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This story was printed from CdrInfo.com,
located at http://www.cdrinfo.com.
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Appeared on: Saturday, June 16, 2007
LG HL-DT-ST BD-RE GGW-H10N 1.01


1. Introduction

LG pleasantly surprised the attendants of the 2007 International CES trade show in Las Vegas last January with the introduction of the first combo drive that supports both the Blu-Ray and the HD DVD formats. The new GGW-H10N is a Super Multi Blue drive compatible with Blu-ray Disc, DVD, CD read/write and HD-DVD-ROM.

The GGW-H10N can record up to 50GB (on a dual layer 50GB BD-R/BD-RE recordable media) of data, equivalent to 4-1/2 hours of high-definition video or 22 hours of standard definition video. Surpassing the market standard, LG is providing a 4x recording speed for Blu-ray Discs, which means that it takes only 23-24 minutes to burn a full single layer BD-R disc (25GB), compared with 46-47 minutes with conventional 2x recording. Of course, the drive's support for reading of HD DVD-ROM (SL and DL) media is also among the main strengths of the device.

Specifications

BD-R(SL)
4xCLV
BD-R(DL)/BD-RE (SL/DL)
2xCLV
DVD-R
8xCLV
DVD-R(DL)
4xCLV
DVD-RW
6xCLV
DVD+R
8xCLV
DVD+R(DL)
4xCLV
DVD+RW
8xCLV
CD-R
16xCLV
CD-RW
16xCLV
  • Maximum Read Speed
BD-ROM(SL) 4x CAV.
BD-ROM(DL) 3.2x CAV.
BD-R(SL) 4
BD-R(DL)/BD-RE(SL/DL) 3.2
HD DVD-ROM(SL) 3x max. CAV
HD DVD-ROM(DL) 2.4x max. CAV
DVD-R/RW/ROM(SL/DL) 10x/8x/12x/8x max. CAV
DVD-R DL 6x max. CAV
DVD-Video (CSS Compliant Disc) 6x max (SL/DL). CASV
DVD+R/+RW 10x/8x max. CAV
DVD+R DL 6x max. CAV
CD-R/RW/ROM 32x/24x/32x max. CAV
CD-DA (DAE) 24x max. CAV

Host interface: ATAPI / Serial ATA

External dimensions(WxHxD): 146x41.3x190 mm (W/O Bezel)

The front panel covered with the various logos, which reveal the drive's support for multiple formats.

Our model was manufactured in May of 2007.

Retail package contents

The LG BD-RE GGW H10N drive comes with a blank Blu-ray Disc LG BD Rewriter & HD DVD-ROM Drive Solution software package, including:

System Requirements (HD Playback)

HLDS suggests the following minimum PC requirements for playback of HD DVD or Blu-Ray movies on your PC.

Graphic Card
Driver
Interface
HDCP
Analog
3
VGA (D-SUB)
Not required
Digital
DVI or HDMI
Compliant

Monitor
Interface
HDCP
Resolution
Analog
VGA (D-SUB)
Not required
1024x768 or more (Recommended: 1920x1080)
Digital
DVI or HDMI
Compliant

Systems not meeting these minimum requirements may not be able to play or create Blu-ray discs and HD DVD playback discs. More information about movie playback is available in the following pages of this review.

The drive is based on the RENESAS R8J32701FPV Chipset, as seen in the pictures below. Note, that removing the drive's cover void's the warranty.

The core technologies of the Super Multi Blue Drive are Optical Pickup technology, which supports Blu-ray disc write/playback, HD DVD playback and DVD/CD write/playback, as well as the system controlling the Optical Pickup securely and effectively.

Installation:

The LG BD-RE drive was recognised by Windows XP as "LG HL-DT-ST BD-RE GGW-H10N 1.01".

Note, that the Region control features indicated by the Nero InfoTool utility above, refer to the DVD format and not Blu-Ray.


2. CD - DVD Reading

For our CD transfer rate tests, we used the Nero CD-Speed utility and a set of Pressed CDs. The drive can read CD media at a maximum speed of 32X. For reference, we present a comparison of the LG BD-RE GGW-H10N drive with the Pioneer BD-ROM BDC 202, Lite-On BD B LH-2B1S and Plextor BD-R PX-B900A drives (the Plextor drive is not used in all of the comparisons).

Pressed CD

US RW CD

The following CD Speed graph shows the reading performance with US-RW media. For all the CDSpeed graphs, you can click on the image to see the full CDspeed snapshot.

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Press for Larger Picture

- AudioCD

In the CD Speed Advanced DAE quality test, the drive's average speed was 24.12X with a quality score of 100.

A typical DAE task with an 80min non-protected Audio CD produced 23.6X average ripping speed.

- 90/99 mins Audio disc

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The 90min audio CD reading returned a read error, while the 99min audio CD produced some speed ups and downs at the end of the reading process, but finished successfully, as you can see in the screenshots above.

- DVD Format

Now let's have a look at how the drive's performance with DVD media. This time, a set of SL and DL DVD media was used. The drive is capable of reading at 8X maximum speed with single layer and at 4X with dual layer media.

DVD-ROM SL media -

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PTP DVD-ROM -

The two layers of a PTP DVD-ROM disc are read sequentially with the drive starting reading from the inner part of the disc, which is the beginning of each layer, progressing towards its outer range.

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OTP DVD-ROM -

The first layer of an OTP dual layer DVD-ROM is read exactly the same way as the first layer of the PTP disc we tested previously. The difference here is the reading strategy of the second layer of the disc. The beginning of the second layer is located in the outer part of the disc, so the drive starts reading from the outer tracks and progresses towards the inner part of the disc.

Press for Larger Picture

- DVD-R /-RW

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- DVD+R /+RW

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- DVD+R DL

Press for Larger Picture

-DVD-R DL

-HD DVD-ROM media ("The Bourne Supremacy" film )

This is a dual-layer HD DVD-ROM (30GB capacity) which contains the "Bourne Supremacy" film. The disc is not written to its full capacity so the reading session only reads up to about 21,5GB of data. The disc was read at 2.4X CAV, in compliance with the drive's specifications. The interesting part here is that the drive's seek times do not differ significantly compared to those we got with a DVD-ROM 9 OTP.

-BD-ROM media ("Open Season" film)

The BD-ROM (containing the "Open Season" film) disc was read at 4X, CAV. The drive also supports reading of dual-layer BD-ROMs at 3.2X CAV.

During testing, we initially faced an issue when reading the specific disc.The speed dropped sharply at the end of the reading session, as you can see in the CDSpeed graph below.

This drop in the speed could be attributed to local defects or dust, although they are not visible with the naked eye. The disc was cleaned with a special liquid spray and was tested again. The result was the very good reading, as seen in the CDSpeed reading graph further up.

We should mention here, that Blu-Ray media is extremely sensitive to dust. Although this was a main concern of the Blu-Ray Disc Association from the beginning, and companies like TDK addressed this issue by adding protection layers on the Blu-Ray discs, the actual testing done at CDRinfo indicates that the playability of a BD disc is heavily dependant on the disc surface of the disc. This issue will be addressed in an upcoming article.

- DVD Ripping speed

Average - 8,154 KB/S (5.9x)
Maximum - 11,314 KB/s (8.2x)


3. CD Error Correction

In the following tests, we check the drive's behavior when reading scratched / defective audio discs. The test discs used were the ABEX series from ALMEDIO.

- ABEX TCD-721R

Errors total Num: 2346642
Errors (Loudness) dB(A) Num: 125264 Avg: -75.7 dB(A) Max: -21.3 dB(A)
Error Muting Samples Num: 6856 Avg: 1.2 Samples Max: 582 Samples
Skips Samples Num: 0 Avg: 0 Samples Max: 0 Samples
Total Test Result 74.9 points (out of 100.0 maximum)

The LG BD-RE GGW-H10N drive achieved a relatively good score with the ABEX TCD-721R test disc compared with scores returned with other drives. The loudness errors were in the main below the -50dB limit (which is the maximum limit for non audible errors according to the author of the specific EAC utility). However, the drive started reporting errors quite early.

- ABEX TCD-726

Errors total Num: 18072
Errors (Loudness) dB(A) Num: 4381 Avg: -85.5 dB(A) Max: -17.6 dB(A)
Error Muting Samples Num: 70 Avg: 4.6 Samples Max: 131 Samples
Skips Samples Num: 1 Avg: 588.0 Samples Max: 588 Samples
Total Test Result 68.6 points (out of 100.0 maximum)

A CD error correction failure for the LG BD-RE GGW-H10N drive, which achieved a score of 68.6 out 100. The drive could not correct all the data for the specific 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 more difficult tests. These tracks are referred to as Check Level-1 through Check Level-5.

The tracks are reproduced through a software multimedia player (e.g. Windows Media Player). Each level is considered as passed, if the tone is smooth, continuous without interruptions, skipping or looping. The higher the Check Level passed, the more reliable the sound reproduction of the tested drive.

Error Level
1
2
3
4
5
HP dvd1035i
5/5
3/5
2/5
0/5
0/5

The drive achieved flawless reading only with the first track. Playing the second and third tracks produced numerous clicks on our speakers, while the playback of the fourth and fifth tracks was pretty noisy. This is below average, poor performance.

- Summary

Concluding, the LG BD-RE drive seems to have an average response to CD Errors with its error hiding mechanism at its best (as far as the 721R test disc is concerned) and with remarkable problems during the playback of the Audio Test Disc which started giving back clicks to our speakers from the second track where the artificial defects are not that serious.


4. DVD Error Correction

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 come 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.

Very good reading with no errors from the LG drive.

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.

The LG drive suffered decreased speed problems and bad sectors while reading the TDR-825 test disc and as a result failed this test disc. Strangely, the errors occur at the end of the disc and not over the defective regions.

- 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.

Flawless reading with this test media.

ABEX TDR-845

The disc is a single sided, dual layer DVD-ROM disc with 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 micrometers.

The artificial fingerprints affected the reading process on the second layer, causing a speed drop, but the test was completed without problems.

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 upon 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.

There was a speed drop and eventually the reading process stopped with a reading error just before the completion of reading of the first layer of TDV-541 DL test disc.

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.

This time, the LG drive managed to complete the reading process with no speed problems or reading errors.

- Summary

The error correction mechanism of this drive can not be described as the most reliable, with a lot of errors occurring with defective DVD media.


5. CMC Magnetics CDR

For this test, each CD-R disc was burned to its maximum capacity and at its maximum speed. Then the same disc was read with the CDSpeed software, and the disc was scanned for digital errors (BLER, C1 and C2) with our system provided by Clover Systems. To simplify the presentation, we provide the BLER, E31 and E32 error rates for each disc, which unveil the most serious errors on each disc.

Disc Info

CDspeed provides information about the inserted media as well as the maximum supported burning speed. For more details, you can click on the images.

Writing strategy - 16X (15.85X Average)
Writing time - 5:33 min

Reading strategy - 32 (26.29X Average)


Writing Quality - Clover Systems

A good overall writing quality, with low E31 and zero E32 (uncorrectable) errors. The E12 flag is out of limits, but these kinds of errors are correctable.

- About Clover Systems

The Clover Systems CDX Compact Disc Analyzer is a tool to quantitatively measure the quality of a CD. It will analyze CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-I, CD-R, Photo-CD, Enhanced CD and CD-RW discs at 4X, 8X, 24X, 32X or 40X speed. It effectively measures disc quality by examining the quantity and severity of CIRC errors generated during playback. It also provides the capability to measure signal parameters related to pit geometry, such as asymmetry and reflectivity. Together, all these bits of information provide a thorough analysis of disc quality. The Clover Systems Analyzers can also perform various format-checking tests on data discs, and do bit-for-bit data comparison on all types of CDs. All tests are carried out at the speed of 4X.

CIRC error correction uses two principles to detect and correct errors. The first is redundancy (extra information is added, which gives an extra chance to read the disc), and the second is interleaving (data is distributed over a relatively large physical area). The CIRC error correction used in CD players uses two stages of error correction, the well known C1 and C2, with de-interleaving of the data between the stages.

The error type E11 means one bad symbol was corrected in the C1 stage. E21means two bad symbols were corrected in the C1 stage. E31 means that there were three or more bad symbols at the C1 stage. This block is uncorrectable at the C1 stage, and is passed to the C2 stage. Respectively, E12 means one bad symbol was corrected in the C2 stage and E22 means two bad symbols were corrected in the C2 stage. E32 means that there were three or more bad symbols in one block at the C2 stage, and therefore this error is not correctable.

BLER (Block Error Rate) is defined as the number of data blocks per second that contain detectable errors, at the input of the C1 decoder. Since this is the most general measurement of the quality of a disc, you will find BLER graphs for all media tested below. If you click on the images you can see a more detailed table, indicating error levels. The Red Book specification (IEC 908) calls for a maximum BLER of 220 per second averaged over ten seconds. Discs with higher BLER are likely to produce uncorrectable errors. Al low BLER shows that the system as a whole is performing well, and the pit geometry is good. However, BLER only tells us how many errors were generated per second, and it does not tell us anything about the severity of those errors.


6. MoserBaer CDR

Disc Info

Writing strategy - 16X (15.85X Average)
Writing time - 5:32 min

Reading strategy - 32X (25.23X Average)

A strange reading strategy for the specific disc, although the reading test finished successfully. The "Full" seek time is high.

Writing Quality - Clover Systems

E22 exceeded the limits while testing this CD-R's writing quality with Clover Systems but these errors are correctable.


7. Prodisc CDR

Disc info

Writing strategy - 16X (15.85X Average)
Writing time - 5:32 mins

Reading strategy - 32 (25.23X Average)

Writing Quality - Clover Systems

No serious errors occurred in this scan. E22 has exceeded the limits but this is no big deal. Once more, good writing quality from the LG BD-RE drive.


8. Verbatim CD-R

Disc Info

Writing strategy -16X (15.85X Average)
Writing time - 5:30 mins

Reading strategy 32X (26.20X Average)

Writing Quality - Clover Systems

The LG drive probably achieved its worst writing so far with this Verbatim CDR disc as can be seen in the graphs above. At the end of the writing quality measurements, the BLER as well as the E31 errors increased dangerously but this is not enough to mar the drive's performance so far. The LG drive responds well with CDR media in both writing and reading.


9. Verbatim CDRW

Disc Info

Writing strategy -16X (16.02X Average)
Writing time - 5:10 mins

Reading strategy 26X (19.45X Average)

Writing Quality - Clover Systems


10. DaTARIUS DVD Analyzer R 2x

The DaTARIUS DVD Analyzer R 2x

The DaTARIUS DVD Analyzer R 2x is one of the cornerstones in DVD quality control equipment, and is truly unique in the industry. It allows checking of replicated DVDs with single and dual layer structure (DVD-5, DVD-9, DVD-10, DVD-14, DVD-18) and written DVD recordable, at 1X and 2X speed. It is based on the Pulstec Reference Pickup and Drive, developed in close co-operation with Pulstec and according to the standards of the DVD Forum.

In short, the device's features include:

An explanation of the various parameters the DaTARIUS DVD Analyzer R 2x offers is available here. At the same page, you can read more details about the error signals and a brief analysis the possible meaning of its parameter in the overall quality of each burn.

In the following pages, we present the writing quality measurements of various DVD recordable and rewritable media, burned with the LiteOn LH-2B1S.


11. CMC MAG AE1

Media Info -

Writing - 8X (6.67X average) in 10:09 mins

Reading (7.68X Average)

DaTARIUS Scans -


12. CMC MAG AM3

Media Info -

Writing - 8X (6.67X average) in 10:08 mins

Reading - 12X (11.69X average)

DaTARIUS Scans -

The analyser could not complete measurements on the specific disc. POf errors were reported at the very end. The disc was readable, but the fact that the analyser's PUH lost tracking at the end of the data area indicates possible bad bytes in the region.


13. ProdiscF02

Media Info -

Writing - 8X (6.67X average) in 10:08 mins

Reading - 8X (7.65X average)

DaTARIUS Scans -

The measurements on the specific disc show POF errors towards the end of the data area. Their existence, however, did not influence the readability of the disc.

We should note here that the the POFs occur when the decoder is unable to correct all the data within an ECC block after attempting one pass of PI Row correction and PO column correction. The wording "one pass" is important because the decoder may be designed to make several passes of error correction. There is a possibility that bad bytes may be corrected in one of the subsequent passes. The decoders of the DVD testers such the DaTARIUS system use one pass of error correction. As a result, in some cases the POFs reported by the tester can be corrected by the player/drive while reading.


14. MCC 03RG20

Media Info -

Writing - 8X (6.67X average) in 10:07 mins

Reading - 8X (7.67X average)

DaTARIUS Scans -

Again, POFs were reported at the end of the data area. The situation shows possible problems in the writing strategy of the LG drive at the outer parts of the disc. The DaTARIUS analyser was sensitive enough to pick this up, although the LG drive managed to read the disc.


15. DAXON016S

Media Info -

Writing - 8X (6.67X average) in 10:09 mins

Reading - 8X (7.67X average)

DaTARIUS Scans -

The specific disc was read perfectly by the LG drive. PIsum8 errors were high but stayed below limits. The reported POFs (spikes) did not influence the playability of the disc.


16. RitekF1

Media Info -

Writing - 8X (6.67X average) in 10:07 mins

Reading - 8X (7.68X average)

DaTARIUS Scans -

The measurements with the various media until now, indicate that POFs occur after the 50mm radius on the disc. This time, the errors were reflected in the reading test with the CDSpeed utility, giving a brief spike.


17. TYG03

Media Info -

Writing - 8X (6.67X average) in 10:08 mins

Reading - 8X (7.68X average)

DaTARIUS Scans -

A very good burn from the LG drive at the 8x speed with the Taiyo Yuden disc.


18. MKM 03 RD30

Media Info -

Writing - 4X (3.95X average) in 27:29 mins

Reading - (4.66X average)

DaTARIUS Scans -

-Layer 0

-Layer 1

Exceptional results from the LG drive with the Verbatim DVD-R DL disc at 4x.


19. MKM 01RW6X01

Media Info -

Writing - 4X (4.01X average) in 15:05 mins

Reading - (6.27X average)

Writing Quality - Almedio AEC-1000

The LG drive continues its good performance, this time with the DVD-RW disc at 6x.


20. CMC MAG E01

Media Info -

Writing - 8X (6.67X average) in 10:11 mins

Reading - (7.60X average)

DaTARIUS Scans -

Click For Larger Image

Uncorrectable errors occurred at around the 55mm radius on the disc. Playability was affected too, as we can see in the CDSpeed reading graph.


21. CMC MAG M01

Media Info -

Writing - 8X (6.67X average) in 10:10 mins

Reading - (7.68X average)

DaTARIUS Scans -

Click For Larger Image


22. DAXON AZ3

Media Info -

Writing - 8X (6.66X average) in 10:09

Reading - (7.65X average)

DaTARIUS Scans -

Click For Larger Image

Digital errors were high in the outer area of the disc. PiSum8 slightly increased beyond the 280 limit, with PIFs and POFs also present.


23. MCC 004

Media Info -

Writing - 8X (6.67X average) in 10:10

Reading - (7.68X average)

DaTARIUS Scans -

An overall good burn this time, with the Verbatim DVD+R disc.


24. RICOHJPN R03

Media Info -

Writing - 8X (6.67X average) in 10:09 mins

Reading - (7.68X average)

DaTARIUS Scans -

Click For Larger Image


25. RITEK R04

Media Info -

Writing - 8X (6.66X average) in 10:08 mins

Reading - (7:67X average)

DaTARIUS Scans -

Digital errors peaked at the end of the data area, but they translated to only a small fluctuation in the reading graph.


26. YUDEN000 T03

Media Info -

Writing - 8X (6.66X average) in 10:11 mins

Reading - (7.66X average)

DaTARIUS Scans -


27. MKM 003 (000)

Media Info -

Click For Larger image

Writing - 4X (3.95X average) in 27:41 mins

Reading - (4.66X average)

DaTARIUS Scans -

-Layer 0

-Layer 1


28. RITEK S04 001

Media Info -

Writing Quality - Almedio AEC-1000

Writing - 4X (3.94X average) in 27:43 mins

Reading (failure)

DaTARIUS Scans -

-Layer 0

-Layer 1

The problems in the second layer of the disc are obvious if we look at the high PIF and POF errors reported. The specific disc was unreadable with the LG drive, producing a read error in the second layer.


29. MKM A03

Media Info -

Writing Quality - Almedio AEC-1000

Writing - 8X (7.37X average) in 8:29 mins

Reading - (6.29X average)

Writing Quality - Almedio AEC-1000


30. TDKBLDRBA (000)

Media Info -

Writing Quality - Almedio AEC-1000

Writing - 2X (2.00X average) in 45:28 mins

Reading - (failure)

The TDK BD-R disc was not readable with the drive, as seen from the CDSpeed graph. The specific disc could not be read by other BD drives we tested either.


31. VERBATIMa (000)

Media Info -

Writing Quality - Almedio AEC-1000

Writing - 4X (3.58X average) in 27:30 mins

Reading - (3.04X average)


32. MEI (001)

Media Info -

Writing Quality - Almedio AEC-1000

Writing - 2X (2.00X average) in 45:13 mins

Reading - (2.52X average)


33. SONY (001)

Media Info -

Writing Quality - Almedio AEC-1000

Writing - 2X (2.00X average) in 45:13 mins

Reading - (2.52X average)


34. TDKBLDWBA (000)

Media Info -

Writing Quality - Almedio AEC-1000

Writing - 2X (2.00X average) in 45:12 mins

Reading - (2.52X average)


35. VERBATIM0 (000)

Media Info -

Writing Quality - Almedio AEC-1000

Writing - 2X (2.00X average) in 45:06 mins

Reading - (2.49X average)


36. TDKBLDRFA (000)

Media Info -

Writing Quality - Almedio AEC-1000

Writing - 2X (2.00X average) in 90:30 mins

LG GGW-H10N supports writing on 50GB BD-R DL media. The disc was burned to its full capacity (45.11 GB) in 90:30 minutes.

Reading - (2.52X average)


37. Media List

In the following table, we list the findings of the DVD quality measurements for this drive. Note that each disc was measured under the same conditions with the DaTARIUS equipment. On the left side of the table you can find the discs that did not produce uncorrectable digital errors, while on the right side are the rest of the discs. For detailed measurement data, visit the corresponding pages.

Media type
Digital errors within limits
Digital errors exceed limits
DVD+R   CMC MAG E01 000 (00h) burned at 8X
  CMC MAG M01 000 (00h)burned at 8X
  DAXON AZ3 000 (00h) burned at 8X
MCC 004 000 (00h) burned at 8X  
RICOHJPN R03 004 (04h) burned at 8X  
  RITEK R04 001 (01h) burned at 8X
  YUDEN 000 T03 000 (00h) burned at 8X
DVD-R   CMC MAG.AE1 burned at 8X
  CMC MAG.AM3 burned at 8X
  ProdiscF02 burned at 8X
  MCC 03RG20 burned at 8X
  DAXON016S burned at 8X
  RITEKF1 burned at 8X
TYG03 burned at 8X  
DVD-R DL MKM 03RD 30 burned at 4X  
DVD+R DL   MKM 003 000 (00h) burned at 4X
  RITEK S04 001 (01h) burned at 4X
DVD-RW MKM 01RW6X01 burned at 6X  
DVD+RW   MKM A03 000 (00h) burned at 8X

- Burning times

Here we have gathered the results of the burning tests for DVD media. The numbers in "Bold" indicate the best recording time for each format.

For more information about the measurement for each disc, you can visit the corresponding pages of this review.

DVD+R BURNING RESULTS
 
Media Manufacturer
Manufacturer ID Average Burning Speed Burning Time (mins:secs)
LG BD-RE GGW H10N drive CMC DVD+R 4.7GB 8X CMC MAG E01 000 (00h) 6.67X 10:11
CMC DVD+R 4.7GB 8X CMC MAG M01 000 (00h) 6.67X 10:10
DAXON DVD+R 4.7GB 8X DAXON AZ3 000 (00h) 6.66X 10:09
Verbatim DVD+R 4.7GB 8X MCC 004 000 (00h) 6.67X 10:10
Ricoh DVD+R 4.7GB 8X RICOHJPN R03 004 (04h) 6.67X 10:09
RITEK DVD+R 4.7GB 8X RITEK R04 001 (01h) 6.66X 10:08
Taiyo Yuden DVD+R 4.7GB 8X YUDEN 000 T03 000 (00h) 6.66X 10:11

DVD+R DL BURNING RESULTS
  Media Manufacturer Manufacturer ID Average Burning Speed Burning Time (mins:secs)
LG BD-RE GGW H10N drive DVD+R DL 8.5GB 4X MKM 003 000 (00h) 3.95X 27:41
DVD+R DL 8.5GB 4X RITEK S04 001 (01h) 3.94X 27:43

DVD+RW BURNING RESULTS
  Media Manufacturer Manufacturer ID Average Burning Speed Burning Time (mins:secs)
LG BD-RE GGW H10N drive Verbatim DVD+RW 4.7GB 8X MKM A03 000 (00h) 7.37X 8:29

DVD-R BURNING RESULTS
  Media Manufacturer Manufacturer ID Average Burning Speed Burning Time (mins:secs)
LG BD-RE GGW H10N drive CMC DVD-R 4.7GB 8X CMC MAG.AE1 6.67X 10:09
CMC DVD-R 4.7GB 8X CMC MAG.AM3 6.67X 10:08
unknown DVD-R 4.7GB 8X ProdiscF02 6.67X 10:08
Verbatim DVD-R 4.7GB 8X MCC 03RG20 6.67X 10:07
Daxon DVD-R 4.7GB 8X DAXON 016S 6.67X 10:09
RITEK DVD-R 4.7GB 8X RITEKF1 6.67X 10:07
unknown DVD-R 4.7GB 8X TYG03 6.67X 10:08

DVD-R DL BURNING RESULTS
  Media Manufacturer Manufacturer ID Average Burning Speed Burning Time (mins:secs)
LG BD-RE GGW H10N drive Verbatim DVD-R DL 8.5GB MKM 03RD30 3.95 27:29

DVD-RW BURNING RESULTS
  Media Manufacturer Manufacturer ID Average Burning Speed Burning Time (mins:secs)
LG BD-RE GGW H10N drive Verbatim DVD-RW 4.7GB 6X MKM 01RW6X01 4.01X 15:05

- Booktype Settings

The LG BD-RE drive supports the Booktype feature as seen in the snapshot above.

- DVD Overburning

The LG BD-RE drive also supports overburning with DVD recordable media, according to Nero CDSpeed.


38. Palyback Tests

Playback tests:

We performed playback tests with the LG GGW H10N drive, using an HD DVD-ROM title ("The Bourne Supremacy") and a Blu Ray title ("Open Season").

The Bourne Supremacy (Universal Studios) HD DVD (HD-30) is encoded on disc in High Definition 1080p format using VC-1 compression. The movie is presented in its theatrical aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 with letterbox bars at the top and bottom of the 16:9 frame. It features Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.

 

The Open Season (Sony) BD-ROM disc (BD 25) specs boast a 1080p/MPEG-4 AVC video transfer and uncompressed PCM 5.1 surround track.

The tests were performed on two different systems (AMD Athlon, 2.2 GHz & 3.0 GHz) and with two different graphic cards (asus EN6600 & asus EN8800) using Cyberlink's PowerDVD software, which, as mentioned before, comes on a CD-ROM in the retail package.

-Asus EN6600

The LG GGW H10N drive was unable to play both the HD DVD ROM and Blu Ray titles with the Asus EN6600 graphics card. Most of the frames were lost during playback and there were plenty of title menu elements missing which turned the DVD navigation into a pretty tough affair. The result was expected since the specific graphics card is not included in the recommended hardware for BD playback.

-Asus EN8800

The Blu Ray disc performed perfectly with the Asus EN8800 graphic card, losing only a few frames but drawing heavily on the CPU as can be seen in the screenshot below. The problem was resolved when we tested the drive along with the card on the faster of the two systems (3.0 GHz).

Blu Ray Support (as seen in Cyberlink's Power DVD Advisor)

Below you can see the BD movie information as it is presented by PowerDVD Ultra.

 


On the other hand the HD DVD, besides the fact that it started normally, losing no frames or causing any problems during the intro or while we were navigating through the title menu, lost a lot of frames after the movie began and there were high levels of CPU usage as well. Here too, the problem was resolved when we performed playback on the faster system (3.0 GHz).

HD DVD Support (as seen in Cyberlink's Power DVD Advisor)

Below you can see the HD DVD movie information as it is presented by PowerDVD Ultra.


39. Conclusion

The first ever Blu-Ray /HD DVD combo drive deserves a pretty good overall rating. The LG BD-RE GGW-H10N drive impressed us with its compatibility with the various formats, responding well in most of the writing and reading tests.

Reading speeds for CD and DVD formats are fast enough. Error correction with CD media is at best average, and in the case of DVD, the drive's performance leaves space for improvement, especially when it comes to reading scratched DVD-Video discs (DL).

Writing quality is adequate with both DVD+R and DVD-R media. The drive produced some very high-quality burnings with specific MIDs. The relatively low supported writing speed (8x max) looked quite promising in the beginning of the tests, although it seems that the Z-CLV writing strategy needs some improvements, in order to avoid digital errors in the outer regions of some DVD recordable discs. However, all the DVDs we burned were readable, with the exception of the Ritek DVD-R DL disc. Rewritable DVDs were burned flawlessly. The support for booktype and DVD overburning features are also positive for the LG drive.

BD-R, BD-RE and BD-R DL writing and reading sessions, which is probably the most important part of this drive's capabilities, were a great success, except from a readability issue with the TDK BD-R SL disc.

The BD-ROM and HD DVD movie playback was also checked and was quite impressive. The titles were streamed through analogue connections to the PC monitor, and playback was smooth and flawless. Of course, you should seriously take into consideration the hardware requirements for playback, for both HD DVD and BD movies, since the decoding process is a very CPU/GPU intensive task, especially when it comes to decoding MPEG-4 video.

Overall, HLDS has built a reliable drive that goes beyond your usual needs. Although the device is considered as a premium product that could attract demanding users only, it could be a good replacement for that old DVD burner connected to your high-end PC if you need the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD formats as well. The drive is currently priced at $1200.

Pros

Cons



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