able to see the 8X and 16X recording technology being used by
the DVDR1640P recorder. For the following graphs, we used Philips'
media.
The drive completed successful DVD+R writing at 16X in 5:49mins.
It started writing at 5.07X, reached a maximum writing speed of 16.02X
and reported an average speed of 11.49X.
With DVD+R at 8X, the drive needed 8:27mins to
complete the task.
It started at 4.27X and reached the maximum speed of 7.99X reporting an
average speed of 7.70X.
- 8X DVD-R Single Layer writing
The writing simulation started at 6.68X and finished at 7.99X with an average
speed of 7.92X. The task finished after 8:07 minutes.
Below is a simulation graph with DVD-R media at 16X. As we mentioned in
the introduction, the drive arrived in our labs with firmware revision
P2.1.
With this firmware, the drive supported up to 16X for the minus format.
After the release of the revision P2.2, the speed was lowered to 8X for higher
writing reliability.
The following table contains some 16X recorders, reporting
the average writing speeds as measured by Nero CDDVDSpeed, showing that the
Philips DVDR1640P is the second fastest 16X recorder:
Drive |
Writing Strategy |
Writing Speed |
Average
Writing Speed |
TDK 1616N |
CAV |
16X |
11.69X |
Philips DVDR1640P |
CAV |
16X |
11.52X |
ASUS DRW-1604P |
Z-CLV |
16X |
10.11X |
Pioneer DVR-108A |
Z-CLV |
16X |
10.03X |
- Supported media list/Burning Tests
We burned 4315MB of data on various DVD±R, DVD±RW media. We
used the maximum allowed writing speed for each disc. With the current firmware
(P2.2), many media are allowed to write at 16X but only for the DVD+R format,
since with the minus format they are restricted to 8X. Future firmware
releases are expected to changes this.
- Writing Time Results
Several Nero screenshots are placed below:
The following table illustrates more supported media for 16X speed, most of them haven't yet been released to the public ;-)
Below are two Nero screenshots for the Philips DVDR1640P:
- Comparison with other drives
The Philips DVDR1640P is the fastest writer at 16X for both ±R formats as the test results showed. The ASUS and Pioneer drives cannot compete, due to their Z-CLV implementation.
With DVD re-writable media, the Pioneer and ASUS burners are faster with -RW
media but slower with +RW.
- DVD Overburning Test
Using Nero CD-DVD Speed, we tested if the Philips DVDR1640P DL could
overburn using DVD±R media. Unfortunately, the drive does not support
overburning with DVD±R media.
- DVD+MRW Tests
The drive doesn't support the Mount Rainier feature.
12. PlexTools Scans - Page 1
Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 12
PlexTools Scans - Page 1
In order to test the writing quality and readability of the burned media,
we
used two readers in combination with two software packages:
- The LiteON SOHD-167T with patched firmware being able to read DVD5 up to
16X CAV and DVD9 up to 10X CAV. For the transfer rate tests, we used the
latest Nero CDSpeed version.
- The Plextor PX-712A with the latest available firmware. For scanning the
disc, we used the latest PlexTools version at 2X CLV reading speed,
BURST mode,
with middle accuracy.
In general, a "perfect" disc should have a smooth reading curve,
very low PIE/POE and zero (0) POF error rates. Most times, even when a disc
has very low PIE/POE error rates, the reading curve may not be smooth with
dropoffs. Due to the fact that we oversped the reading capabilities of the
LiteON SOHD-167T,
such drops are expected, especially near the outer area of the disc.
The measurements below should be taken not as the absolute criteria of the
burning quality, but as an indication level.
16X DVD+R Writing Speed
- Taiyo Yuden 8X DVD+R @ 16X
- Summary
The writing quality at 16X was generaly good, according to Plextools. Only
Taiyo Yuden media reported reading errors and the process had to be canceled.
13. PlexTools Scans - Page 2
Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 13
PlexTools Scans - Page 2
In order to test the writing quality and readability of the burned media,
we
used two readers in combination with two software packages:
- The LiteON SOHD-167T with patched firmware being able to read DVD5 up to
16X CAV and DVD9 up to 10X CAV. For the transfer rate tests, we used the
latest Nero CDSpeed version.
- The Plextor PX-712A with the latest available firmware. For scanning the
disc, we used the latest PlexTools version at 2X CLV reading speed, BURST
mode, with middle accuracy.
In general, a "perfect" disc should have a smooth reading curve,
very low PIE/POE and zero (0) POF error rates. Most times, even when a disc
has very low PIE/POE error rates, the reading curve may not be smooth with
dropoffs. Due to the fact that we oversped the reading capabilities of the
LiteON SOHD-167T, such drops are expected, especially near the outer area of
the disc.
The measurements below should be taken not as the absolute criteria of the
burning quality, but as an indication level.
8X DVD+R Writing Speed
- CMC Magnetics 8X DVD+R @ 8X
- MKM (Verbatim) 4X DVD+R @ 8X
- MKM (Verbatim) 8X DVD+R @ 8X
- Summary
Very good performance with all tested media. Even in the case of CMC,
the PIE levels were not too high.
14. PlexTools Scans - Page 3
Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 14
PlexTools Scans - Page 3
In order to test the writing quality and readability of the burned media,
we
used two readers in combination with two software packages:
- The LiteON SOHD-167T with patched firmware being able to read DVD5 up to
16X CAV and DVD9 up to 10X CAV. For the transfer rate tests, we used the
latest Nero CDSpeed version.
- The Plextor PX-712A with the latest available firmware. For scanning the
disc, we used the latest PlexTools version at 2X CLV reading speed, BURST
mode, with middle accuracy.
In general, a "perfect" disc should have a smooth reading curve,
very low PIE/POE and zero (0) POF error rates. Most times, even when a disc
has very low PIE/POE error rates, the reading curve may not be smooth with
dropoffs. Due to the fact that we oversped the reading capabilities of the
LiteON SOHD-167T, such drops are expected, especially near the outer area of
the disc.
The measurements below should be taken not as the absolute criteria of the
burning quality, but as an indication level.
8X/4X DVD-R Writing Speed
- Taiyo Yuden 8X DVD-R @ 8X
- CMC Magnetics 8X DVD-R @ 8X
- MKM (Verbatim) 8X DVD-R @ 8X
- MKM (Verbatim) 4X DVD-R @ 4X
- Summary
The writing quality with the minus format is dependent on the inserted media.
Half the media had excellent quality while the other had increased PIE levels.
In the case of Intenso, both tests reported errors.
15. PlexTools Scans - Page 4
Philips DVDR1640P DL Recorder - Page 15
PlexTools Scans - Page 4
In order to test the writing quality and readability of the burned media,
we
used two readers in combination with two software packages:
- The LiteON SOHD-167T with patched firmware being able to read DVD5 up to
16X CAV and DVD9 up to 10X CAV. For the transfer rate tests, we used the
latest Nero CDSpeed version.
- The Plextor PX-712A with the latest available firmware. For scanning the
disc, we used the latest PlexTools version at 2X CLV reading speed, BURST
mode, with middle accuracy.
In general, a "perfect" disc should have a smooth reading curve,
very low PIE/POE and zero (0) POF error rates. Most times, even when a disc
has very low PIE/POE error rates, the reading curve may not be smooth with
dropoffs. Due to the fact that we oversped the reading capabilities of the
LiteON SOHD-167T, such drops are expected, especially near the outer area of
the disc.
The measurements below should be taken not as the absolute criteria of the
burning quality, but as an indication level.
4X DVD+RW Writing Speed
The LiteON 811S failed to recognize the two burned 4X
DVD-RW media, whereas the LiteON 167T DVD-ROM didn't, so we don't know
if the problem is with the reader or the burned discs...
- Mitsubishi Chemicals 4X DVD+RW @ 4X
4X DVD-RW Writing Speed
- Summary
Here we have to say that the behaviour with DVD-RW media needs improvement.
Both tested media weren't playable with Plextools while CDSpeed reported
an error in one case. Things are different with DVD+RW media. The writing
quality
is good but we would like not to see the error in MCC's case. As can been
seen in the Plextools graph, the task froze just before the end...
16. DVD+R DL - Page 1
Philips
DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
Page 16
DVD+R DL - Page 1
The
DVDR1640P is capable of writing Double Layer discs, nearly doubling the capacity
that
can be stored on one disc. For our tests, we used the only two
available DVD+R DL media from Verbatim and TraxData.
According to Philips, the DL media support list with firmware
P2.2 is:
- Writing Tests
We burned two DVD+R DL discs with DVD-Video content. The
source disc was "Gladiator Movie - Special
Edition" disc1 with a total size of 6.86GB. First, we transferred the
movie to the hard disc with DVD Decrypter as ISO format (single file).
Afterwards, we used
CopyToDVD v3.0.0.26. After choosing the "GLADIATOR.ISO" image we
selected the Philips DVDR1640P burner.
After pressing "OK", the burning procedure started...
The writing process was finished after 39:57 minutes.
The average speed was 2.25X as reported by CopyToDVD software. The recorded
disc had DVD-ROM format booktype setting.
The drive didn't have any problems writing the Ritek DL media,
while the burning time was 8secs longer:
For comparison reasons, we post DL burning results for other
writers, with the same disc content and same recording software:
Drive |
Time (mins) |
NEC 2510A |
37:17 |
BenQ DW1600A DL |
40:16 |
BenQ DW830A |
39:14 |
LiteON SOHW-832S DVD+R DL BookType |
38:33 |
LiteON SOHW-832S DVD-ROM BookType |
38:36 |
SONY DRU-700A |
|
LG GSA-4120B |
38:12 |
ASUS DRW-1604P (4X) |
23:10 |
ASUS DRW-1604P (2.4X) |
38:08 |
Pioneer DVR-108A (4X) |
23:10 |
Pioneer DVR-108A (2.4X) |
|
Philips DVDR1640P |
39:47 |
As was expected, the ASUS and Pioneer drives have much lower
recording times, since they support the 4X DL writing speed.
17. DVD+R DL - Page 2
Philips
DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
Page 17
- Writing Quality
Verbatim 2.4X DVD+R Double Layer Media
TraxData 2.4X DVD+R9 Double Layer Media
- Compatibility
The Philips DVDR1640P will burn directly all DVD+R9 projects with DVD-ROM
booktype, ensuring you get maximum compatibility.
We confirm that both media were playable in all of our DVD standalone players
from Philips, Pioneer and NeuNeo.
18. DVDR1640P vs. SA300 - Page 1
Philips
DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
Page 18
DVDR1640P vs. SA300 - Page 1
The Philips DVDR1640P can report PI and Jitter values from burned DVD recordable/re-writable
media. What's rather disappointing is that the drive cannot read the media
at high speeds, since even at the 8X reading speed setting, the real speed
is around 0.5~1.3X. The scanning interval also is not 1ECC but 8ECC, dropping
the accuracy of the drive, since the sample count is low.
Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific, tested Philips DVDR1640P DL drive. Using other DVDR1640P DL drives can produce totally different
results. Be aware!
#1st Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
The PI and Jitter error rate trend lines follow that of the
SA300 scans, which is very encouraging. However, we have to see how the drive
performs with the other test media.
19. DVDR1640P vs. SA300 - Page 2
BenQ
DW1600A DL Recorder -
Page 19
DVDR1640P vs. SA300 - Page 2
The Philips DVDR1640P can report PI and Jitter values from burned DVD recordable/re-writable
media. What's rather disappointing is that the drive cannot read the media
at high speeds, since even at the 8X reading speed, the real speed
is around 0.5~1.3X. The scanning interval also is not 1ECC but 8ECC, dropping
the accuracy of the drive, since the sample count is low.
Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested Philips DVDR1640P DL drive. Using other DVDR1640P DL drives can produce totally different
results. Be aware!
#2nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
In this case, the reported PI errors from the Philips DVDR1640P
are totally different in comparison to the CATS scan. The jitter levels are
also different.
20. DVDR1640P vs. SA300 - Page 3
Philips
DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
Page 20
DVDR1640P vs. SA300 - Page 3
The Philips DVDR1640P can report PI and Jitter values from burned DVD
recordable/re-writable media. What's rather disappointing is that the drive
cannot read the media
at high speeds, since even at 8X reading speed, the real speed
is around 0.5~1.3X. The scanning interval is also not 1ECC but 8ECC,
dropping the accuracy of the drive, since the sample count is low.
Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested Philips DVDR1640P DL drive. Using other DVDR1640P DL drives can produce totally different
results. Be aware!
#3nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
The DVDR1640P read the disc at an extremely low speed of 0.3~0.5X.
The reported PI error rates are very low in both graphs, indicating a perfect
disc. The reported DC Jitter
from the drive
is not too close to the SA300.
21. DVDR1640P vs. SA300 - Page 4
Philips
DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
Page 21
DVDR1640P vs. SA300 - Page 4
The Philips DVDR1640P can report PI and Jitter values from burned DVD recordable/re-writable
media. What's rather disappointing is that the drive cannot read the media
at high speeds, since even at 8X reading speed, the real speed
is around 0.5~1.3X. The scanning interval is also not 1ECC but 8ECC, dropping
the accuracy of the drive, since the sample count is low.
Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested Philips DVDR1640P DL drive. Using other DVDR1640P DL drives can produce totally different
results. Be aware!
#4nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed
The PIF error rates are low enough, just as in the CATS scan, even though
the values are not at the same levels. The reported Jitter tends to increase
in
Layer 1, which is also reported with the CATS scan. The reading speed is low,
0.5~1.5X,
so it will take much time to scan a disc, not reccomended for most users...
22. Booktype BitSetting
Philips
DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
Page 22
Booktype BitSetting
The Philips DVDR1640P supports booktype management. We have to say that the
drive is by default set to DVD-ROM for all the plus format media. There are
several utilities that you can use to change the booktype setting.
For example, the Book Type Management from BenQ can be easily used to change
the booktype of your drive.
23. Conclusion
Philips
DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
Page 23
Conclusion
The Philisp DVDR1640P generally showed good performance in our tests.
As a CD reader, it is fast with low seek times and better than average
error correction.
DVD reading capabilities are also good, with strongest being error correction
and high transfer rate while ripping pressed DVD DL media. However, the reading
speed
with recordable media could be higher.
The drive is not designed for CD games backup, and for this reason
it could not produce working backups of protected games. This, off course,
was not
an obstacle
for the drive, being fast with ripping PSX and SecuROM protected test games.
On the other hand, SafeDisk protection caused the drive to read for over
43 minutes.
According to our DAE test, the drive was fast and achieved a perfect
quality score of 100 in Nero's CD Speed Advanced DAE test. Our 99min test
audio disc
was read successfully while the 90min was not.
The drive might not be good against CD games protection but it is rather
good with AudioCD protections. All of our test discs were played and ripped
successfully.
The Philips drive is also a good CD recorder. Even at 40X, jitter levels
are not all that high in most cases. Bad performance with the one
media brand should not stain the overall picture which was good.
The DVD writing qualitiy is rather good especially with the plus format.
With the minus, it is also good but it seems that it depends more on the
inserted media. We believe that a future firmware will improve the performance
with
the minus format as it should also do with the rewritable media, agian mostly
for the minus format.
The DVDR1640P is set by default to DVD-ROM booktype for all plus format
media. This makes the media more compatible and in
the case of Double
Layer media in combination with the good writng quality, constitutes
one of the main advatages of the drive.
The drive is also capable of quality scans, however the results are not
too good and the reading speed is extremely slow, 0.3X.
- The Good
- The Bad
- Competition offers 4X DL writing
- Competition offers 16X DVD-R writing
- Does not support overburning with DVD±R/RW media
- Cannot backup copy protected games with most versions of SafeDisc
protection
- Doesn't support reading of DVD-RAM media
- Doesn't support reading of C2 pointers
- Like To be fixed
- Burning quality with specific DVD-R media
- Low reading speed when measuring (scanning) DVD±R/RW media
24. Firmware P3.2 update - Page 1
Philips
DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
Page 24
Firmware Update P3.2 - Page 1
After only a short period after the release of this review, Philips released
several firmware revisions which change the drive's features. Now, the drive
is capable
of 16X DVD-R and 4X DVD+R DL recording.
Changes from firmware P2.5 to P3.0
- Improved write speed on DVD+R Double Layer discs from 2,4x to 4x.
- Improved write speed on DVD -R up to 16x (on selected media).
Changes from firmware P3.0 to P3.2
- Improved write quality on DVD+R Double Layer discs
We used a Mitsubishi Chemicals DVD-R disc, certified for 16X, in order to confirm the drive's ability. The drive started the simulation at 6.69X and finished at 15.98X, reporting an average writing speed of 11.95X.
25. Firmware P3.2 update - Page 2
Philips
DVDR1640P DL Recorder -
Page 25
Firmware Update P3.2 - Page 2
- Mitsubishi Chemicals 16X DVD-R @ 16X
- Taiyo Yuden 8X DVD+R @ 16X
- Mitsubishi Chemicals 2.4X DVD+R DL @ 4X
- Summary
In all cases the writing quality is very good, if not excellent.