1. Introduction - Mitsumi DW-7801TE
4x DVD+R/RW Roundup -
Page 1
- Introduction
With
the CD recording era to be in its set, most of the manufacturers had to make
their own decisions and follow the market demand. And the demand is the fast
and reliable DVD recording.
The situation is not different here. Again the alternatives for chipset and
optical pickup mechanisms are limited, at least for the beginning. Additionally,
when it comes to choosing a single DVD format among the DVD plus R/RW and DVD
dash R/RW and not a multi-format format set, the available solutions come solely
from a limited sources. As a result, the first DVD+R/RW drives share the same
mechanism and any slight variations in their performance should be expected
only in specific firmware modifications.
Mitsumi demonstrated its first DVD+R/RW recorder at CeBIT 2003. According
to the company, including the drive to the Mitsumi's booth was a last minute
decision. The Mitsumi DW-7801 TE we have in our hands support 4x DVD+R writing
and was manufactured in March 2003.
Plextor also demonstrated the new PX-504A
in CeBIT. It offers the same specifications as the Mitsumi drive does, and
the model we have in our labs was manufactured
on February 2003.
- Mitsumi DW-7801TE DVD+R/RW recorder
The specifications of the Mitsumi DW-7801TE are illustrated in the following
table. The information is official and come from the Mitsumi website:
Mitsumi DW-7801TE supports DVD+R and writing at 4x CLV. For the DVD+RW format,
the supported writing speed is the 2.4x CLV. The maximum reading speed for
DVD-ROM and DVD Video is 12x CAV for single layer and 7x
CAV for dual layer
discs.
As for the CD-R media, you can select among the 4x, 8x and 16x CLV writing
speeds, and 4x, 8x and 10x CLV writing for CD-RW format. The CD-ROM/-R/-RW
reading speed is 40x CAV.
The drive is equipped with a 2MB of buffer, and technology to protect the “buffer
underrun errors” during the writing process.
The supported RPCII region control allows the user to change the region code
5 times.
The drive offers the following writing modes: TAO, packet writing, SAO, multisession
and according to Nero InfoTool, DAO RAW 96. Of course, it supports DVD+R and
DVD+RW for the DVD.
The supported disc formats are: 4.7GB DVD+R/RW, DVD-ROM (single layer/dual
layer), DVD Video, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA Mode 2, Photo CD, CD-DA, CD-Extra, CD
Video and CD-R/RW.
- The package
The
retail package includes one 4.7GB 4x DVD+R disc for data/video by Ricoh, one
4.7GB 2.4x DVD+RW disc by Ricoh, a multilingual quick start manual and a manual
and application software CD-ROM.
This includes the “WinDVD Creator Plus” software that offers increased
recording and editing functionality for DVD+R/RW in a simple and easy to use
layout.
“WinDVD™ 4” is also attached, allowing playback of all DVD
and CD formats. The basic CD/DVD recording software is the “Nero Burning
Rom v5” and InCD v3.5.19.2 for random access rewrite for CD/DVD .
In addition, the CD-ROM includes some arcade games for your spare time and
MP3 JukeBox software, among with manuals for many Mitsumi products.
Last, in the retail package you can find the usual internal audio cable, an
IDE cable and mounting screws.
On the disc loading tray you can see "DVD+RW" and the "HSRW" logos.
The eject button is placed below the tray, on the right side of the front panel,
as usual. The indication LED is active when a disc is loaded or the drive performs
a read/write task. The drive has also a headphone plug and a volume control
button, for audio CDs.
On the rear panel there are the usual connectors, such as the power input,
the ATAPI interface, the device configuration jumper, and the analog audio
output. Notice that the case was built to accept a ventilation fan but this
is not included in the Mitsumi model.
After removing the screws on the bottom we can see the drive's internal
design. You can easily recognize that the both mainboard and chips of the drive
are manufactured by NEC.
- Installation
Mitsumi was identified as "MITSUMI DW-7801TE" under WinXP. The
drive was installed to the secondary IDE channel of our test PC as a "Master” and
worked in Ultra DMA Mode 2 transfer mode. The model came with firmware version
v1.01 installed, which was used for all the tests:
2. Introduction - Plextor PX-504A
4x DVD+R/RW Roundup - Page 2
- Plextor PX-504A DVD+R/RW recorder
Plextor
PX-504A supports
DVD+R and writing at 4x CLV. For the DVD+RW
format, the supported writing speed is the 2.4x CLV.
The maximum reading speed for DVD-ROM and DVD Video is 12x CAV for single
layer and 7x CAV for dual layer discs.
As for the CD-R media, you can select among the 4x, 8x and 16x CLV writing
speeds, and 4x, 8x and 10x CLV writing for CD-RW format. The CD-ROM/-R/-RW
reading speed is 40x CAV.
The drive is equipped with a 2MB of buffer, and technology to protect the “buffer
underrun errors” during the writing process.
The supported RPCII region control allows the user to change the region code
5 times.
The drive offers the following writing modes: TAO, packet writing, SAO, multisession
and according to Nero InfoTool, DAO RAW 96. Of course, it supports DVD+R and
DVD+RW for the DVD.
The supported disc formats are: 4.7GB DVD+R/RW, DVD-ROM (single layer/dual
layer), DVD Video, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA Mode 2, Photo CD, CD-DA, CD-Extra, CD
Video and CD-R/RW.
- The package
The
retail package includes one 4.7GB 4x DVD+R disc for data/video by Verbatim,
one 4.7GB 2.4x DVD+RW disc by Verbatim also, a multilingual quick installation
guide, Plextor RMA form with detailed instructions for the procedure, a warranty
card and four software CD-ROM discs.
The software CD-ROM discs are packed in a very elegant package. The first
one is the well-known PlexTools CD/DVD utility software. This is not the Professional
version included in the latest CD recorder of the company, but includes all
the necessary utilities for easy maintenance and efficient usage of the drive.
In the same CD-ROM you can find the PX-504A PDF manual.
The CD/DVD burning application is Nero Burning Rom Plextor Version. PowerDVD
XP is the bundled DVD player software and for DVD editing / authoring users
can use the Pinnacle Studio v.8 SE.
Last, in the retail package you can find the usual internal audio cable, an
IDE cable, mounting screws and an emergency eject pin.
On the disc loading tray you can see "DVD+RW" , the "DVD-ROM" and
the "HSRW" logos. The disc/busy indicator LED lights up green when
the device is active. The drive has also a headphone jack and a headphone volume
control.
On the rear panel there are the usual connectors, such as the power input,
the ATAPI interface, the device configuration jumper, and the analog audio
output. As in the Mitsumi drive, the case was built to accept a ventilation
fan but this is not included in the Plextor model.
After removing the screws on the bottom we can see the drive's internal
design. Again, both mainboard and chips of the drive are manufactured by NEC.
- Installation
The Plextor drive was identified as "PLEXTOR DVDR PX-504A" under
WinXP. The drive was installed to the secondary IDE channel of our test PC
as a "Master” and worked in Ultra DMA Mode 2 transfer mode. The
model came with firmware version v1.01 installed, as you can see in the Nero
picture below:
The PX-504A we have in our hands was manufactured on February 2003 and the
TLA version is #0000.
3. Data CD Reading Tests
4x DVD+R/RW Roundup - Page 3
Data CD Tests
- Pressed CD results
(74min and 80min CDSpeed
graphs for Mitsumi DW-7801)
(74min and 80min CDSpeed
graphs for Plextor PX-504A)
Both Mitsumi and Plextor drives support s 40x CAV (17-40x) CD
reading speed. In our test, the drives overcame the 41.x by the end of
the disc, resulting
to an increased average speed of 31.6x.
According to the specifications of both drives, their average seek
time is around 120msec. The Random seek result was less than 110 msec while
the
Full seek was around 175msec.
- CDR Media results
(74min and 80min CDSpeed
graphs for Mitsumi DW-7801)
(74min and 80min CDSpeed
graphs for Plextor PX-504A)
The drives were slightly slower with CD-R
media. The average reading time is 31.34x, for both drives.
In the seek test, both drives gave a slightly increased Random
seek result over the previous test, and the same performance in the 1/3 mode.
The Plextor PX-504A was slower this time in the full seek mode with 191 msec.
- HS-RW media
CDSpeed graph
for Mitsumi DW-7801
CDSpeed graph
for Plextor PX-504A
For the RW tests we used the Plextor HS-RW media.
The drives gave similar results and reading at 15.31x
-43.41x CAV , resulting to a 26x
average speed. The drives support the 32x CAV reading with RW discs.
4. CD Error Correction Tests - Mitsumi DW-7801TE
4x DVD+R/RW Roundup -
Page 4
CD Error Correction
Tests
Mitsumi DW-7801
In the following tests we examined the error correction capabilities of
the Mitsumi DW-7801TE, when reading an artificially damaged CD-R. For the
test we used the Almedio ABEX pressed discs, and the EAC test disc.
- EAC CD-R Test Disc
The EAC test disc is always hard to read for all the drives we have tested.
The Mitsumi drive reported many errors and some of them were muted. The
number of skipped samples was also high resulting to an overall score of 52.3
points out of 100.
|
Errors total
|
Num: 116273155
|
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num: 608319
|
Avg: -30.6 dB(A)
|
Max: -7.2 dB(A)
|
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 84361
|
Avg: 1.2 Samples
|
Max: 622
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 433
|
Avg: 37.9 Samples
|
Max: 2934 Samples
|
|
C2 accuracy
|
50.5%
|
|
Total Test Result
|
52.3 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
The C2 accuracy reported is only 50.5%. We cannot come up with safe conclusions
by this test only, but the first impression is that the Mitsumi DW-7801TE cannot
retrieve C2 error information accurately.
- ABEX TCD-721R
|
Errors total
|
Num: 916017
|
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num: 48471
|
Avg: -73.1 dB(A)
|
Max: -6.7 dB(A)
|
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 3061
|
Avg: 1.1 Samples
|
Max: 40 Samples
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 16
|
Avg: 6.0 Samples
|
Max: 6 Samples
|
|
C2 accuracy
|
99.1 %
|
|
Total Test Result
|
67.7 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
The score for the Mitsumi drive is 67.7, still an average performance. The
total errors were less than in the previous test, as it was expected.
The average level of the Loudness errors is -73.1dB(A).
This time the C2 accuracy reported is higher than in the previous test, but
it is away from 100%. The ABEX 721R is a pressed test disc and easy to read,
compared to the EAC disc
in the
previous
test.
- ABEX TCD-726
The total amount of errors is smaller in the case of the TCD-726 disc.
The scratches on the disc is not as heavy as in the TCD-721, and the rest
defects and fingerprints
seem not to produce many errors while reading. The Loudness errors were only
20 and the average level was -48.4dB(A), which is an acceptable level. Only
2 samples were muted, and their average length was low. The score for this
test is the best we had for the Mitsumi drive. (88.2 points).
|
Errors total
|
Num: 6
|
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num: 20
|
Avg: -48.4 dB(A)
|
Max: -31.1 dB(A)
|
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 0
|
Avg: 0 Samples
|
Max: 0 Samples
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 2
|
Avg: 6.0 Samples
|
Max: 6 Samples
|
|
C2 accuracy
|
100.0 %
|
|
Total Test Result
|
88.2 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
- Conclusion
|
Test Disc
|
Reading Speed
|
Score
|
|
EAC CD-R
|
Max
|
52.3
|
|
ABEX TCD-721R
|
67.7
|
|
ABEX TCD-726
|
88.2
|
|
Average Score
|
69.4
|
|
Test Disc |
C2 Accuracy |
|
ABEX TCD-721R |
99.1% |
|
ABEX TCD-726 |
100% |
The Mitsumi DW-7801TE gets an average score of 69.4 points
out of 100 at our CD
error correction tests. The drive can be a good reader with not heavily defected
discs, as we saw in the ABEX-726 test, but cannot correct adequately severe
errors coming from wide scratches.
On the other hand, retrieving of C2 information is not 100% accurate.
CDSpeed Advanced DAE quality test
- ABEX 721R
According to the Nero test with the ABEX TCD-721R, the quality
score for Mitsumi DW-7801TE is 68.2 points, while the C2 accuracy
is rather low (77.65%). The main reason for this result is the increased amount
of compare errors, and the 957 sync errors that were reported.
5. CD Error Correction Tests - Plextor PX-504A
4x DVD+R/RW Roundup - Page 5
CD Error Correction Tests
Plextor PX-504A
- EAC CD-R Test Disc
As in the previous case with the Mitsumi drive, the Plextor PX-504A reported
many errors and many of them were muted. The number of skipped samples was
also
high resulting
to
an
overall
score of
52.4
points out of 100.
|
Errors total
|
Num: 116273052
|
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num: 608287
|
Avg: -30.6 dB(A)
|
Max: -7.2 dB(A)
|
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 84312
|
Avg: 1.2 Samples
|
Max: 622
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 433
|
Avg: 37.9 Samples
|
Max: 2934 Samples
|
|
C2 accuracy
|
50.5%
|
|
Total Test Result
|
52.4 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
The C2 accuracy reported is only 50.5%.
- ABEX TCD-721R
|
Errors total
|
Num: 915917
|
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num: 48235
|
Avg: -73.1 dB(A)
|
Max: -6.7 dB(A)
|
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 3012
|
Avg: 1.1 Samples
|
Max: 40 Samples
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 16
|
Avg: 6.0 Samples
|
Max: 6 Samples
|
|
C2 accuracy
|
99.1 %
|
|
Total Test Result
|
67.9 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
The score for the Panasonic drive is 67.9, which is an average performance.
The total errors were less than in the previous test, as it was expected. The
average
level of the Loudness errors is -73.1dB(A).
This time the C2 accuracy reported is 99.1%. Although the accuracy is close
to 100%, it cannot be considered as safe for applications that are based on
retrieving C2 information.
- ABEX TCD-726
The total amount of errors is smaller in the case of the TCD-726 disc. The
scratches on the disc is not as heavy as in the TCD-721, and the rest defects
and fingerprints seem not to produce many errors while reading. The Loudness
errors were only 2 and the average level was -19dB(A), which is an acceptable
level. In addition, only 2 samples were muted and their average length was
small. The performance for the Plextor drive is high. (89.3 points).
|
Errors total
|
Num: 2
|
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num: 19
|
Avg: -48.4 dB(A)
|
Max: -31.1 dB(A)
|
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num: 0
|
Avg: 0 Samples
|
Max: 0 Samples
|
Skips Samples
|
Num: 2
|
Avg: 6.0 Samples
|
Max: 6 Samples
|
|
C2 accuracy
|
100.0 %
|
|
Total Test Result
|
89.3 points (of 100.0 maximum)
|
- Conclusion
|
Test Disc
|
Reading Speed
|
Score
|
|
EAC CD-R
|
Max
|
52.4
|
|
ABEX TCD-721R
|
67.9
|
|
ABEX TCD-726
|
89.3
|
|
Average Score
|
69.86
|
|
Test Disc
|
C2 Accuracy
|
|
ABEX TCD-721R
|
99.1%
|
|
ABEX TCD-726
|
100%
|
The Panasonic LF-D521 gets an average score of 69.86 points
out of 100 at our CD error correction tests.
On the other hand, the C2 accuracy seems to be low in most cases.
CDSpeed Advanced DAE quality test
- ABEX 721R
According to the Nero test, the quality score for Plextor PX-504A
is 85.9 points, while the C2 accuracy is low (79.80%). The Plextor drive gave
back less compare errors than the Mitsumi DW-7801TE, and the sync errors occurred
were only 116.
6. DVD reading tests
4x DVD+R/RW Roundup - Page
6
DVD reading tests
- Test Method
We used Nero CDSpeed to run DVD tests. The test discs
were one single sided, single layer DVD-ROM, one single sided, dual layer
DVD-ROM,
and one disc from each one of the DVD-R/RW, and DVD+R/RW and formats.
According to PleXTools software, both drives support 5-12x CAV DVD-ROM (single
layer) reading, and 2-5x CAV for the DVD+/-R/RW discs. DVD Video is played
at 2-5x CAV.
- Single Layer DVD-ROM reading
The drives started reading at 4.90x and finished at 11.90x. The average reading
speed is around 8.90x for both drives.
The specifications of both drives give them a 140msec average
seek time for the case of the DVD-ROM discs. In our tests the drives gave the
same results in all the seek modes. In the Random seek test the result was
116msec, and around 180msec for the Full seek mode.
- Dual Layer DVD-ROM reading
(CDSpeed graph for Mitsumi DW-7801)
(CDSpeed graph
for Plextor PX-504A)
The drives support 7x CAV (3-7x) reading speed for the dual layer DVD-ROM
discs. The average reading speed for each layer is 5.44x.
The seek time results are increased for the dual layer DVD-ROM
discs. Although the random seek test gave the same times as in the single layer
DVD-ROM test, the 1/3 seek time was approximately 145msec. In addition, the
Full seek performance was even lower, with 231msec for the Mitsumi DW-7801TE
and 236msec for the Plextor drive.
- DVD Ripping Tests
We measured the DVD Ripping speed using the "Matrix" DVD Video
title and DVD Decrypter.
Both drives ripped the DVD files at an average speed of 2835-2840kb/sec.
The performance is low, and is translated to a 2.3x average speed.
- DVD reading Tests
Both Plextor and Mitsumi drives support 2-5x CAV reading for the DVD+R/RW
formats.
Mitsumi DW-7801TE
In the screenshot above you can see the CDSpeed graph of Mitsumi DW-7801TE
with DVD+RW media. The drive had problems to read the entire disc, and slowed
down reading in many cases, after the 2.1GB address of the disc.
Plextor PX-504A
Plextor PX-504A also had the same problem as the Mitsumi drive with the DVD+RW
disc.
In the following chart you can see the average reading speeds of both drives
with 4x DVD-R/+R, 2x DVD-RW, and 2.4x DVD+RW media.
All the media come from Verbatim.
The drives had a similar behavior and the average reading speed for the DVD-R/RW
and DVD+R is approximately 3.71x. In case of DVD+RW, both drives had problems
as we mentioned previously, and gave a lower performance.
7. DVD Error Correction Tests - Mitsumi DW-7801TE
4x DVD+R/RW Roundup- Page 7
DVD Error Correction
Tests
Mitsumi DW-7801
In the following tests we examined the DVD error correction capabilities
of Mitsumi DW-7801TE. For the tests we used CDVD Benchmark v1.21 and Nero
CDSpeed . The reference test media comes from ALMEDIO.
- Single Layer media
ABEX TDR-821
This is a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM with a 4.7GB capacity, in which
there are scratches with dimensions from 2.6 to 4.8 mm. The following transfer
rate picture comes from CDVD Benchmark v1.21.
As you can see from the graph the Mitsumi DW-7801TE had serious problems to
read the disc contents, after the 570.000 sector of the ABEX disc. By that
point, the scratch on the test disc had a 1.8mm size. The reading speed
was reduced to 3x, and read errors were reported. CDVD Benchmark performs multiple
readings of the same sector when it is initially found unreadable. The duration
of the test was more than 3 hours, and finally the reading process was terminated.
ABEX TDR-825
This is also a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM of a 4.7GB capacity.
The data structure of the disc is exactly the same as that of the TDR-821,
with a single difference
that there are no scratches on it but defected areas with dimensions ranging
from 0.5 to 1.1 mm. There are also fingerprints sized from 6.5 to 7.5
mm.
The drive did not have any problems to read the disc contents. The yellow dots
correspond to the current speed in each area of the disc. No read errors were
reported.
- Dual Layer media
ABEX TDR-841
This is a 8.5GB dual layer, single sided, DVD-ROM disc with artificial scratches
of dimensions ranging from 0.4 to 4.8 mm, in both layers.
Since the drive had hard times to read the single layer scratched disc (ABEX
TDR-821), the results in the above test were not surprising. Non of the layers
was entirely read, and multiple read errors occurred as soon as the size of
the scratch was 2mm.
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 defected areas and fingerprints. The dimensions of the defected
areas are ranged from 0.5 to 1.1 mm and the fingerprints are sized from 0.065
to 0.075 mm.
Although the artificial defects and fingerprints on the TDR-845 test disc,
the Mitsumi DW-7801 finished the test without any read errors.
ABEX TDV-541
The TDV-541 is a single sided, dual layer DVD-VIDEO disc, with
a capacity of 8.5GB. The disc is based upon the TDV-540 series which is designed
for inspection and adjustment of DVD-VIDEO players. The discs check the
layer
switch operation from layer 0 to layer 1 and also include test pictures and
test signals for DVD sound files. The current TDV-541 model checks also
the error
correction capabilities of the drive and includes scratches from 1.8 to 3 mm.
The drive supports 2-5x CAV average reading speed for the DVD-Video
format. Again the test was terminated with a read error, during the first layer.
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 0.8 to 1.0 mm. It has
also 0.065 - 0.075 mm fingerprints.
Black dots and fingerprints were not a problem for the drive.
The test was successful, with a 3.44x average speed.
8. DVD Error Correction Tests - Plextor PX-504A
4x DVD+R/RW Roundup - Page 8
DVD Error Correction
Tests
Plextor PX-504A
- Single Layer media
ABEX TDR-821
This is a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM with a 4.7GB capacity, in which
there are scratches with dimensions from 2.6 to 4.8 mm. The following transfer
rate picture comes from CDVD Benchmark v1.21.
As with the Mitsumi drive, Plextor PX-504A has also problems with the scratched
DVD-ROM test disc. Many read errors occurred and the reading speed was reduced
to 2x. Reading was resumed as soon as the drive could read back data from the
unscratched areas.
ABEX TDR-825
This is also a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM of a 4.7GB capacity.
The data structure of the disc is exactly the same as that of the TDR-821,
with a single difference
that there are no scratches on it but defected areas with dimensions ranging
from 0.5 to 1.1 mm. There are also fingerprints sized from 6.5 to 7.5
mm.
The drive did not have any problems to read the disc contents. The yellow dots
correspond to the current speed in each area of the disc. No read errors were
reported.
- Dual Layer media
ABEX TDR-841
This is a 8.5GB dual layer, single sided, DVD-ROM disc with artificial scratches
of dimensions ranging from 0.4 to 4.8 mm, in both layers.
Again many read errors were reported for both layers of the DVD-ROM 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 defected areas and fingerprints. The dimensions of the defected
areas are ranged from 0.5 to 1.1 mm and the fingerprints are sized from 0.065
to 0.075 mm.
This time the test was finished successfully with no read errors and the
reading speed reached the 8x by the end of each layer.
ABEX TDV-541
The TDV-541 is a single sided, dual layer DVD-VIDEO disc, with
a capacity of 8.5GB. The disc is based upon the TDV-540 series which is designed
for inspection and adjustment of DVD-VIDEO players. The discs check the
layer
switch operation from layer 0 to layer 1 and also include test pictures and
test signals for DVD sound files. The current TDV-541 model checks also
the error
correction capabilities of the drive and includes scratches from 1.8 to 3 mm.
As with the Mitsumi drive, the PX-504A could not read the scratched dual
layer DVD-ROM disc and the test was terminated.
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 0.8 to 1.0 mm. It has
also 0.065 - 0.075 mm fingerprints.
Black dots and fingerprints were not a problem for the drive.
The test was successful, with a 3.44x average speed.
9. CloneCD Reading Tests
4x DVD+R/RW Roundup -
Page 9
CloneCD Reading
Tests
- Procedure
We used CloneCD and 3 original CDs - Serious Sam 2 (SafeDisc 2), V-Rally
2 Expert (SecuROM 2) and NBA Jam Extreme (PSX) - in order
to test the reading time of the drives. We also tested the reading performance
with backups of the original CDs. The following pictures show reading/writing
capabilities as CloneCD reports them:
- PSX Pressed Media
For this test we used the PSX game 'NBA Jam Extreme', in order to
rip the image to the HD with CloneCD. However, none of the Plextor and Mitsumi
drives could recognize the PSX disc.
- SafeDisc v.2 Results
The drives needed approximately 20 minutes to create the image file on
the hard disk. The performance is not very high but it can be considered as
adequate
for a
DVD
recorder.
- SecuROM Results
Both drives can read SubChannel data from Data/Audio tracks. The duration
of the process was 3 minutes for the pressed and 3:30 min for the backup test
disc.
10. DAE Tests
4x DVD+R/RW Roundup - Page 10
DAE Tests
- Pressed AudioCD results
In this test we examine the DAE speed of the drives. The
Mitsumi drive
ripped the audio files at 23.7x average. Plextor PX-504A was slightly faster
with a 23.9x ripping speed.
- CDR AudioCD results
With CD-R media, the ripping speed is a little higher than in the previous
test. The performance is the same for both drives, with approximately 24x average
ripping speed.
- EAC Secure Extract Ripping mode
EAC "secure extract" ripping-mode ensures maximum
quality produced WAV's. The software reports that both Mitsumi DW-7801TE and
Plextor PX-504A support "Accurate Stream", retrieve"C2" error
information and do not support "caching".
|
Tested Drives
|
Average DAE Speed (X)
|
|
Pressed
|
CDR
|
|
Mitsumi DW-7801
|
19.8
|
16
|
|
Plextor PX-504A
|
19.9
|
16.1
|
Under the EAC Secure Ripping Mode, Mitsumi DW-7801TE finished the task with
the pressed
disc at an average speed of 19.8x. The Plextor drive gave similar results.
Both drives were slower in the CD-R ripping test.
- Advanced DAE Quality
Below you can see the CDSpeed Advanced DAE test result for Mitsumi DW-7801TE.
The average reading speed is 23.16x, and the quality score is 100 (perfect).
I addition, the drive is able to read CD-Text and Subchannel data:
On the other hand, the Plextor drive did not perform very
well in the same test. Data errors were reported and the quality score is 95.3
points out of 100:
- Ripping of 99mins AudioCD's
|
Tested drives |
Ripping up to |
Mitsumi DW-7801 |
94min |
|
Plextor PX-504A |
94min |
- Reading/Ripping Protected AudioCD's
For the test procedure we used 2 protected Audio CDs, which we
tested in both recognition and ripping (with EAC) processes:
- Pressed AudioCD with Sony Key2Audio (Celine Dion - New Day Has
Come), and
- Pressed AudioCD with Cactus Data Shield 200 (Natalie Imbruglia
- White Lilies Island).
|
|
Key2Audio
|
CDS200
|
|
EAC
|
|
Mitsumi DW-7801
|
OK
|
|
Plextor PX-504A
|
Both drives can handle "Key2Audio" and "Cactus Data Shield
200"
protected titles. Ripping was achieved in the maximum supported ripping speed
and the extracted data were absolutely accurate.
11. CD Recording Tests
4x DVD+R/RW Roundup - Page 11
CDR Tests
We tested the drive with latest version of Nero/CloneCD. Mitsumi DW-7801TE
and Plextor PX-504A support the 16x CLV maximum writing speed. The drives are
also able to write at 8x and
4x,
as
Nero InfoTool reports:
For all the recording tests, we
burned 803MB of data.
The drives finished burning at 16x speed, at 5:35 seconds. Writing
under the CLV strategy does not allow any variations in the recording times,
since the speed is constant during the writing process.
The recording times for all the supported speeds are illustrated
in the following chart:
The following screen shot comes from Nero Burning Rom after
a successful burning at 16x.
- Other features
|
Overburning
|
Up to 90min
|
|
CD text reading/writing
|
Yes
|
- CloneCD Writing Tests
The CloneCD software reports that both drives support the
DAO-RAW writing mode. In addition, they support the RAW DAO 96 mode, which
means that they can rewrite uncorrected data and Subchannel data.
For checking the drive's EFM correction status, we used 3 different game
titles with different SafeDisc 2 versions with the latest software patches
installed. We used the drive as both a reader and writer at maximum reading/recording
speeds. Two discs were burned for each game (Amplify Weak Sectors On/Off).
The results are posted in the table
below:
|
Game Title
|
Tested Drive
|
SD2 Build
|
Settings
|
|
Amplify Weak Sectors On
|
Amplify Weak Sectors Off
|
|
Max Payne v1.05
|
Creative 52X
CD-ROM
|
v.2.50.020
|
OK
|
No |
|
TEAC 40X
CD-ROM
|
|
BTC DV316
DVD-ROM
|
|
Serious Sam - The Second Encounter v1.07
|
Creative 52X
CD-ROM
|
v.2.60.052
|
No
|
|
TEAC 40X
CD-ROM
|
|
BTC DV316
DVD-ROM
|
|
The Sims - Unleashed
|
Creative 52X
CD-ROM
|
v2.80.010
|
No
|
|
TEAC 40X
CD-ROM
|
|
BTC DV316
DVD-ROM
|
12. Writing Quality Tests - Mitsumi DW-7801TE
4x DVD+R/RW Roundup -
Page 12
Writing Quality Tests
Mitsumi DW-7801TE
We used Taiyo Yuden 80min 48x CD-R media and burned the same AudioCD project
(with CD-Text) at 8x and 12x recording speeds. Below
you can see the 3T
Pit & Land Jitter graphs.
- 3T Pit results
As we can see from the above graphs, the 3T Pit Jitter stays below the 35ns
RED book limit for all the available recording speeds. The low writing
speeds, along with the implemented CLV strategy, ensure that the quality of
your CD-R compilations will be high.
The average 3T Jitter values for all recording speeds are illustrated in the
following table.
The 8x writing speeds gave the highest average jitter values. The average
value of jitter is less than 35nsec for all the recording speeds. We
could say
that you can safely burn your favorite audio discs in any available speed.
- 3T Land results
The average 3T Land results are slightly increased over those in the previous
measurements of the 3T Pit Jitter. The maximum jitter value reported was
29ns, and come
from the measurements on a recorded disc at 16x.
- Conclusion
|
Recording Speed |
3T Pit Jitter (ns) |
3T Land Jitter (ns) |
> 35ns |
Max value (ns) |
|
8X |
23.80 |
25.41 |
No |
23 Pit, 27 Land |
|
16X |
23.63 |
23.54 |
No |
29 Pit, 29 Land |
The average 3T Pit and Land jitter values are below the 35nsec standard for
all the recording speeds. The
combination of low writing speeds and the CLV writing technology seems to
guarantee the
quality
results.
13. Writing Quality Tests - Plextor PX-504A
4x DVD+R/RW Roundup -
Page 13
Writing Quality Tests
Plextor PX-504A
As in the previous test, we used Taiyo Yuden 80min 48x CD-R media and burned
the same AudioCD project at all available recording speeds.
Below
you can see the 3T Pit & Land Jitter graphs.
- 3T Pit results
The 3T Pit Jitter values are very low for throughout the disc.
The average 3T Jitter values for all recording speeds are illustrated in the
following table.
The 8x writing speeds gave the highest average jitter values. The average
value of jitter is less than 35nsec for all the recording speeds. Such jitter
values definitely cannot influence the quality of your writing compilations.
- 3T Land results
The average 3T Land results are slightly increased over those in the previous
measurements of the 3T Pit Jitter. The maximum jitter value reported was
28ns, and come from the measurements on a recorded disc at 8x.
- Conclusion
|
Recording Speed
|
3T Pit Jitter (ns)
|
3T Land Jitter (ns)
|
> 35ns
|
Max value (ns)
|
|
8X
|
23.98
|
26.38
|
No
|
26 Pit, 28 Land
|
|
16X
|
23.71
|
23.56
|
No
|
26 Pit, 29 Land
|
The average 3T Pit and Land jitter values are below the 35nsec standard for
all the recording speeds. As with the Mitsumi model, the writing quality of
Plextor PX-504A is high.
14. HS-RW Writing Tests
4x DVD+R/RW Roundup -
Page
14
HS-RW Writing Tests
We used Nero Burning Rom for writing CDs in the maximum RW speed supported
by the Mitsumi DW-7801TE and Plextor PX-504A. The drives supports the 10x
maximum rewriting speed.
The Plextor PX-504A finished in 8:10 minutes, and needed just 39 seconds
to perform the "quick erase" task under Nero. The Mitsumi DW-7801TE
needed almost the same time (8:12sec).
- Packet Writing Tests
We used InCD and Plextor HS-RW media for all Packet Writing tests. The formatting
of the media takes around 10min. The formatted disc had 530mbs of free space.
We copied a 403 MB file (403.147 KB) from a Hard Disk (on the same PC as
the writers) to the formatted RW media, using explorer (we dragged and dropped).
In the writing part, both Plextor and Mitsumi drives gave the same average
writing speed, around 8.15x. The reading task was faster for the drives and
finished at a 16.6x reading speed.
15. DVD Recording Tests
4x DVD+R/RW Roundup -
Page 15
DVD Recording Tests
- Writing Performance
Plextor and Mitsumi drives support 4x CLV (5284MB/sec) writing with 4.7GB
DVD+R discs and 2.4x with DVD+RW discs.
We burned 4315MB of data on Verbatim 4x DVD+R and 2.4x DVD+RW media. The
recording times are illustrated in the following table:
|
DVD Recording Tests |
|
Drives |
Media |
Writing Speed |
Average Writing Time (min) |
Mitsumi DW-7801 |
DVD+R |
4x |
13:46 |
DVD+RW |
2.4x |
22:48 |
|
Plextor PX-504A |
DVD+R |
4x |
13:45 |
|
DVD+RW |
2.4x |
22:45 |
The following pictures come from Nero, after successful DVD+RW and DVD+R
burnings with Plextor PX-504A. The amount of data is the same for all the
tests.
16. Conclusion
4x DVD+R/RW Roundup -
Page 16
Conclusion
After
finishing the tests we could safely say that both Plextor and Mitsumi DVD recording
solutions share the same position in the performance charts. They both support
the faster DVD recording speeds available (4x DVD+R and 2.4x DVD+RW). This
means that you can write up to 4.7GB in less than 15 minutes, with 4x media.
Currently, not many DVD+R media manufacturers support the 4x writing, but it
is expected that the media list will be longer, soon.
The retail packages are complete and include all the necessary CD/DVD writing/authoring
software, applications for DVD editing and playback, and blank 4x DVD+R and
2.4x DVD+RW media. In addition, in the Plextor package you can find the PlexTools
utility set.
In the reading part, the drives are fast and support 12X CAV speed for single
layer DVD-ROM, while the access times are also adequate. Reading of dual layer
DVD-ROMs is slower but this cannot be a problem for the users. Reading of DVD+R/RW
and DVD-R/RW discs is supported at a maximum speed of 5x CAV. However, tests
showed that both drives have reading problems with DVD+RW media, especially
after the half of the disc, where the drives reduced the reading speed until
the end of the disc.
What is interesting is the low performance of both drives in the DVD error
correction tests with the ABEX discs. Although the drives could easily read
the defected test disc, they had serious problems with the scratched one, and
reading was terminated as soon as the scratch became larger than 2mm. The situation
is the same for both single and dual layer and DVD-Video test discs. Error
correction should definitely be improved in this area. In the weak points,
we could also mention the average DVD ripping speed of the drives which is
less than 2850 KB/sec.
For the CD format, the drives offer the 16x CD-R recording speed, 10x rewriting
and 40x reading. The supported DAE speed is less than 25x, reading of Subchannel
data and CD-Text is available, and the CD-R writing quality is high. Audio
protected discs can be accurately read by both drives, and overburning up to
90min is also included in their capabilities. On the other hand, backups of
SafeDisc v2.xx discs will not work in most cases, along with PSX discs, which
are not even recognized by both drives. Last, the CD error correction capabilities
are not high, especially for the Mitsumi drive, and the retrieved C2 accuracy
could be higher.
This is the first DVD recorders for Plextor and Mitsumi. What we could say
is that judging is always the easy part but developing of a product is not
an easy task. We welcome both new drives and expect more from both of them
in their next model, as they have showed in the past. According to the companies,
their next DVD recorder will likely support both DVD+R/RW
and DVD-R/RW formats. The retail price of both drives is $230-250. Mitsumi
offers one
year warranty for the DW-7801TE, while the warranty for Plextor PX-504A is
2 years for Europe, Middle-East and Africa.