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Appeared on: Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) BDXL burner review


1. Meet the Pioneer BDR-2207 BDXL Burner

The Pioneer BDR-2207 BDXL burner is the company's most powerful and full-featured drive released so far. The drive, also available outside the U.S. as BDR-207M (generic model), BDR-207MBK, BDR-207JBK and BDR-207UBK, is the successor of the BDR-206M(BK), which we have already tested here at CDRInfo.com. Compared to the to BDR-206M, the new new drive offers faster burning and reading speeds with CD, DVD and BD and BDXL media.

The internal SATA drive can read and write to all BDXL disc formats, including BD-R and BD-RE triple-layer 100GB media, BD-R quad-layer 128GB media, as well as conventional recordable Blu-ray Disc (single-layer 25GB media and dual-layer 50GB media).

In addition, the drive features PowerRead and Pioneer's PureRead2, Auto Quiet mode, QuickStart, and Peak Power Reducer technologies.

The BDR-2207 is packaged with CyberLink software that gives users the ability to play standard Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D titles on correctly configured computers, as well as author and record high-definition Blu-ray Disc content and standard-definition DVD content.

Through its PowerRead feature the BDR-2207 provides smoother movie playback when a disc is marked with fingerprints or has minor surface scratches. When the drive is not able to read through these obstructed areas of a disc, it will quickly move forward to the next available data point, resulting in smoother Blu-ray and DVD movie playback.

Clicking or popping sounds that might normally occur due to minor scratches and fingerprints on CDs can be prevented on some discs with the drive's PureRead2 technology, which allows the drive to dynamically adjust its optical playback settings through the use of a special algorithm.

The drive also features an Auto Quiet mode that minimizes its operating noise based on the type of use. The rotation speed changes to a quieter mode (slower speed) when watching Blu-ray and DVD titles or listening to conventional audio CDs.

Pioneer also claims that the amount of time between inserting a disc and the disc being ready for use has been reduced by up to 42% over Pioneer's previous generation models.

Some computers do not provide enough power to the drive during operation. In the case of a write operation, an error will occur and cause the disc to become useless. To prevent this, the Peak Power Reducer feature, when enabled, monitors the power and can reduce the drive's peak power to ensure stable operation.

The BDR-2207 is available with a suggested retail price of $99.99

Here are the drive's complete specifications:

Interface Serial ATA (SATA)
Buffer memory 4 MB
Mounting Orientation Horizontal or Vertical
Dimensions W148mm x H 42.3mm x D180mm
Weight 0.75kg
Operating System Support Windows 7, Vista, or XP SP3
Write Speeds
BD-R / BD-R DL
BD-RE SL / DL / TL
BD-R TL / QL
BD-R LTH
DVD-R
DVD-R DL
DVD-RW
DVD+R
DVD+R DL
DVD+RW
DVD-RAM
CD-R
CD-RW
12X, 10X, 8X, 6X, 4X, 2X
2X
6X, 4X, 2X
6X, 4X, 2X
16X, 12X, 8X, 6X, 4X, 2X, 1X
8X, 6X, 4X, 2X
6X, 4X, 2X, 1X
16X, 12X, 8X, 6X, 4X, 2.4X
8X, 6X, 4X, 2.4X
8X, 6X, 4X, 3.3X, 2.4X
5X
40X, 32X, 24X, 16X, 10X, 4X
24X, 16X, 10X, 4X
Read Speeds
BD-ROM SL / DL
BD-RE SL / DL
BD-RE TL
BD-R SL / DL
BD-R TL / QL
BD-R LTH
DVD-ROM SL
DVD-ROM DL
DVD-R/+R
DVD-R DL / DVD+R DL
DVD-RW / DVD+RW
DVD-RAM
CD-ROM
CD-R
CD-RW
10X / 8X
10X / 6X
2X
10X / 8X
4X
6X
16X
12X
16X
12X
12X
5X
40X
40X
24X
 

Below you see the retail package of the Pioneer BDR-2207 drive.

The BDR-2207 is bundled with CyberLink Media Suite 8, which includes PowerDVD 10 BD3D, PowerDirector 9, and Power2Go 7. PowerDVD 10 BD3D delivers playback software and supports playback of Blu-ray Disc 3D titles. PowerDVD will even convert your 2D video files and DVDs into 3D, and will upscale standard-definition content to high-definition quality. PowerDirector 9 allows you to import your home movies, edit them, and then author them to Blu-ray Disc or DVD, or upload them to social media sites. Power2Go 7 gives you the ability to burn your valuable files to Blu-ray (including triple and quad layer BDXL discs), DVD or CD media.

The package also includes a SATA cable, a piece of TDK BD-R TL (100GB) disc and an operating instructions leaflet.

The drive's external design hasn't changed since the BDR-206M, with a single operation led next to the eject button and the certifications (logo) embossed on the front panel and the disc tray. The rear panel is typical with the SATA interface:

.

Information about the drive is available on the top side of it, where you will find the sticker you see below. Notice that the drive's power consumption has changed since the BDR-206M. The BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) is rated at 12V -- 1.1A, 5V -- 1.4A while the BDR-206M was rated at 12V -- 0.6A for and 5V -- 1.2A.

Let's take a look at the drive's internal board. It is recommended not to open the case of your drive since that would void its warranty.

The drive is based on the RENESAS R8J32740FP44 chipset. This is a different chip that the one used by the Pioneer BDR-206MBK drive (R8J32730FP44)

The drive uses Pioneer's high-performance pick-up unit that supports the BDXL format:

The new pick-up unit is composed of the Movable Lens, the Liquid Component and the Movable Collimator Lens. The pick up is sensitive to adjust the right and precise position when focusing on the track of the media, especially when it deals with unbalanced media, or Tilt/thickness media.

The new lens control technology is able to correct the distorted signal caused from lens' rotation direction and radius direction.

The Liquid Component is able to correct the distorted signal caused by optical system. It is also helpful to correct the bad signal caused by a twisted disc.

The Movable Collimator lens can correct the bad signal caused by unbalanced disc.

In the following pages we will test the reading and writing capabilities of the BDR-2207 DDXL burner with CD, DVD and BD media.


2. CD, DVD, BD reading tests

For our CD/DVD and Blu-ray transfer rate tests we used the Opti Drive Control and Nero Disc Speed utilities, along with a set of data and audio CD, DVD and BD recordable, rewritable and ROM discs. Here we test the maximum reading speed of the Pioneer BDR-2207 drive with each type of disc. For comparison, we have included the corresponding reading results of the Pioneer BDR-206MBK BDXL burner.

We remind you that the Pioneer BDR-2207 drive supports the following maximum reading speeds: 40x for CDs, 16x for DVD and 12x for single layer Blu-ray discs.

CD Read

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 165ms 157ms
Average Speed 30.31X 18.20X

Pioneer has pushed the the reading speeds of its drive to 40X CAV. The result is some faster readings compared to the BDR-206MBK drive, which supports 24X CAV.

 

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 188ms 164ms
Average Speed 18.20X 18.16X

The BDR-2207 is not as fast as other BD burners when it reads CD-RW discs. Pioneer has not changed that in its latest drive.

Advanced DAE Quality

Here is the Nero DiscSpeed - Advanced DAE Quality test. In the On-the-fly copying area, the test determines whether an audio CD can be copied without causing errors at various speeds between 1x and 16x, i.e. indicates if the optical drive is suitable for use on-the-fly in combination with a recorder for backing up audio discs. The results of two tests are displayed in the Test results area: the Sequential read test and the Random read test. The sequential read test simulates the digital extraction of audio files (DAE) under ideal conditions and then runs a harmonic read test.

There are two different types of error. A search for data errors returns audio samples that were not read correctly, based on a comparison of the read bytes with the known data from the test disc. Minor data errors can be corrected using the drive's error correction feature. Synchronization errors occur when, instead of reading the required audio sectors, an optical drive reads the adjacent sectors. Nero DiscSpeed uses special data on the test disc to check if the correct sectors are being read. Synchronization errors can result in samples being lost or repeated, and these errors can be audible:

The disc was extracted at 21.48X (average) and the drive scored a perfect 100. Notice that the drive cannot read data from the Lead-in and Lead-Out area, which means that it cannot always create perfect copies. On the other hand, the drive reads CD Text and subchannel data.

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Average Speed 21.48X 16.80X

CD DAE

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 Pioneer drive supports "caching ", "Accurate stream" and does not report "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.

With these settings applied to EAC software, we performed a DAE of an audio CD to our HDD. Notice that the specific test will result in a slower DAE speed than what you would get if you simply select to rip the contents of the disc with another application. That's because EAC used its "Secure" ripping mode after we applied the drive's features (Caching, accurate stream , C2 error info) to the software, in order to have a reliable ripping with the specific drive. In our case with the Pioneer drive, caching need to be defeated and no C2 information is reported by the drive. As a result, the secure ripping mode will be slow. When no read errors occur, it will usually something around a third to a fourth of the drive's maximum ripping speed (in case we had selected the default fast mode). The Pioneer drive ripped the audio tracks of the disc at an average speed of just 6.4X:

If you try to extract the same discs using the "burst" ripping mode, you'll get an average speed of 27.5X:

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Average Speed Burst Mode DAE 27.5X 17.56X
Average Speed Secure DAE 6.4X 4.2X

DVD Read

Now let's take a look at how the drive performs with DVD media. This time, a set of DVD SL and DL discs was used. The Pioneer drive is capable of reading at 16X maximum speed for single layer DVDs and at 12X for dual layer DVDs

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 183ms 178ms
Average Speed 11.30X 5.94X

It is obvious that the BDR-2207 is faster in all the DVD reading tests than the BDR-206MBK drive.

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.

 

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Full access time 165ms 156ms
Average Speed 8.91X 5.94X

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.

 

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 180ms 174ms
Average Speed 8.88X 5.92X

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 185ms 197ms
Average Speed 11.30x 5.95X

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 188msec 191ms
Average Speed 8.85X 5.95X

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 181ms 190ms
Average Speed 11.31X 5.95X

 

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 181ms 185ms
Average Speed 8.87X 5.97X

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 202ms 208ms
Average Speed 8.94X 5.96X

 

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 182ms 188ms
Average Speed 8.94X 5.96X

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 239ms 199ms
Average Speed 4.97X 4.79X

Ripping of a single layer DVD movie:

  Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Average 11.881 KB/s (8.6x) 8.199 KB/s (5.9x)
Maximum 17.233 KB/s 12.4x) 11.753 KB/s (8.5x)

Blu-ray read

Continuing, let's see how the drive reads the various Blu-ray recordable and ROM discs.

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 174ms 155ms
Average Speed 7.33x 4.23X

5x

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 189ms 173ms
Average Speed 5.73X 4.32X

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 188ms 176ms
Average Speed 7.15X 4.27X

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 194ms 176ms
Average Speed 4.28X 4.27X

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 93ms 79ms
Average Speed 6.00X 4.51X

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 213ms 194ms
Average Speed 7.15x 4.27X

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 163ms 83ms
Average Speed 4.53X 4.52X

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 134ms 128ms
Average Speed 5.45X 3.26X

 

Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
Random access time 145ms 124ms
Average Speed 5.45X 3.26X

Summary

The reading process of almost all media was completed without read errors and at speeds that confirm the specifications of the Pioneer BDR-2207 drive.

Pioneer has significantly improved the reading speeds of its latest drive with all the media, compared to the BDR-206M BDXL burner. The drive's reading performance is competitive to other less complicated BD burners that do no support the BDXL format.


3. Pioneer BD Drive Utility, Reading of Damaged Audio CDs

Pioneer BD Drive Utility

The BDR-2207 has features such as PowerRead, Auto Quiet mode, Peak Power Reducer and PureRead2.   Among them, PureRead, Auto Quiet Mode, and Peak Power Reducer can be configured with the Pioneer BD Drive Utility:

A small percentage of computers don't provide enough power to the drive during operation.  In the case of a write operation, an error will occur, and the disc will be useless.  To prevent this, the Peak Power Reducer feature, when enabled, monitors the power and can reduce the drive's peak power to ensure a stable operation. The feature can be enabled or disabled through the  Pioneer BD Drive Utility. For all our test, we left this option disabled.

The Auto Quiet mode intelligently adjusts the disc rotation speed to reduce noise, a feature useful while watching movies or listening to music. Drives with Auto Quiet mode, monitor how they are being used and will adjust their speed automatically – high speed for data transfer, and low speed for music or movie playback. The Pioneer BD Drive utility offers four different modes:

The Auto Quiet mode feature does not affects write speeds of the drive.

Scratches and fingerprints on your CDs can cause them to skip. A drive normally makes a calculated guess at the unreadable data and attempts to correct this to match the original music. However this is not 100% accurate. PureRead , when enabled, makes the drive reread the obscured data to extract the original music as accurately as possible.

The Pioneer BD Drive Utility offers three modes for PureRead :

- 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 inaudible 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.

For this first test we left the PureRead function to the Standard Mode, meaning that the drive will try to playback the audio tones (tracks) of the test disc using the default CIRC (error correction code).

Error Level / PureRead Standard Mode
1
2
3
4
5
Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 5/5 5/5 4/5 0/5 0/5
Pioneer BDR-206 MBK (BDR-206M) v1.03
5/5
5/5
4/5
0/5
0/5

The BDR-2207 drive managed to playback correctly only the first two tracks of the test disc. The performance is not as good as we expected. Here is how the drive reads the specific disc under the Standard Mode:

Enabling the Master More in PureRead improved reading of the 3rd track, in which the drive had previously failed to reproduce correctly. However, playback of the 4th track was full of mutes and interruptions, while the 5th track could not be reproduced:

Error Level / PureRead Master Mode
1
2
3
4
5
Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 5/5 5/5 5/5 0/5 0/5

Here is how the drive reads the specific disc under the Master Mode:

Under the Perfect Mode, the drive reproduced the three first tracks smoothly. Playback stopped and resumed again during the playback of the 4th track, while the 5th track could not be reproduced:

Error Level / PureRead Perfect Mode
1
2
3
4
5
Pioneer BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) v1.21 5/5 5/5 5/5 0/5 0/5

As you see in the graph below the drive lowered its reading speed after the 3rd track of the disc and refused to read the data of the 5th track (read errors):

Advanced DAE Error Correction Test

Nero DiscSpeed's Error test determines the capability of a optical drive to prevent errors when creating a copy. The test is run in two steps: The 'Create Image' feature first creates an image file of a test disc and saves it on the hard drive. We extracted data from the ABEX test discs in order to create an error-free image file on the hard drive. After this, the 'Run Test' feature reads the data on the ABEX TDC-721R and TCD -726 test discs in order to compare it with the image file.

All ABEX discs contain the same audio data. The reading surface of the two test discs contains a series of intentional defects of varying severity.

The results are displayed in the C2 errors and Compare errors graphs. The top graph shows C2 errors found on the disc. The bottom graph compares the errors found when Nero DiscSpeed compares the data on the disc with the data from the image file. Compare errors occur when the audio data read out does not match the compare data from the image file.

The drive scored 77.3 points in the test, which is an average one.

The TCD-726 disc was easier for the drive to read/correct so the score here is higher.

Summary

The BDR-2207's CIRC error correction capabilities (PureRead Standard Mode) are not as strong as we expected, and the drive tends to mute most serious errors. PureRead's Master Mode helps in some cases as the drive slows down reading and retries to read defected areas of the disc.


4. Reading of Damaged DVDs

In the following tests, we examine the DVD reading capabilities of the drive with scratched / defective DVD media. For the tests, we used the OptiDrive Control software. The reference test discs are made by ALMEDIO.

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 looks smooth without any speed fluctuations, meaning that the Pioneer drive had no difficulties while reading the test disc. However, the drive did not read the disc at 16x CAV.

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 Pioneer drive had no problem reading the disc.

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 for both layers of the test disc.


5. CD/DVD disc quality test platform

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 Pioneer BDR-2207 v.1.21 Blu-ray disc burner.


6. CD-R Burning - Taiyo Yuden X40 NEW

For this test (and for all ensuing tests with CD-R media), the CD-R discs were burned at the maximum supported speeds. Then we measured signals related to the writing quality.

- Disc Info

Media brand Taiyo Yuden
Manufacturer Taiyo Yuden
Name X40NEW
Start time 97m:24s:01f, 79:59:72
Certified speed 48X
Capacity 700MB

- Burning

 

- Reading

 

- Writing Quality

 

An excellent recording for the Pioneer drive with very low error rates and jitter.


7. CD-R Burning - TDK CD-R80

- Disc Info

Media brand TDK
Manufacturer TDK
Name CD-R80
Start time 97:25:00, 79:59:74
Certified speed 52X
Capacity 700MB

- Burning

 

- Reading

- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI

 

Another high quality recording at 40x, with all the signals to be well within the specifications.


8. CD-RW burning - Verbatim DataLifeplus 80/700

- Disc Info

Media brand Verbatim
Manufacturer MCC
Name DataLifeplus 80/700
Start time 97m:34s:25f, 79:59:74
Certified speed 32X
Capacity 700MB

- Burning

- Reading


- Writing Quality

The quality of this burn looks great as we had no uncorrectable digital errors (C2) and very low C1.


9. DVD-R burning - Moser Baer India MBI01RG40

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.

- Disc Info

We begin with a DVD-R disc for 16x recording (MID MBI 01RG40) made by Moser Baer India:

- Burning

Although we set the burning speed to 16X, the drive burned it at 12X P-CAV.

- Reading

 

- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI

PI8 was marginally higher than the 280 limit at the 55.3mm radius of the disc, while jitter was also increased. No significant problems here but the result could be even better for a 12X recording.


10. DVD-R burning - Verbatim MCC03RG20

- Disc Info

This is Verbatim DVD-R for 16x (MID MCC 03RG20).

- Burning

 

- Reading

 

- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI

 

Click for large view

The measurements for the Verbatim disc look pretty good with all the signals to be well within the specifications.


11. DVD-R burning - Maxell RITEKF1

- Disc Info

This is a Maxell DVD-R disc certified for 16x recording. The disc was made by RITEK (MID RITEKF1).

- Burning

The Pioneer drive refused to burn the data at 16x with DVD-R's and recorded this disc at 12x P-CAV.

- Reading

 

- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI

A good burn here at 12x with almost all the parameters to be well within the acceptable limits, except from jitter.


12. DVD-R burning - TTH02

- Disc Info

- Burning

 

- Reading

 

- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI

Click for large view

Another good burn here with the TTH02 disc. PI8 was very low and no POFs were reported. The reflectivity of the disc is a little bit low, which is generally related to the homogeneity of dye coating and / or reflective metal coating of the disc.


13. DVD-R burning - Taiyo Yuden TYG03

- Disc Info

The Taiyo Yuden DVD-R disc for 16x (TYG03) is very popular and generally matches perfectly with most DVD burners providing high quality recordings.

- Burning

- Reading

 

- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI

 

Click for large view

PISum8 was very low and low and no POF (uncorrectable errors) were reported. A very good result here.


14. DVD+R burning - Philips INFOMER30

- Disc Info

This one is a Philips-branded DVD+R disc for 16x (MID INFOME R30).

- Burning

The drive did not reach the maximum 16x and slowed down to 12x after the 2.8GB mark and until the end of the data area.

- Reading

 

- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI

Click for large view

This time the result is not good, with PI8 to skyrocket towards the end of the data area and uncorrectable errors (POF) to be reported at the 55.1mm radius of the disc.


15. DVD+R burning - Moser Baer India MBIPG101R05

- Disc Info

We burn a DVD+R disc for 16x made by Moser Baer India (MID MBIPG101 R05)

- Burning

- Reading

 

- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI

Click for large view

A great result with the Moser Baer DVD+R disc with very low PI8.


16. DVD+R burning - Verbatim MCC004

- Disc Info

The Verbatim DVD+R disc for 16x ( MID MCC004) is among the popular discs used worldwide in everyday basis.

 

- Burning

- Reading

 

- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI

 

Click for large view

Although the digital error signals are low, the ADER and ADER Unc were reported at the 24.2mm radius of the disc. Limits for these parameters, considered for the "+" formats only, are not included in the DVD format book. Practice shows that when all other features of the wobble such as wobble amplitude, wobble beat or wobble CNR are within their specifications, the information encoded in the one can always be read correctly, helped by the error correction code implemented on the wobble encoded data.


17. DVD+R burning - PRODISC R04

- Disc Info

This is a 16x DVD+R disc by Prodisc (PRODISC R04).

- Burning

- Reading

- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI

 

Click for large view

Again ADER and ADER Unc was reported at the same position of the disc, as we experienced in the previous page with the MCC004 DVD+R disc. The rest of the signals indicate a good recording with the Prodisc R04 DVD+R disc.


18. DVD-R DL burning - Verbatim MKM03RD30

- Disc Info

- Burning

As you see in the above graph the Pioneer drive did not manage to keep the burning speed at 8x and slowed down to 6x.

- Reading

 

- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI

 

Click for large view

The PISum8 was increased towards the end of L1, although no POFs were reported. Jitter was also high for both layers.


19. DVD+R DL burning - Verbatim MKM003

- Disc Info

- Burning

 

The drive refused to burn the disc at 8x and used the 4x CLV strategy for the second layer of the disc (L1).

- Reading

 

- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI

 

Click for large view

The data on the Verbatim DVD+R DL disc seems to have been burned correctly as the the PISum8 was low and no POFs were reported.


20. DVD-RW burning - TDK CMCW04

- Disc Info

This is a TDK-branded DVD-RW disc for 6x made by CMC Magnetics (MID CMCW04)

- Burning

- Reading

 

- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI

 

Click for large view

Although jitter was was a little higher than expected, PI8 was low and no POFs were reported.


21. DVD+RW burning - Verbatim MKMA03

- Disc Info

- Burning

- Reading

 

- Writing Quality - iQB OMNI

 

 

Click for large view

The PI8 graph has some spikes in the beginning and the end of the data area. POF was zero and jitter was marginally higher than specs.


22. DVD-RAM burning - Maxell 5x

- Disc Info

 

- Burning

 

- Reading

The Pioneer BDR-2207 burner had not any reading/writing problems with the Maxell DVD-RAM disc of this test.

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.


23. BD-R LTH burning - VERBATIMu

From this page and for the following we start our Blu-ray disc tests with the Pioneer BDR-2207 burner. We remind you that the drive supports 12x BD-R SL and DL recording with specific media. The discs we used for this test were provided by Mitsubishi Kangaku Media (MKM), the manufacturer of the popular Verbatim branded discs, Moser Baer India, Sony, Taiyo Yuden /JVC and Imation/TDK.

The Pioneer drive offers a wide compatibility with many BD-R SL/DL discs for recording at high speeds. Have a look to the following table with the drive's supported BD media list for recording at 8x, 10x and 12x:

Pioneer BDR-2207 v1.21
Max Write Speed
Disc Maker
Media speed
Manufacturer ID
BD-R SL
12X
Sony
4x
SONYNN2
CMC
6x
CMCMAGBA5
Panasonic MEI___RA1
Sony SONY__NN3
Ritek RITEKBR3
MKM VERBATIMe
10X
CMC Magnetics
4x
CMCMAGBA3
Panasonic MEIT02
PHILIPS PHILIPR04
RITEK RITEKBR2
MKM VERBATIMc
TDK TDKBLDRBB
PRODISC PRODISCR0
MBI
6x
MBI___R06
RITEK RITEK_BR3
TDK TDKBLDRBD
PRODISC PRODISCR1
MKM VERBATIMe*
LGE LGEBRAS06
8X
Daxon
4x
Daxon_R4X
Infomedia INFOMER30
LGE LGEBRAS04
Umedisc UMEBDR014
Infosource ISMMBDR01
Infomedia
6x
INFOMER40
OPTODISC OTCBDR002
BD-R LtoH
6X
JVC
6x
JVC-AMS6L
MAXELL MAXELLRS2
MBI MBI___F06
RITEK RITEK_BO2
TAIYOYUDEN TYG-BDY05
Umedisc UMEBDR116
MKM VERBATIMu
BD-R DL
12X
Panasonic
6x
MEI___RB1
10X
Panasonic
4x
MEI___T02
8X
RITEK RITEK_DR2
MKM VERBATIMd
TDK TDKBLDRFB
RITEK
6x
RITEK_DR3
TDK TDKBLDRFD
MKM VERBATIMf

For our Blu-ray disc recording tests, we used used some of the latest BD-R/RE SL and DL media. Each disc was burned at the highest allowed recording speed.

We also used the 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:

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, continue 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

 

- Disc Info Verbatim BD-R SL 6x LTH

- Burning

The disc was recorded at 6x Z-CLV in 16:37 minutes. However, the drive slowed down burning at 4X after the 22.3GB mark.

- Reading

- Quality

The quality of the burn looks not as good as we expected with the average LDC to be very high.


24. BD-R LTH burning - Taiyo Yuden/JVC JVC-AMS6L

- Disc Info

This is another BD-R SL LTH disc by Taiyo Yuden (JVC) for 6x recording, (MID JVC-AMS6L)

- Burning

 

The Pioneer drive burned the disc at 6x Z-CLV in 16:22 minutes.

- Reading

- Quality

 

Although the average LDC was a little bit higher than the 13 limit, is seems that the recording is good and the BIS remained low.


25. BD-R SL burning - VERBATIMe

- Disc Info Verbatim BD-R 25GB (VERBATIMe (000)) for 6x

- Burning

 

The Pioneer BDR-2207 drive finished the burning at 12X after just 10:51 minutes.

- Reading

- Quality

This one seems to be a great recording as both LDC and BIS are very low, despite the high 12x burning speed.


26. BD-R SL burning - TDKBLDRBB

- Disc Info TDK BD-R SL for 4X (TDKBLDRBB)

This is another BD-R SL disc by TDK (TDKBLDRBB), certified for 4X recording. The Pioneer drive will burn the disc at 10X:

- Burning

- Reading

 

- Quality

The burning quality looks good, with the average values of both LDC and BIS parameters to remain low.


27. BD-R SL burning - MBIR06

- Disc Info Moser Baer India BD-R SL 6x (MBIR06)

The specific BD-R SL disc by Moser Baer India is certified for 6X recording. The Pioneer drive will burn the disc at 10X:

- Burning

- Reading

 

- Quality

The Opti Drive Control software reported high LDC and jitter for the specific disc, with both signals to be increased after the 20GB mark.


28. BD-R SL burning - TDKBLDRBD

- Disc Info TDK BD-R SL (TDKBLDRBD) certified for 6X

- Burning

- Reading

- Quality

There is a huge increase at the LDC parameter here at the end of the data area.


29. BD-R DL burning - TDKBLDRFB

- Disc Info TDK BD-R DL (TDKBLDRFB) certified for 4X

- Burning

The first layer of the disc was burned at 8x, but the drive slowed down to 6x at the second layer.

- Reading

- Quality

There is something really wrong with this result, as the both LDC and BIS were skyrocketed after the the 22.5GB mark and until the 28GB mark. This is most probably related to the burning strategy of the Pioneer drive with the disc, although it was completely readable.


30. BD-R DL burning - VERBATIMf

- Disc Info Verbatim BD-R DL (VERBATIMf) for 6X

- Burning

 

The recording process was completed successfully in 24:49 min, although the OptiDrive Control software does not display the whole graph, as it failed to recognize the discs's capacity.

- Quality

This time the average LDC was not as high as we saw in the previous tests with other BD-R DL disc. Please ignore the pink lines on the top graph as they are related to the wrong way the OptiDrive control software stored information related to the recording strategy of the disc (not the data).


31. BD-R DL burning - TDKBLDRFD

- Disc Info TDK BD-R DL for 6X recording (TDKBLDRFD)

 

- Burning

 

- Reading

 

- Quality

The reported LDC, BIS and jitter was very high high right before the end of L0.


32. BD-RE SL burning - VERBATIM0

- Disc Info Verbatim BD-RE SL for 2X (VERBATIM0)

- Burning

- Reading

- Quality

The result is good for the specific BD-RE SL disc.


33. BD-RE DL burning - Sony MEIT01

- Disc Info Sony (Panasonic) BD-RE DL (MEIT01) for 2X

 

- Burning

- Reading

- Quality

The reported average LDC is a little bit higher than the upper limit (13).


34. BD-RE DL burning - TDKLBLDWfa

- Disc Info TDK BD-RE DL for 2X (TDKBLDWfa)

 

- Burning

 

- Reading

- Quality

The LDC is again higher than 13 and jitter looks high specific areas.


35. BD-RE SL burning - VERBATIM0 7.5GB

- Disc Info Verbatim BD-RE SL for 2X , 7.5GB (VERBATIM0)

 

- Burning

 

- Reading

- Quality


36. Summary of CD,DVD and Blu-ray disc quality tests

CD, DVD writing quality

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 report any uncorrectable digital errors. On the right side the discs reported either POF (DVD) or E32 (CD) errors.

Media type Digital errors within limits POF or E32 digital errors
DVD-R
Maxell (RITEKF1) burned at 12x  
MCC 03RG20 burned at 16x
TTH02 F02 burned at 16x
TYG03 burned at 16x
MBI01RG40 burned at 12X
DVD+R Verbatim MCC 004 burned at 16x. INFOME R30 burned at 12x
MBI PG101R05 burned at 16x
PRODISC R04 burned at 16x  
DVD+RW Verbatim MKM A03 burned at 8x (PISum8 )  
DVD-R DL Verbatim MKM 003 burned at 8x  
DVD+R DL Verbatim MKM03RD30 burned at 8x (High PISum8)  
DVD-RW TDK CW04 burned at 6x  
CD-R Taiyo Yuden X40NEW 97m:24s:01f, 79:59:72 48x burned at 40x  
TDK CDR-80 97m:25s:00f 52x burned at 40x  
CD-RW Verbatim DataLifePlus 80/700 97m:34s:25f 32x burned at 24x  

Blu-ray disc writing quality

Below we have summarized 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:

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 burned at 6x
197.55
3.67
Taiyo Yuden (JVC) BD-R SL LTH 6x JVC-AMS6L burned at 6x
14.22
0.23
TDK BD-R SL for 4x TDKBLDRBB burned at 10x
6.01
0.09
Verbatim BD-R SL 6x VERBATIMe burned at 12x
6.26
0.09
Moser Baer India BD-R SL 6x MBI R06 burned at 10x
33.66
0.60
TDK BD-R SL for 6x TDKBLDRBD burned at 10x
15.99
0.30
BD-R DL
VERBATIM BD-R DL 6x (VERBATIMf) burned at 8x
15.29
0.25
TDK BD-R DL 6x TDKBLDRFD burned at 8x
36.94
0.63
TDK BD-R DL 4x TDKBLDRFB burned at 8x
1266.90
98.74
BD-RE SL
Verbatim BD-RE SL 7.5GB for 2X VERBATIM0 burned at 2x
135.72
2.72
Verbatim BD-RE SL for 2X VERBATIM0 burned at 2x
25.35
0.51
BD-RE DL
Sony (Panasonic) BD-RE DL 2x MEIT01 burned at 2x
15.74
0.30
TDK BD-RE DL 2x TDKBLDWFa burned at 2x
23.20
0.47

37. Burning a BD-R TL disc (BDXL)

The most interesting feature of the new Pioneer BDXL burner is its support for BDXL discs. The BDXL specification was initially targeted primarily at commercial segments such as broadcasting, medical and document imaging enterprises with significant archiving needs. However, many consumer Blu-ray disc players have been supporting the format, especially those appearing at the Japanese market. The BDXL discs will be available in write-once versions with capacities of 100GB (BD-R TL) and 128GB (BD-R QL) and also in 100GB rewritable versions (BD-RE TL). The discs reach these capacities by incorporating three to four recordable layers.

Currently, only TDK / Imation makes BD XL recordable discs. These discs feature three recordable layers and are able to hold up to 100GB of data (95.6 GB to be exact). TDK's BD-R TL (Triple Layer) discs carry the TDKBLDRNC (MID. Here is some information on these discs, as it is reported by OptiDrive Control utility:

Currently, Sony, Sharp and Panasonic are also using TDK's discs in an OEM basis and offer them under their brands. Mitsubishi Kangaku Media (MKM), the company better known for its Verbatim brand, will also release its own BD-R TL (100GB) discs sometime later this year.

Pioneer's drive is supposed to support BD-R QL and BD-RE TL discs. However, BD-R QL are not yet available at the market (will they ever be?) and only Panasonic has released BD-RE TL discs for 2x recording in Japan (MID "PAN___EC2").

The BDXL discs require hardware (players/recorder) that is compatible with the BDXL format and carry the corresponding logo. So previous generation BD players or recorders/burners cannot recognize the discs.

The BDXL format is specified in six format books for both recordable and rewritable discs:

R3 Format Specification (BDXL)

This version was defined in June 2010 and is a multi-layered recordable in BDAV with the speed of 2X and 4X, capable of 100/128GB and usage of UDF2.5/2.6 as file system:

RE4 Format Specification (BDXL)

This version was defined in June 2010 and is a multi-layered rewritable in BDAV with the speed of 2X and 4X, capable of 100GB and usage of UDF2.5 as file system.

Compared to the BD-R DL, the BD-R TL disc features three layers of data (L0, L1 and L2), with a thickness of 100um(L0),75um(L1) and 57um(L2). The thickness of the L0 and the L1 are the same for both BD-R DL, the BD-R TL. However, each layer of the BD-R TL disc holds 33.4GB of data, which is 8.4GB more than what the layers of BD-R SL and DL can hold (25GB). In order to achieve this, the BD-R TL features an increased linear density. It uses shorter marks on the recording layer (112nm for BD-R TL) and also applies the Integrated-Maximum-Likelihood-Sequence-Error-Estimation technology or i-MLSE using PR(1,2,2,2,1) signal quality evaluation index. Other than that, the BDXL discs use the same addressing and modulation method also met with legacy BD-R SL and DL media.

So the main difference with legacy BD-R format are cover layer thickness distribution, capacity per layer, minimum mark length and evaluation index for signal quality. For both TL and QL, the BDA has specified 2X and 4X recording of 72~144Mbps user transfer rate.

The following table shows the main parameters of BD-R, including for both TL of 100GB capacity and QL of
128GB capacity format:

In BDXL, the Inter-Symbol-Interference (ISI) of the readout signal becomes much stronger compared to the prior format that allows just 25GB per layer. Therefore the readout signal processing needs to be improved. Also, the prior signal quality evaluation method using the Limit-Equalizer technology has turned out to be no longer applicable. The Integrated-Maximum-Likelihood –Sequence-Error-Estimation (i-MLSE), which is an alternative signal quality evaluation method for BDXL, was newly developed by Sony and Panasonic and was first presented two years ago. The i-MLSE retains the stability and the precision in such a severe ISI condition of BDXL. The evaluation method of i-MLSE stands on the detection principle of the Viterbi-Algorithm (VA) in the Partial-Response-Maximum-Likelihood (PRML) readout signal processing.

Additionally, some contrivances can be incorporated to achieve the better correlation with the Symbol-Error-Rate (SER). For example, the tendency of error occurrences with the PR(1,2,2,2,1) ML readout in the BDXL is considered. Another feature of i-MLSE is that the mathematical expression is the same as that of Time-Interval-Jitter (TI-Jitter or Jitter, simply), which is the prior signal quality evaluation method.

Consequently, the behavior of i-MLSE is very similar to that of the TI-Jitter. This helps people who evaluate the BDXL discs or systems for the first time to comprehend the meaning of measured values obtained through i-MLSE because the TI-Jitter has been used so long since the era of CDs and is very familiar to them.

Burning a TDK BD-R TL disc

For our burning tests, we used the Pioneer BDR-2207 (BD-R 207M) v1.21 burner and a TDK BD-R TL disc (TDKBLDRNC (000)). The drive supports 6X burning and 4X reading for the specific disc. That's 2X higher than the company's previous generation BDXL drive, the Pioneer BDR-206M.

For the test we created a Blu-ray UDF compilation using Cyberlink's Power2Go software, which is bundled with the drive.

Prior to burning, the Cyberlink's software showed that the disc can hold 95.442 GB of data

The procedure is very simple, just drag'n'drop the files you want to burn to the disc to the right side of the software' s window.

Our compilation included multiple data files (95.463 GB):

Below you see information about the drive, the empty BDR XL disc and the data compilation we are about to burn:

We selected the UDF 2.5 file system for this burn:

The Pioneer drive supports the 2x, 4x and 6x for burning on the TDK disc. We also chose to finalize the disc finalization. You'd better also enable the disc verification option when you burn data in order ensure your files will be correctly burned on the disc.

The actual burning process did not start immediately, as the software had to prepare the compilation first. This took almost 9 minutes for the software to prepare the huge burning compilation before actually start burning the disc:

The writing process is in full progress:

Burning finished after 1hr 35 minutes and 11 seconds. That's not so fast as we expected, as Pioneer's previous generation BDXL drive, the BDR-206M was just 10 minutes slower for the same task at 4X.

Of course, the actual burning time is almost 1hr and 27 minutes, without the time the software did to "prepare" the data before starting burning the disc.

The files on the TDK BD-R TL disc were readable and easily accessible the readable through Windows Explorer. Below you see some more tests with the recorded TDK BDRTL disc loaded to the drive:


38. Final words

Pioneer's second generation BDR-2207 (BDR-207M) BDXL burner is a significant upgrade over the company's first generation BDR-206M BDXL model. The latest drive shares the same CD/DVD/BD features of a 12x BD burner such as the BDR-S06 XLB and moves closer to the consumer market by offering increased burning speeds for high-capacity BDXL media.

One of the greatest features of the new drive is its wide compatibility with BD-R SL/DL discs and the fast that it will burn the discs at speeds higher than their nominal speed. For example, you will see some 4x BD-R SL to be burned at 10X and even 12X. That's very convenient as you may low burning times using more affordable and commonly met at the stores BD media. However, the obvious trade-off is the quality of some of these recordings. Although the read-out of these discs was easy and flawless, the measurements we took with these discs indicated high rates of parity errors on both Long Distance Code ( LDC) and Burst Indication Subcode (BIS). Of course, we cannot be sure of the accuracy of these measurements but they do remain an indication of the quality of a recorded disc.

Sharing some characteristics of the BDR-S06 series, the Pioneer BDR-2323007 is a great CD and DVD burner. The CD and DVD writing quality for both media types was very high, so you can be rest assured that your discs will be accurately burned even at the highest supported speeds of 40x and 16x, respectively. An exception could be the behavior of the drive with some DVD+Rs when the drive decided to burn at 12x instead of the maximum supported 16x, along with DVD+R DL discs, for which we measured high PI8 errors.

Regarding the reading capabilities of the drive, all CD/DVD/CD media reading tests were completed without any read errors. The drive was slow in the DAE test with EAC, as it does not report C2 pointer information and it supports caching. With BD-R SL and BD-RE discs, the drive reaches the maximum 16X reading speed faster than competitive drives and as such, it has an edge over a typical 8X reader. In addition, the drive easily passed our reading tests with defected DVDs but did not score very high at the corresponding test with defected CDs. In this case, PureRead could help you playback your old Audio CDs correctly, as long as they are not severely damaged.

The drive supports triple-layer BD-R (write-once) and BD-RE (rewritable) discs with huge capacities of 100GB, and even 128GB quad-layer BD-R discs. Given the layers involved, the BD XL (recordable) specifications are limiting the burning of these new BDXL discs to 4x speed. In our tests, the BDR-2207 burned more than 95GB of data in 1 hr and 35 minutes at 6x. The TDK BD-R TL disc was fully readable. We did not have the chance to test the drive with a Panasonic BD-RE TL disc, as samples of these discs are very limited.

Speaking of BDXL media, their price remains very high for the end-user and TDK/Imation remains the sole disc maker to produce such discs.

The Pioneer BDR-2207 BDXL burner packs sophisticated optical storage technology and its now available at $100 - half the price of the company's previous generation BDXL burner. Admittedly, BDXL gives the security of a physical disc archive, but the low price of multi-terabyte hard disks or NAS devices are better options in terms of speed, convenience and flexibility. As a result, the BDR-2207 faces an uphill struggle to achieve widespread adoption. On the other hand, professionals who need a reliable optical medium for archiving may find the drive appealing. Enthusiasts who are looking for a niche product will also find the Pioneer drive interesting, especially those who regularly back up huge amounts of data.



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