1. Meet the Sony BDX-S500U BD burner
Today we have in our labs an external, slim-type Blu-ray disc writer. The Sony Optiarc BDX-S500U writes to Blu-ray Disc at 6x
speed, plays Blu-ray Disc movies, DVDs and CDs, archives large quantities of
data and is suitable as a back-up
medium and playback unit for practically any kind of terminal device.
Delivered with the CyberLink
BD Suite, the external burner can be installed in the living room replacing
the
DVD player in the home cinema system. It is also optimally equipped
for future home cinema applications as one of the first Blu-ray Disc players
for 3D movies. Of course, the compact and light drive can be also used as a
PC and notebook
companion.
The burner comes with CyberLink’s Media Suite 8, a software
package that includes programs such as the DVD/Blu-ray Disc playback software
PowerDVD, the video editing software PowerDirector, and the DVD/BD authoring
software,
PowerProducer. These programs make it easy to play back 3D Blu-ray Disc videos,
edit creative home video material and produce and burn your own Blu-rays Discs
and DVDs with menus. Data archiving is also simple with
the PowerBackup burning software.
Sony Optiarc’s new product writes single layer BD-R media (25
GB) in around 20 minutes (6X) and double layer BD-R (50 GB) media at up to
4X speed. The BDX-S500U can write DVDs at up to 8X speed, DVD-RAMs at up to
5X
speed
and CDs at up to 24X speed.
Sony Optiarc offers a 24-month warranty on the drive.
Specifications:
On
the left picture you see the retail package of the BDX-S500U writer.
Besides the drive, the box includes a comprehensive set of accessories plus
a Sony BD-R 6x BD-R disc (blank).
Here is the complete bundle:
- BDX-S500U Blu-ray Disc writer
- AC power Adaptor (with cord for both UK and US regions)
- User manual and quick start guide
- USB cable
- Sony BD-R 6x blank disc, printable surface
- Sony software disc
- Cyberlink PowerDVD
- Cyberlink PowerProducer
- Cyberlink Power2Go
- Cyberlink MediaShow
- Cyberlink LabelPrint
- Cyberlink PowerDVD Copy
- Cyberlink PowerBackup
The BDX-S500U is very stylish and its case plastic case has a great black
glossy finish. At the top side panel there are the Blu-ray disc and DVD , CD
recordable certification logos, as well as a small green led that lights up when
the drive is connected to the AC power adapter.
.
The front side of the disc loading tray has the typical eject
button, the busy indicator and the emergency eject hole. The DC input jack
(power) and the USB 2.0 connector are available at the rear side of the drive:
Below you see the basic steps you should follow in order to operate the drive:
Connected to our test PC's USB 2.0 port, the drive was identified as "SONY
BD RW BDX-S500U" USB device. Here is some additional information about drive
as it is reported by the DVDInfo PRO and Nero InfoTool utilities:
2. CD and DVD reading tests
For our CD/DVD and Blu-ray transfer rate tests we used the Nero CDSpeed utility
and a set of data and audio CD and DVD media. Here
we test the maximum reading speed of the Sony BDX-S500U drive for each type
of disc.
- CD media
The following CD Speed graph shows the reading performance with US-RW media.
In the CD Speed Advanced DAE quality test, the drive's average speed was just
16.56X with a quality score of 100.
Digital Audio Extraction or DAE is important when we try to read the files stored on an audio CD and store them in our hard disk drive. The procedure is not always that simple and the fidelity of the extracted data depend on the way each drive handles these data.
The majority of the software that support this procedure, commonly known as "ripping", will just read the audio files and store them on your hard disk. However, this approach is not recommended for all drives, since it may result to read or sync errors if your drive does not support report of C2 error pointer information and also what the author of the EAC (Exact Audio Copy) software describes as "accurate stream" and " non-caching."
According to EAC, the Sony drive dos not support"caching ", but
it offers "Accurate
stream" and reports C2 error pointer information
Accurate stream and C2 error reporting is always welcome and contribute to reliable and fast audio extraction. Generally, if you select a drive for extraction better have a look that the drive does not cache audio data.
If you are sure about the physical condition of your audio CD and you need
faster extractions, you may chose other utilities such as the CD DAE software.
A typical ripping task finished at an average reading speed of 23.1X, using
CD DAE:
90min Audio disc
The drive returned an error as it was trying to read the data stored at the
outer part of the 90min disc. In addition, the drive could not recognize 99min
CD-Rs.
- DVD media
Now let's take a look at how the drive performs 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 for single layer DVD ROM and at 6X for dual layer DVD
ROM media.
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.
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.
Ripping of a single layer DVD movie:
Summary
The reading process of all media was completed without read errors
and at speeds that match the drive's specifications.
3. Reading damaged CDs
This series of tests checks the drive's ability to correct/conceal possible erroneous data after reading artificially scratched / defective audio discs.
Using a CD-R in best shape to do the DAE test is generally not a safe way to test the drive's error correction capabilities. If your drive would not read audio CDs error free from an error free disc, you would probably bring the drive back to the vendor. It is far more interesting to see how a drive is behaving under critical conditions (which will also tell something about the DAE quality on CDs that have manipulated C2 error information on purpose). For that a special test CD like the ABEX discs from ALMEDIO can be used, that can be used to do a comparison between different drives. The ABEX test disc is actually an AudioCD that has artificial scratches and other physical disc error patterns on its surface.
Using a special software, we compare two audio files using FFT analysis. The first audio file has been extracted by a normal audio disc without physical error patterns on it . The second one is the result of the extraction of the ABEX test discs which hold the same audio tracks, but it also has specific defects on its surface. The similarity factor of the the two tracks unveils the error correction capabilities of the drive.
The differences between the two compared tracks are translated to a signal (noise) illustrated in the following graphs. Each graph tells a lot about the abilities of the drive. The quality of the optical system (and/or of the error correction capabilities of the firmware) is shown in at which time index the error start. The error hiding qualities are shown when the wedge gets bigger. The X position of a grid line is always a start of a new minute position on the CD (in play time, up to 74 min). The Y axis shows the dB(A) value of the error in the extracted file. The 0 dB(A) baseline at the top is marked slightly different. So the graph shows a range of 6 dB(A) down to -120.0 dB(A). Each line represents 6 dB(A) of volume (6 dB(A) louder means that the sound is double as loud).
- ABEX TCD-721R
Errors total |
Num:
827283 |
Errors (Loudness) |
Num:
46273 |
Avg:
-74.9 dB(A) |
Max:
-34.9 dB(A) |
Error Muting |
Num:
2669 |
Avg:
1,0 Samples |
Max:
7 Samples |
Skips |
Num:
1 |
Avg:
6.0 Samples |
Max:6
Samples
|
Results |
C2
Accuracy: 99.6 % |
73.4
points (out of 100.0 maximum) |
The drive's error correction is good here, starting at the point where the
defect is starting to grow, but t error hiding mechanisms are average, since
there are some wedges that went beyond the -60 db(A)
level,
especially a the 32~34 min areas where the scratch on the surface of the
disc becomes bigger. The drive also muted many samples as it couldn't "hide"
them and also skipped once. This means that sync was lost and the drive
had to reposition again (and started on a slightly different position).
- ABEX TCD-726R
Errors total |
Num:
608 |
Errors (Loudness) |
Num:
23 |
Avg:
-69.3 dB(A) |
Max:-57.4
dB(A) |
Error Muting |
Num:
1 |
Avg:
1.0 Samples |
Max:1
Samples |
Skips |
Num: 0 |
Avg: 0.0 Samples |
Max: 0 Samples
|
Results |
C2 accuracy: 100 % |
92.6
points (out of 100.0 maximum) |
This time the errors started earlier than expected and before the drive reach
the defected area of the disc. This has to do with the quality of the optical
system (and/or of the error correction capabilities of the firmware). .
- CD-Check Audio Test Disc
CD
players have built-in D/A converters that turn the digital data on a CD into
analog signal - what we hear as music. Ideally, all the digital data should
be converted to the analog format. In reality, many factors cause digital
data to be lost and sound reproduction to detoriate.
CD players handle this data loss using a sophisticated error correction
system that allows them to recover it. However, when the data loss is greater
than a system's recovery ability, some of the signal is lost. It is then
that the CD player uses compensation methods such as interpolation, data
substitution or signal muting to make this loss as anaudible as possible.
However, this results in altered and often distorted sound.
The level of sound distortion depends on the amount of data loss. Initially,
music may sound brittle and there may be subtle problems with stereo imaging
or dynamics. Over time, disc skipping, clicks, pops in the signal or audible
signal muting may result. CD-CHECK contains a special signal (tone), designed
for early detection of the most subtle forms of distortion. 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 |
Sony
BDX-S500U |
5/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
5/5 |
A good performance for the Sony drive , as it successfully played all the
tracks.
4. Reading damaged DVDs
In the following tests, we examine the DVD reading capabilities of the drive (error correction) with scratched / defective DVD media. For the tests, we used CDVD Benchmark and Nero Disc Speed. 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 graph shows us some speed fluctuations, meaning that the drive had some difficulties in the reading process. No read errors were reported.
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.
A successful read here.
- 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.
Same as before, successful reading with a few fluctuations at the first layer.
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.
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.
Flawless reading here.
Summary
Overall, the DVD error correction mechanisms are great.
5. Reading Blu-ray discs
Continuing, let's see how the drive reads the various Blu-ray recordable and
ROM discs.
The supported 4X CAV reading with BD-ROM DL media (movie) was confirmed.
The Sony drive is also capable of reading of BD-R Low-To-High (LTH) discs.
Below you can see a reading test with a Verbatim SL BD-R LTH disc (VERBATIMw):
6. CD DVD media quality testbed
All CD/DVD writing quality tests are done using the IQB Omni CD DVD Analyzer by Quantized. The IQB Omni from Quantized Systems is a physical disc analyzer,
covering all CD and DVD formats,
designed to meet the Quality Control
demands of the duplication and
replication sectors.
Omni's features allows you to identify media quality issues and highlight drive performance and recording problems.
The system is based on a Philips CD/DVD drive. It supports the majority of the optical disc formats, including CD-ROM, CD-R/RW, CD-A
DVD-R/-RW, DVD-R DL, DVD+R/+RW, DVD+R DL, DVD-ROM 5 and DVD-ROM.
The platform can test the media for the following signals:
CD-R/CD-ROM/CD-A |
DVD+R/+RW |
DVD-R/-RW |
DVD-ROM |
Reflectivity |
R-I14H |
R-I14H |
R-I14H |
Jitter |
Modulation |
Modulation |
Modulation |
I11/ITop |
Jitter |
Jitter |
Jitter |
Asymmetry/Beta |
PI Sum 8 |
PI Sum 8 |
PI SUm 8 |
BLER |
PI Unc |
PI Unc |
PI Unc |
E11 to E32 Error Statistics |
POF |
POF |
POF |
Burst Errors |
Beta |
Beta |
Asymmetry |
|
ADER |
|
EDC |
|
ADER Unc |
|
|
Test speeds for CD media are set at 16X and for DVD media at 4X.
The equipment is capable of providing measurements on the complete data area or at specific positions defined by the user (Quick Test mode). This zone testing procedure allows multiple areas of the
disc to be tested in a single operation.
All numerical and graphical data are stored in a database. Data can be recalled with user defined criteria to create sets of related key results. Data can also be imported into most common software
packages - MS Excel etc.
For more information on the Quantized IQB Omni Analyzer, visit http://www.quantized.com.
In the following pages, we present the writing quality measurements of various
CD and DVD recordable and rewritable media, burned with the Sony BDX-S500U Blu-ray
disc writer.
7. CD-R burning - Verbatim 48x @ 24x
For this test (and for all ensuing tests with CD-R media), the CD-R disc was
burned to its maximum capacity and at its maximum speed. Then, the same disc
is read with the Disc Speed software, and the disc was scanned for digital
errors (E31 and E32).
As you will notice, the Opti Drive Control software cannot correctly read
the MID of the CD-R discs we tested.
-Disc Info
Verbatim 48x CD-R 74min
- Writing
Average Writing Speed: 15.36x
Writing time: 06:08min
- Reading
- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI
A good result for the Sony drive with the Verbatim CD-R at 48x,.
8. CD-R burning - Maxell 52x @24x
- Disc Info
Maxell 52x CD-R 700MB
- Writing
Average Writing Speed: 15.92x
Writing time: 06:24min
- Reading
- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI
Another good burn for the Sony BDX-S500U drive with no uncorrectable errors
(E32), with the Jitter Pit to be a little higher than the limits after the
52mm radius
of the disc.
9. DVD-R burning - TDK TTH02 16x @ 8x
We start our DVD writing quality measurements with DVD-R media. A variety of different MIDs were selected and burned at the maximum allowed speed. In each of the following pages, you will find detailed information about each disc, the burning and reading procedure as well as the related signal measurements that construct the overall quality picture for each disc.
You can always navigate across to the different MIDs in this review, using the page navigation drop down menu.
- Media Info
- Writing
- Reading
- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI
This is a quality burn with low PIsum8 and zero POF errors.
10. DVD-R burning - Verbatim MCC03RG20 16x @ 8x
- Media Info
- Writing
- Reading
- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI
The measurements indicate problems at the 3.65GB mark, where POF and PIF were
reported. The readability of the disc was not severely affected except from
a brief fluctuation on the reading graph we saw earlier.
11. DVD-R burning - CMC MAG AM3 16x @ 8x
- Media Info
- Writing
- Reading
- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI
That's a bad burn for the Sony drive. many parameters were out of acceptable
limits including POF.
12. DVD-R burning - Moser Baer India MBI01RG40 16x @ 8x
- Media Info
- Writing
- Reading
- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI
Again, POFs were reported with the Moser Baer disc.
13. DVD-R burning - Taiyo Yuden TYG03 16x @ 8x
- Media Info
- Writing
- Reading
- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI
14. DVD+R burning - Philips INFOME R30 16x @ 8x
- Media Info
- Writing
- Reading
- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI
This time we got an adequate burn, although the PISum8 is increasing towards
the end of the data area.
15. DVD+R burning - Moser Baer India MBIPG101 R05 16x @ 8x
- Media Info
- Writing
- Reading
- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI
16. DVD+R burning - Verbatim MCC004 16x @ 8x
- Media Info
- Writing
- Reading
- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI
A rather good burn here at 8x.
17. DVD+R burning - PRODISC R04 16x @ 8x
- Media Info
- Writing
- Reading
- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI
18. DVD+R DL burning - Moser Baer India MBIPG101 R10 8x
- Media Info
- Writing
The drive refused to burn the specific disc and returned a write error.
19. DVD+R DL burning - Verbatim MKM 003 8x @ 4x
- Media Info
- Writing
- Reading
- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI
The Sony BDX-S500U drive burned the Verbatim DVD+R DL disc quite well. No
POF and low PISum8 were reported.
20. DVD-R DL burning - Verbatim MKM 03RD30 8x @ 4x
- Media Info
- Writing
- Reading
- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI
POFs were reported for the L0 and jitter was high for both layers.
21. DVD-RW burning - Verbatim MKM 01RW6X01 6x @ 4x
- Media Info
- Writing
- Reading
- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI
22. DVD+RW burning - Verbatim MKM A03 8x @ 4x
- Media Info
- Writing
- Reading
- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI
23. DVD-RAM burning - Maxell MXL16 5x @ 5x
- Media Info
Maxell DVD-RAM 5x
- Writing
- Reading - 5X (5.02X average)
The Sony drive burner had not any reading/writing problems with both the Maxell
DVD-RAM discs of this test.
DVD-RAM is a rewritable format supported by the DVD Forum. A DVD-RAM can be seen as a removable hard drive. However, as any other hard drive the DVD-RAM must be "prepared" (formatted) before the first use. A DVD-RAM disc must be formatted using the UDF (Universal Disk Format). Usually, a 4.7GB DVD-RAM should be formatted using the UDF 1.5 or the UDF 2.0 format.
Notice that in the above tests we showcase the maximum recording speeds supported by the drive with the specific DVD-RAM media. In case you are using your DVD-RAM discs as a removable hard drive through your Windows OS, you may experience slower burning. That because the DVD-RAM format features an automatic verification technology that results to safer but slower recordings.
24. BD-R burning - Verbatim BD-R 25GB LTH VERBATIMu 6x @ 6x
We start our disc recording tests with the
Sony BDX-S500U drive. We used some of the latest BD-R/RE
SL and DL media for these tests. Each disc was burned at the highest allowed
recording speeds as well as in lower speeds.
We remind you that the drive supports
6x BD-R SL and 4x BD-R DL recording with specific media. The discs we used
for this test were
kindly
provided by
Mitsubishi Kangaku Media (MKM), the manufacturer of the popular Verbatim
branded discs, Moser Baer India, Panasonic and Imation/TDK.
We also used Erik Deppe' s Opti Drive Control software for testing the writing
quality of each recorded BD-R/RE disc. The software could give you an idea
of the writing quality of each disc. For BDs, the following parameters are
measured:
- LDC (Long Distance Code): number of parity errors on LDC codewords
per ECC block (32 sectors)
- BIS (Burst Indication Subcode): number of parity errors on BIS
codewords per ECC block (32 sectors)
On a good disc, the average LDC should stay below 13 and BIS should
stay below 15, according to the author of the software.
If you are interested in the data recovery methods of the Blu-ray discs, keep
reading below. If not, skip the following text and proceed directly to the
tests found later on this page :)
Blu-ray Data Recovery Methods: Partial Response - Maximum Likelihood
(PRML)
For CD and DVD, the method for data detection was based on a zero crossing
point method, using a conventional slicer. Basically, when the analogue signal
(output from the optical pick-up) crosses a reference level, it indicates
a binary transition. This method has its limitations, notably when the feature
size (smallest pit/land) is less than the spot size, the modulation of the
light is relatively small (the smaller the pit/spot size ratio the smaller
the modulation). Thus, the conventional slicer can create data with non-exact
mark/space lengths - otherwise known as jitter, and when this jitter becomes
greater than 0.5 of a clock cycle, it becomes
a bit error.
For BD, the minimum spot radius ratios are 0.88 and 0.85 of the ratio
of DVD. This reduced resolution (low modulation of light by 2T pits) means
that it is much more difficult to have effective data detection using a conventional
slicer. Boosting the high frequency part of the signal has limited effect
because this also increases the InterSymbol Interference (ISI), which is
where adjacent pits and lands interfere with each other. This is mainly a
problem with the shortest run lengths, particularly those that are smaller
than the spot size.
Hence for BD, the Partial Response- Maximum likelihood (PRML) method is
used for recovering the data from the signal.
Partial Response (PR) equalization is used to limit the effects of ISI,
and then a sequence of bits is evaluated to define the most likely sequence
of bits, based upon known allowed sequences. This is the Maximum Likelihood
(ML) detection and uses a Viterbi algorithm to determine the ML sequence.
The Blu-Ray disc is more sensitive to burst errors compared to the DVD
system. Therefore, the error correction system of Blu-Ray disc should be
able to cope well with long burst errors, rather with single (random) errors.
The maximum number of errors that can be corrected depends on the number
of parity symbols added. For each two parity symbols added, one error can
be corrected. But Blu-Ray uses a more efficient approach to correct the burst
errors. It uses a burst indicator mechanism that can detect bursts of errors
before the correction starts. The advantage of this method is actually the
prior knowledge of the error locations on the decoding process.
These burst indicator used in the Blu-Ray format is called picket code.
The pickets are columns that are inserted in between columns of the main
data at regular intervals. The main data is protected by a Reed Solomon code,
while the pickets are protected by a second independent Reed Solomon code.
When decoding (reading), first the picket columns are corrected. The correction
information can be used to estimate the location of possible burst errors
in the main data.
A BluRay Disc Error Correction Block (ECC Block) can store 64 Kilobytes
of user data. This data is protected by the Long Distance Code (LDC) which
has 304 code words with 216 information symbols and 32 parity symbols giving
a code word of length 248. These code words are interleaved two by two in
the vertical direction such that a block if 152 bytes x 469 bytes is formed
as shown in the picture above.
A Blu-Ray Disc ECC block contains 4 equally spaced picket columns. The
left most picket is formed by the sync pattern at the start of each row.
If the sync pattern was not detected properly, that can be an indication
for a burst error similar to the knowledge that a symbol of a picket column
had to be corrected. The other three pickets are protected by the so-called Burst
Indicator Subcode (BIS). The BIS code words are interleaved into
three columns of 496 bytes each. Both LDC and BIS codes are decoded by the
Reed Solomon decoder.
Reference: BD-ROM Physical Specifications
For the first test we used the Verbatim BD-R 25GB certified for 6x burning
(VERBATIMu (000)) . The specific discs have been manufactured using the "Low-To-High" (LTH)
process. The LTH write-once BD-R media feature an organic dye recording layer,
making them different that the currently available BD-R discs that use inorganic
materials.
- Media Info
Verbatim BD-R SL 6x LTH
- Writing @6x (4.36X average) in 21:21 min)
The Sony BDX-S500U recognized the disc and allowed us to select the 6X burning
speed. However, the drive did not reach the 6X speed and the burning
speed topped at 5.33X at the 16GB mark. From that point and toward the end
of the disc, the drive struggled to keep that speed and finally finished the
burning in 22:51 minutes and an average speed of 4.36X.
It was obvious that
there was an issue with the USB 2.0 interface here. The 6X speed offered
by the BDX-S500U when writing to single-sided discs translates into a write
speed
of 216Mbps.
The PC's USB 2.0 port has has a theoretical maximum
speed of 480MBps, but it runs much slower in real-world. Some of that speed
is taken away by networking overheads built into the protocol, and more by
inefficiencies
in USB interface chips. Although the drive was the only USB device connected
to the specific USB bus, the USB interface seems to reached its limits at ~192Mbps,
which is translated to 5.33X in terms of BD speed (1X = 36Mbps).
We installed the drive in three different PCs and USB 2.0 controllers with
no better luck. At that point, we realized that our
hopes for fast transfers encountered a bottleneck in the form
of the computer.
In case of USB 2.0 hard drives USB 2.0 ports generally offer sustained 288
to 320 Mbps in the absolute best scenario. USB flash drives have also reach
280Mbps.
However real world testing shows that the bandwidth requirement
of 6x BD is higher. The Sony BDX-S500U drive could be alternatively be equipped
with an eSATA port (or a USB 3.0 port) in order to offer exactly what it is
supposed to, at lest to everyone no matter how his PC performs.
On the bright side, the Sony BDX-S500U drive did not stop writing as soon
as our PC's USB 2.0 interface stopped feeding the drive's buffer with data.
The drive's Buffer underun protection kicked in and writing was stopping burning
every now and then in order to maintain sufficient data
flow and
resume
writing.
We were curious to see the impact of this writing behavior to the writing
quality and readability of the disc. Hopefully, the disc was fully readable
and the average reported LDC was 13.66, while the BIS was just 0.29. However,
LDC hit very high values throughout the data area, as you see
in the below graphs (spikes):
25. BD-R burning - Verbatim BD-R 25GB VERBATIMe 6x @ 6x
We continue our burning tests with a Verbatim BD-R SL for 6x (VERBATIMe(000))
disc. We selected the 6x speed for the burn, and here are the results:
- Media Info
- Writing @ 6x (4.40X average) in 21:45 min)
Again, the USB 2.0 drive could not reach the 6X max speed. The purple line
on the above graph clearly shows that the data on the buffer was not enough
to allow the drive burn at 6X.
Despite the USB 2.0 bandwidth problems, the condition of the burned disc look
good and both the average BIS and LDS codes are low:
26. BD-R burning - TDK BD-R 25GB TDKBLDRBB 4x @ 4x
- Media Info
Here we used the TDK BD-R SL for 4x (TDKBLDRBB) disc. According to the software,
the Sony BDX-S500U will burn the disc at 4x:
- Writing @ 4X (3.32X average in 30:36 min)
Z-CLV writing for this BD-R SL disc at 4X. The result is a complete burn in
30:36 minutes.
The reported average LDC and BIS are low. All jitter, LDC and BIS parameters gave a sudden spike right at the end of the data area, but as you can see from the graph this had no effect on the readability of the disc.
27. BD-R burning - Sony BD-R 25GB SONY N3 6x @ 6x
- Media Info
This is a Sony BD-R 25GB disc (SONY N3) certified for 6x recording:
- Writing @6X (4.38X average in 22:08 min)
- Quality
Although the average reported LDC and BIS are well within the acceptable limits,
high values of both parameters were reported after the 20GB mark.
28. BD-R burning - Verbatim BD-R 25GB VERBATIMc 4x @ 4x
- Media Info
This is an BD-R SL disc by Verbatim (VERBATIMc (000)), certified for 4x recording.
- Writing - 4x (3.33x average) in 30:36 min
- Quality
The average LDC reached the 26.06, which is not acceptable.
29. BD-R burning - Verbatim BD-R 50GB VERBATIMf 6x @ 4x
- Media Info
This is VERBATIM BD-R 50GB disc (VERBATIMf) certified for 6x recording.
- Writing - 4x (3.33x average) in 60:43min
- Quality
The Opti Drive Control software reported high LDC for the specific
disc.
30. BD-R burning - Verbatim BD-R 25GB VERBATIM0 2x @ 2x
- Media Info
This is another Verbatim BD-RE SL disc (VERBATIM0 (000) for 2x recording.
- Writing - 2x (1.99x average) in 4519min
- Quality
Definitely a problematic burn here with a very high average LDC.
31. BD-RE burning - Verbatim BD-RE 50GB VERBATIM1 2x @ 2x
- Media Info
This is a brand new Verbatim BD-RE DL 50GB disc (VERBATIM1) for 2x recording.
- Writing - 2x (1.99x average) in 91:17 min
- Quality
Both the LDC and BIS (average) values are low indicating a good burn.
32. BD-RE burning - Verbatim BD-RE 7GB VERBATIM0 2x @ 2x
- Media Info
This is a Verbatim 8cm BD-RE disc for 2x. The available capacity is 7.5GB.
- Writing - 2x (1.99x average) in 14:09 min
- Quality
The result is amazing. If these measurements are accurate, the specific disc
should not be burned with the Sony drive. The LDC is very high. Surprisingly,
the disc was readable, leaving us with many questions about the reliability
of
the quality
measurements using the specific software.
33. BD-RE burning - TDK BD-R 50GB TDKBLDRFB 4x @ 2x
- Media Info
This is a TDK BD-R DL disc for 4x.
- Writing - 4x (3.32x average) in 60:55 min
- Quality
The average LDC was higher than the acceptable limits. Very high values were
reported at he end of L0 and the beginning of L1 of the disc.
34. Summary of CD/DVD/BD quality tests, Booktype, Overburning
In the following table, we have gathered the findings of the DVD and CD quality measurement tests. 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 |
Uncorrectable
errors |
DVD-R
|
TTH02
F02 burned at 8x |
CMC
MAG. AM3 burned at 8x |
MCC
03RG20 burned at 8x |
TYG03
burned at 8x |
MBI01RG40
burned at 8x |
DVD+R |
Verbatim
MCC 004 burned at 8X. |
|
INFOME
R30 burned at 8x
|
MBI
PG101R05 burned at 8x |
PRODISC
R04 burned at 8x |
DVD+RW |
Verbatim MKM A03 burned at 8x |
DVD-R
DL |
|
Verbatim
MKM03RD30 burned at 4x |
DVD+R DL |
Verbatim
MKM 003 burned at 4x |
MBI PG101R10 read error |
DVD-RW |
Verbatim MKM
01RW6X01 burned at 6x |
|
CD-R |
Verbatim
48x CD-R burned at 24x |
|
Maxell
52x CD-R burned at 24x |
- Blu-ray media supported speeds
In the following chart, we have gathered burning speeds the Sony drive
with various Blu-ray discs:
Sony
BDX-S500U Ver 1.D1 |
BD-R SL |
Verbatim BD-R SL LTH 6x VERBATIMu |
6x
CAV in 22:21 |
Verbatim BD-R SL LTH 2x VERBATIMw |
2x
CLV in 14:31 min |
Verbatim BD-R 8cm 2x VERBATIMa 7GB |
2x
CLV in 14:33 min |
Verbatim BD-R SL 6x VERBATIMe |
6x
CAV in 21:45 min |
Moser Baer India BD-R SL 6x MBI R06 |
4x
Z-CLV in
30:32 min |
TDK
BD-R SL 4x TDKBLDRBB (000) |
4x
Z-CLV in 30:36 min |
TDK
BD-R SL 6x TDKBLDRBD (000) |
6x
CAV in 22:16 |
Panasonic BD-R SL 6x MEI RA1 |
6x
CAV in 21:14 |
BD-R DL |
Verbatim BD-R DL 2x VERBATIMb |
2x
CLV in 90:56 |
VERBATIM BD-R DL 6x (VERBATIMf) |
4x
Z-CLV in 60:43 min |
TDK BD-R DL 4x (TDKBLDRFB (000)) |
4x
Z-CLV CLV in 60:40 min |
TDK
BD-R DL 6x (TDKBLDRFD (000)) |
4x
Z-CLV CLV in 60:41 min |
Panasonic BD-R DL 6x MEI RB1 |
4x
Z-CLV CLV in 60:39 min |
BD-RE SL |
Verbatim BD-RE SL 2x VERBATIM0 |
2x
CLV in 45:00 |
Verbatim 8cm BD-RE 2x VERBATIM0 7.26GB) |
2x
CLV in 14:09 min |
BD-RE DL |
Verbatim BD-RE DL 2x VERBATIM1 |
2x
CLV in 91:17 min |
TDK BD-RE DL 2x TDKBLDWFA |
2x
CLV in 90:54 |
- BD Media quality
In the following table we have gathered the writing quality results we got with the BD-R/RE media of this test using the Opti Drive Control software. We remind you that for BDs, the following parameters are measured:
- LDC (Long Distance Code): number of parity errors on LDC codewords over ECC block (32 sectors)
- BIS (Burst Indication Subcode): number of parity errors on BIS codewords over ECC block (32 sectors)
On a good disc, the average LDC should stay below 13 and BIS should stay below 15, according to the author of the software.
Media type |
MID |
average
LDC (<13) |
average
BIS (<15) |
BD-R SL
|
Verbatim BD-R SL LTH 6x VERBATIMu |
13.66
|
0.29 |
Verbatim BD-R 8cm 2x VERBATIMa 7GB burned at 2x |
0.89 |
0.05 |
Verbatim BD-R SL 6x VERBATIMe |
3.83
|
0.10 |
Moser Baer India BD-R SL 6x MBI R06 burned
at 4x |
15.08 |
0.35 |
Panasonic BD-R SL 6x MEI RA1 burned at 6x |
5.55 |
0.12 |
Sony
BD-R SL 6x SONY N3 burned at 6x |
10.25 |
0.20 |
BD-R DL |
VERBATIM BD-R DL 6x (VERBATIMf) burned at 4x |
21.23 |
0.33 |
|
Verbatim BD-R DL 2x VERBATIMb burned at 2x |
16.98 |
0.24 |
Panasonic BD-R DL (MEI RB1) burned at 4x |
22.65 |
0.46 |
TDK BD-R DL 4x (TDKBLDRFB (000)) burned at 4x |
17.66 |
0.29 |
BD-RE SL |
Verbatim 8cm BD-RE 2x VERBATIM0 7.26GB) burned at 2x |
136.86 |
2.79 |
Verbatim BD-RE SL 2x VERBATIM0 burned at 2x |
43.43 |
0.86 |
BD-RE DL |
Verbatim BD-RE DL 2x VERBATIM1 burned at 2x |
4.64 |
0.08 |
TDK BD-RE DL 2x TDKBLDWFA burned at 2x |
11.02 |
0.36 |
- Bit Setting
The drive does not support the Bit Setting feature.
- Overburning
35. Final thoughts
Let's summarize our findings. The Sony BDX-S500U BD burner comes complete with support for all the CD, DVD and BD media for both reading and writing. Stylish and portable enough to carry with you, it can find its place either in your living room connected to your HTPC or even as a companion to your laptop. Sony is offering a complete software bundle with the drive, covering your media burning and playback needs, including Blu-ray movie playback. Although the supported CD and DVD writing speeds are typical for an external portable drive and lower than what the internal burners usually offer, they are still high enough for everyday routine tasks. And of course, the drive's basic strength remains the 6x maximum burning speed for Blu-ray discs - at least under the right hardware environment as we will see later on.
In the reading tests, the drive read the various CDs and DVDs accurately and at the maximum supported speeds, including the defected discs we typically try to read in our benchmarks. As a Blu-ray disc player, the drive also an accurate reader with all the BD-R /RE /SL and DL media, as well as with BD-ROM discs and movies. The PowerDVD software will also flawlessly playback your favorite BD movie discs.
The Sony BDX-S500U burned the CD-Rs we tested at their maximum supported speed (24x) and the quality tests were really encouraging. CD-RW's were burned at a lower speed of 16x. We should notice here that you'd better use any 24x HS-RW discs with the drive since it will not recognize the Verbatim HS-RWs for 32x.
DVD burning was a mixed bag; the quality measurements with most of the DVD-Rs we tested were disappointing. The same applies for the DVD-Rs DL discs and this is definitely a firmware issue. The situation with DVD+Rs was much better as we saw high-quality burnings. Generally, the list with the supported DVD+R/-R SL and DL media for the drive is limited to the basic and most popular brands.
When it comes to Blu-ray disc burning, the Sony BDX-S500U drive offers a wide compatibility with the most popular BD-R /RE SL and DL discs. The supported burning speeds are high enough for a portable drive: 6x with BD-R SL, 4x for BD-R DL and 2x for BD-RE SL/DL. However, in order to enjoy the maximum burning speed of 6x, make sure that your PC's USB 2.0 controller is able to operate at its maximum bandwidth.
The 6X speed offered
by the BDX-S500U when writing to single-sided discs is translated into a write
speed
of 216Mbps.
The PC's USB 2.0 port has a theoretical maximum
speed of 480MBps, but it runs much slower in real-world. Some of that speed
is taken away by networking overheads built into the protocol, and more by
inefficiencies
in USB interface chips. In our case, although the drive was the only USB device connected
to the USB bus, the USB interface reached its limits at ~192Mbps,
which is translated to 5.33X in terms of BD speed (1X = 36Mbps). The result was a BD-R burning speed that topped at 5.33X . The situation did not change when we connected the drive to another PC. The specific behavior does not seem to influence the writing quality of the BD-Rs we tested, which was generally good with some exceptions, according to the measurements we got using the OptiDrive Control software.
The Sony BDX-S500U drive could be alternatively be equipped
with an eSATA or a USB 3.0 port in order to perform as it should be without worrying about the hardware installed in your computer. Of course, the first USB 3.0 ODD drives are coming this year and Sony will probably also upgrade the Sony BDX-S500U.
The Sony BDX-S500U can be purchased online at about $220.
Highs:
- Stylish, compact and lightweight design
- Supports BD-R LTH 6x media
- Writes to BD-R media at 6x
- Writes to BD-R DL media at 4x
- Reads single layer BD-ROM/-Rs at 6x
- Reads BD-RE and BD-R DL media at 4x
- Reads and writes to DVD-RAM media at 5x
- Good DVD+R/+RW/-RW and CD-R writing quality
- Good software bundle
- Adequate CD error correction, great DVD error correction
Lows:
- USB 2.0 interface could limit the maximum 6x BD burning speed
- Questionable writing quality with some Blu-ray, DVD-R and DVD-R DL media
- Cannot set the book type of DVD+R/+RDL or DVD+RW media
- Does not support writing on Verbatim 32x HS-RW media
- Does not support 99 minute CD-R media
- Does not support overburning with CDs / DVDs