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Appeared on: Friday, February 27, 2004
Teac DV-W58G


1. Package - Installation

TEAC DV-W58G - Page 1

After the TEAC DV-W50D, TEAC has taken the next major step up and released its DV-W58G drive, supporting 8x for the +R format and 4x for the -R format. In addition to RW DVD media the drive supports 4x +RW and 2x -RW media. The drive is also a fast CD-R writer with a maximum writing speed of 40x. The full specifications for the TEAC DV-W58G drive are presented in the following table.

- Specifications

Interface
IDE/ATAPI
Buffer Size
 2MB
Disc Diameter
12cm,8cm
Write Speed DVD-R 4x(CLV)
DVD-RW 2x(CLV)
DVD+R 8x(Zone CLV)
DVD+RW 4x(CLV)
CD-R 40x(Partial CAV)
Low speed CD-RW 4x(CLV)
High speed CD-RW 10x(CLV)
Ultra speed CD-RW 24x(Partial CAV)
Read Speed
DVD+R/RW 6x(CAV)
DVD-R/RW 6x(CAV)
DVD-ROM ( single layer ) 12x(CAV)
DVD-ROM ( dual layer) 8x(CAV)
CD-ROM / Finalized CD-R Data CD-DAE / Video CD 40x(CAV)
Finalized CD-RW 32x(CAV)
Play
DVD+R/RW 4x(CLV)
DVD-R/RW 4x(CLV)
DVD-ROM(single/dual layer) 4x(CAV)
Video CD 10x(CAV)
CD-DA 10x(CAV)
Data Transfer Rate Sustained 4.6MB/s avg. 6.0MB/s max.
Programmed I/O 16.6MB/s max.
Multi-word DMA 16.6MB/s max.
Ultra DMA 33.3MB/s max.
Disc Format Read capability Write capability
[ DVD ]
DVD+R Yes Yes
DVD+RW Yes Yes
DVD-R Yes Yes
DVD-RW Yes Yes
DVD-ROM Yes Yes
DVD-Video Yes Yes
DVD-Audio Yes (as data read) Yes (as data write)
[ CD ]
CD-DA Yes Yes
CD-ROM Yes Yes
CD-ROM XA Yes Yes
CD-I Yes Yes
Mixed mode CD-ROM Yes Yes
Photo CD Yes Yes
CD Extra Yes Yes
Video CD Yes Yes
CD-TEXT Yes Yes
DVCD Yes No
Random Access Time
[DVD] 160ms Random average
[CD] 150ms Random average
Ambient Temperature Operating: 5 - 45oC
Non-Operating: -20 - 60oC
Relative Humidity Operating: 20- 80% (non-condensing)
Non-Operating: 10 - 80% (non-condensing)
Vibration

Operating: 1.96m/s2 (0.2G) (5 - 500Hz, 1oct/min)

Non-Operating: 14.7m/s2 (1.5G) (10 - 500Hz, 1oct/min)

Shock

Operating: 19.6m/s2 (2G) (half-sine wave 11ms)

Non-Operating: 490m/s2 (50G) (half-sine wave 11ms)

Power Requirements DC+5V ±5% , DC+12V ±10%
MTBF 60,000POH ( at normal temperature and humidity ; duty read 20% write 2%)
Dimensions 148.4W X 42.8H X 170D ( mm )
Mass ( Weight ) 0.9Kg or less typ.

The drive uses 2MB buffer memory. RAW DAO 96 writing (CD) is supported, whereas Mount Rainier is not.

The TEAC DV-W58G uses the RPC II region control, allowing a user to change the drive's region at most 5 times. For our tests, we set the region code to 2 (Europe).

- Retail package

The retail package includes the warranty, a multi language printed user manual, mounting screws and an analog audio cable.

Packaged software includes NeroBurning Rom software along with a blank TEAC DVD-R 4x disc.

 

- The drive

The drive's front panel is bone color, and on the loading tray are the CD-RW logo , the +RW and -RW logos and the TEAC logo (colored blue). Also on the front panel are the eject button, the activity led indicator, volume control, emergency hole and a headphone jack.

On the rear panel there are the analogue and digital audio outputs (SPDIF), the IDE connector and the power input.

Removing the screws and opening the drive's cover voids the drive's warranty. For reference reasons, we post the following pictures. Notice that this time, unlike to the previous DV-W50D model (4/4 DVD±R, Pioneer reference design), TEAC chose the MediaTEK chipset for this model.

Click for Higher Resolution!

- Installation

The TEAC drive was connected to our test PC and was identified as "TEAC DV-W58G" under WinXP. All tests were done with firmware v.H4S2

The following pages include test results for TEAC drive in comparison with two other dual DVD burners, the Sony DRU-530A and the Pacific Digital 8xDVD.


2. Data CD Reading Tests

TEAC DV-W58G - Page 2

Data CD Reading Tests

- Pressed CD results (Click for CDSpeed results)

The TEAC DV-W58G supports 40x maximum reading speed with CD media and proved the fastest among the three drives, although there was very little between them, with a maximum final speed of 41.84x. The reading strategy of the TEAC drive is CAV.

As the seek times tests show, again there is not a lot between the drives but the TEAC drive was the slowest with all three seek times. However, the seek times are fast enough and the results are quite acceptable. The drive finished the full seek with 191ms, while 92ms was needed for the random seek.

- CD-R Media results (Click for CDSpeed results)

With CD-R media, the TEAC DV-W58G managed to reach a maximum end speed of 41.74x, a result that is again marginally higher than the other two drives used in this comparison. The reported average speed was 31.44x

On this test we measured the seek times of the TEAC drive with CD-R media. The seek times for this test are slightly up in comparison with the previous pressed disc test. The full seek finished after 210ms for both TEAC and Pacific Digital while the Sony was fastest at 151ms.

- ReWritable Media (Click for CDSpeed results)

To check the reading performance for the TEAC DV-W58G with HS-RW media, we used NeroCDSpeed and a HSRW rewritable disc from Mitsubishi Chemicals. After the end of the test, NeroCDSpeed reports that the drive read the disc under CAV mode with an average speed of 25.23x. The drive was the slowest among the three drives, with a final reading speed of 33.45x compared to SONY's 40.69x, however the TEAC has a maximum reading speed of 32x with CD-RW media.


3. CD Error Correction Tests

TEAC DV-W58G - Page 3

Error Correction Tests

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

- ABEX TCD-721R

Errors total
Num: 923800
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
Num: 48784
Avg: -73.7 dB(A)
Max:-36.0 dB(A)
Error Muting Samples
Num: 2986
Avg: 1.0 Samples
Max: 11 Samples
Skips Samples
Num: 0
Avg: 0 Samples
Max: 0 Samples
Total Test Result
76.9 points (out of 100.0 maximum)

TEAC`s DV-W58G results are quite good with the Abex 721R test disc, which is usually a hard disc to read accurately with most drives. There are relatively few totla errors, maximum loudness is also low at -36.0 dB(A) and there were no skipped samples. The final score of 76.9 out of 100 is very good.

- ABEX TCD-726

Errors total
Num: 0
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
Num: 0
Avg:-174.0 dB(A)
Max: -174.0 dB(A)
Error Muting Samples
Num: 0
Avg: 0 Samples
Max: 0 Samples
Skips Samples
Num: 0
Avg: 0 Samples
Max: 0 Samples
Total Test Result
100.0 points (out of 100.0 maximum)

The 726 Abex test disc is easier for reading by most drives. After finishing this test, the TEAC drive received a total score of 100.0. No errors were reported.

- CD-Check Audio Test Disc

The CD-Check Test Disc is a very useful tool for evaluating the Sound Reproduction / Error correction capabilities of a CD player. The disc offers a signal combination with disc error patterns to rate the drive's reading music abilities and reproduce it completely. Five tracks on the disc contain a progressively difficult sequence. These tracks are referred to as Check Level-1 through Check Level-5.

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

Error Level
1
2
3
4
5
TEAC DV-W58G
5/5
5/5
5/5
0/5
0/5

The TEAC drive played without noticeable clicks only the first three levels of the CD-Check Audio test disc. The fourth and fifth levels produced audible clicks throughout. The performance is not bad but does not place the TEAC among the better drives with this test.

- Summary

Test Disc
Reading Speed
Score
ABEX TCD-721R
Max
76.9
ABEX TCD-726
100.0
Average Score
88.45

The average score for the TEAC DV-W58G with the Abex test discs is 88.45 points. The performance is very good although it would have been nice to see it do better in the Audio Test Disc Check, reaching at least the fourth level, which would have placed it amongst the best drives.


4. DVD reading tests

TEAC DV-W58G - Page 4

DVD reading tests

- Single Layer DVD-ROM (Click for CDSpeed results)

After performing the Single Layer DVD-Rom reading test, Nero CDSpeed reports that the TEAC drive is the fastest among the three drives. The final reading speed for the TEAC is 12.45x and the reading strategy is CAV. As with the same test with CD media, there is very little between the drives.

The seek times for the TEAC DV-W58G are very good. It had the fastest seek times with a reported full seek time of 159ms and average seek time of 84ms.

- Dual Layer PTP DVD-ROM (Click for CDSpeed results)

The two layers of a PTP DVD-ROM disc are read sequentially, with the drive starting the read process from the inner tracks on the disc, where lies the beginning of each layer and progressing outwards towards to the outer tracks for each layer.

After the end of the Dual Layer PTP DVD-ROM test, we can see that again there is very little between the drives and while the TEAC drive was not the fastest, the speeds are quite satisfactory. The reported end speed for this test is 8.44x, which is slightly slower than 8.60x for the Sony drive which proved overall, to be the fastest drive among the three.

Just as with Single Layer DVD-ROM media, the seek times for TEAC are fast and was the fastest with all three seeks among the three drives. The drive needed 86ms for random seek and 164ms for full seek.

- Dual Layer OTP DVD-ROM

The first layer of an OTP dual layer DVD-ROM is read exactly the same way as the first layer of the PTP disc we tested previously. The difference here is the reading strategy of the second layer on 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 inwards towards the inner tracks of the disc.

 

The Dual layer OTP disc was not a problem for the TEAC DV-W58G drive. The average reading speed was 6.18x, while the end speed reached at the end of the first layer was 8.32x. There are some annoying glitches where both the disc's velocity and hence speed, took some tumbles during reading of the second layer. It remains to be seen if this proves a problem during our quality tests later on this review.

- DVD Ripping Tests

We measured the DVD-Video ripping speed for the TEAC DV-W58G using the latest version of DVD Decrypter. The DVD Video title is the "Matrix" pressed DVD-Video.

The graph above shows that the TEAC drive was not the fastest among the three drives for DVD ripping, but the ripping speed is reasonable.

- DVD Recordable / Rewritable reading Tests

The chart below shows the Nero CDSpeed average reading speed results with the following media:

The drive is specified as having a maximum reading speed of 6x with DVD±R/RW media, compared to the SONY DRU-530A's 8x, hence it's times are going to be below those of the SONY drive's, which happened to be the fastest in this test. NeroCDSpeed reports that the average reading speeds with the TEAC drive for all four media is a little above the 4.6x mark, while the reading strategy is CAV with all formats.


5. DVD Error Correction Tests

TEAC DV-W58G - Page 5

DVD Error Correction Tests

In the following tests we examined the DVD reading capabilities of the TEAC drive with scratched / defective DVD media. For the tests we used CDVD Benchmark and Nero CDSpeed. The reference test media come from ALMEDIO.

- Single Layer media
ABEX TDR-821

This is a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM with a 4.7GB capacity, and its surface has an artificial scratch of dimensions varying from 0.4 to 3.0 mm. The following transfer rate picture comes from the CDVD Benchmark v1.21 transfer rate test.

The resultant output is smooth and relatively clean. The TEAC drive did note return any read errors, reading was accurate and the final speed was 12x.

ABEX TDR-825

This is also a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM with 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 the surface and instead defective areas ranging in dimensions from 0.5 to 1.1 mm. There are also fingerprints with height between 65 and 75 micrometers.

Here again we have a very smooth graph with no errors, and the drive passes over both areas containing scratches and fingerprints, without any problems. the TEAC drive proves so far to be a very good DVD reader. The test was finished succesfully and the reading speed was 12x CAV.

- 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.

The TEAC DV-W58G once again performed extremely well and managed to finish this defective surface test without posting any errors. Each layer of the disc reached a maximum reading speed of over 8x CAV.

ABEX TDR-845

This disc is a single sided, dual layer DVD-ROM disc with capacity of 8.5GB. The only difference between the TDR-845 and the TDR-841 is that the first includes both defective areas and fingerprints. The dimensions of the defective areas range from 0.5 to 1.1 mm and the fingerprints have height sized from 65 to 75 microns (micrometres).

So far, the drive has performed brilliantly and seems to be an excellent DVD reader with defective media.

ABEX TDV-541

The TDV-541 is a single sided, dual layer DVD-VIDEO disc, with a capacity of 8.5GB.The disc is based on the TDV-540 series which is designed for inspection and adjustment of DVD-VIDEO players. The disc checks the layer switch operation from layer 0 to layer 1 and also includes test pictures and test signals for DVD sound files. The current TDV-541 also checks the error correcting capabilities of the drive and includes scratches sized from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.

The average reading speed was 6.33x while the speed at the end of the first layer reached 8.46x. Also, NeroCDSpeed reports low seek times for the disc. There is a slight glitch just after the switch over to the second layer, but the drive seems to recover quickly.

ABEX TDV-545

The TDV-545 disc is based on the TDV-540 series. It is a single sided, dual layer Video/S-2 disc with a capacity of 8.5GB. The TDV-545 includes artificial black dots on the disc's surface, sized from 0.4 to 1.0 mm. It also has 65 - 75 micrometre high fingerprints.

 

 

This test disc also proved not to be a problem. The reading strategy was CAV, while the maximum speed reached at the end of the first layer was 8.40x.


6. Protected Disc Tests

TEAC DV-W58G - Page 6

Protected Disc Tests
- Reading Tests

To create an image of the various protected titles onto a hard disk, we used Alcohol 120% v1.4.8.1222 and the appropriate settings, depending on the protection type of the inserted discs. Below are summarized the capabilities of the TEAC drive, according to CloneCD software. The summary below shows that the drive supports writing of CD+G under RAW DAO:

The game titles we used to test the reading speed for each protection scheme are given in the table below:

Game Title
Protection Scheme
PSX "NBA Jam Extreme"
Lybcrypt
Serious Sam The Second Encounter v1.07
SafeDisc v.2.60.052
VRally II
SecuROM v.2
PSX Pressed Media

SafeDisc v.2

SecuROM v.2

TEAC was fast ripping all of the pressed game discs we tested. According to the graphs above, the TEAC DV-W58G was consistently fast with all three protection schemes, something which is rare for a drive. It was the fastest reading the safedisc protected disc, and not far the fastest drive (Pioneer DVR-107D) for the other two protection schemes.

- Writing Tests

TEAC supports the DAO-RAW writing mode. For checking the drive's EFM correction status, we used 3 different game titles with different SafeDisc versions and with the latest software patches installed. After making the image files of the various titles to the hard disk, we burned them (maximum speed) with Alcohol 120%. Two different discs were created for each title; one with the "Bypass EFM error" enabled and one more with the function disabled.

The table below shows the results of the attempted backups and whether they working (game installed / played normally), or not.

Drive
Game Title
SD2 Build
Settings
Bypass EFM error On
Bypass EFM error Off
TEAC DV-W58G
Max Payne
v2.51.020
Yes
Yes
Serious Sam - The Second Encounter v1.07
v.2.60.052
Yes
Yes
The Sims Unleashed
v.2.8
Yes
Yes
The Sims Superstar
v2.9
Yes
No
Fifa 2004
v3.10
Yes
Partially

The TEAC drive was able to make working backups of all games we tested. The most difficult game was Fifa 2004 which was protected with Safedisc v3.10. In order to test the compatibility of the written media we tested whether the Fifa 2004 backup disc played, on the following devices:

Drive
Bypass EFM error On
Bypass EFM error Off
Plextor 16x10x40x CD-RW
No
No
Pioneer DVD-500W
Yes
Yes
Memorex DVD±RW DUAL X1
No
No
Optorite DD0203
No
No
CyberDRV CW058D
Yes
Yes
Memorex True-8x
No
No
TEAC DV-W58G
No
No
Mitsumi DW-7872TE
No
No
TEAC CD-540E
Yes
Yes

7. DAE Tests

TEAC DV-W58G - Page 7

DAE Tests

- Pressed and CDR AudioCD results

According to the specifications, the TEAC DV-W58G drive supports 40x CAV for DAE.

Nero CDSpeed confirms TEAC's specifications. The maximum DAE speed reached was 40.87x. The disc reading was under CAV mode with an average speed of 30.93x.

 

 

 

We ripped the contents of the same audio disc to our hard disk, using the CDDAE software. The average ripping speed (burst mode) of 35.2x, was the fastest among the three drives and is one of the fastest speeds with this test (e.g. the LiteOn LDW-811s has reached 39.9x).

With the CDR audio disc, the performance was not as good as with the original, but it was still faster that the other two drives.

- Advanced DAE Quality

The average reading speed of the TEAC drive according to Nero's CD Speed Advanced DAE test, is 28.12x. The quality score of the drive is 100, while no data or sync errors were reported during the test. The software also reports that the drive can safely be used for copying on the fly at reading speeds up to 16x. In addition the drive supports reading of Leadin, Leadout and Subchannel Data information.

- Support of 90/99mins AudioCDs

TEAC managed to rip the contents of our 90/99min test discs successfully.

- Reading/Ripping Protected AudioCDs

For the test procedure we used two audio discs with different audio protection schemes. We tested for both recognition and ripping to the hard disk. The software used was Exact Audio Copy.

* Pressed Audio disc protected by Sony Key2Audio (Celine Dion - New Day Has Come)

* Pressed Audio disc protected by Cactus Data Shield 200 (Natalie Imbruglia - White Lilies Island)

Key2Audio
CDS200
EAC
TEAC DV-W58G
No
OK
SONY DRU-530A
OK
Recognize the disc but cannot rip or play the contents
Pacific Digital 8xDVD
OK
OK

The TEAC DV-W58G was not able to read the contents of the Key2Audio protected disc. On the other hand, the CDS200 protected disc was not a problem for the drive.


8. CD Recording Tests

TEAC DV-W58G - Page 8

CD Recording Tests

- CD-R Writing Tests

The TEAC DV-W58G supports a maximum writing speed of 40x for the CD-R family. To test the writing speed and writing method of the drive we used a blank 80min CD-R disc from TY and NeroCDSpeed to emulate the writing process.

 

 

 

After the end of the test, software reports that the disc was written under CAV mode with average writing speed 31.58x.

- Recording Times

We created an 80min data compilation with Nero Burning Rom and recorded it on a 700MB disc. All three drives support a maximum writing speed of 40x, therefore the writing time for all three drives is about the same. As we can see from the above graph the fastest writing speed comes from the Pacific Digital drive which took 3:08min, while the TEAC drive finished the writing process in 3:10min.

On the above graph we have summarized the writing speeds from the three drives for all possible recording speeds. Overall, the Pacific Digital drive is the faster recorder among the three but the TEAC is very close behind, there not being much betweeen them.

We used various manufacturers media to test the writing speed and media compatibility of the TEAC drive. All discs we tested were written at 40x and most had times below 200 seconds except for Mam SG Ultra, manufactured by Mitsui, (Code:97m27s58f) that was written at 24x, although it is certified for writing at 48x.

- CD-RW Writing Tests

TEAC DV-W58G supports 4x(CLV) for low speed CD-RW, 10x(CLV) for High speed CD-RW and 24x(Partial CAV) for Ultra speed CD-RW. To test the writing speed and method for the TEAC with the -RW format we used CDSpeed writing simulation test with blank 24x US-RW media from Mitsubishi Chemicals.

 

 

The test confirmed the drives specifications for 24x rewriting. The burning procedure started at 18.59x and finished at 24.35x having an average speed of 23.46x

Below we provide a comparison of the three drives where we used Nero Burning Rom software to burn a 651MB data compilation onto 24x US-RW media from Mitsubishi Chemicals. The graph shows that all drives took almost exactly the same time to complete the test, while the TEAC drive was about 6 to 7 seconds slower with Quick Erase process.

- Packet Writing Tests

For the packet writing test we used the InCD packet writing software from Nero and a Mitsubishi Chemicals 24x US-RW media. The tested file is a 403 MB file (412.822 KB) and we used the drag and drop method with Windows Explorer to write the file from our hard disk onto RW media.
Operation
Duration
Average speed
Read
2:28 min
18.6 X
Write
2:33 min
18.0 X

The reading and the writing process under packet writing, gave back almost the same results. The average reading speed is 18.6x while the average writing speed is 18.0x.

- Other features

Overburning
Up to 94 min
CD text reading/writing
Yes


9. 3T Jitter Tests

TEAC DV-W58G - Page 9

Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests

The TEAC DV-W58G supports 40x maximum writing speed. We burned five TY discs to test the quality at all available writing speeds and five media from other manufactures to test the writing quality with various media.On the following graphs we summarize the 3T Pit & Land Jitter of the various written discs.

- 3T Pit results

The Pit Jitter results for the TEAC drive are higher than we had expected. Apart from CMC, Ritek and MAM media, the rest returned higher pit values than the 35ns Red Book limit. Notice on the above graph that the TY disc returned the highest results. Also note that the MAM disc was written at 24x although it is certified for 48x maximum writing speed. In addition both MAM and Ritek discs, gave back Time Outs (non readable areas) during the measurements.

The above graph shows the average Pit values for each recorded disc. Notice that even the average Pit for the TY disc, exceed the 35ns Red Book limit.

- 3T Land results

The Land Jitter values for the same discs written with the TEAC DV-W58G are at around the same levels in comparison with the Pit values. CMC is the only media brand that remained within limits in both land and pit jitter.

The following average graph confirms the low levels.

Recording Speed
Average 3T Pit Jitter (ns)
Average 3T Land Jitter (ns)
> 35ns
Max 3T jitter values (ns)
TY 40X
38.20
29.17
Yes
44 Pit, 39 Land
TDK 40X
33.71
36.80
Yes
40 Pit, 44 Land
MAM 24X
29.95
31.59
Yes
34 Pit, 36 Land
CMC 40X
28.98
30.44
No
33 Pit, 33 Land
Creation 40X
27.59
30.37
Yes
41 Pit, 45 Land
Ritek 40X
29.17
31.41
Yes
35 Pit, 37 Land

The above table shows that apart from CMC media, all other media returned final values over the 35ns Red Book limit, although having a closer look at the table we can also see that only TY and TDK media returned average Pit and Land values higher than the 35ns Red Book limit.


10. C1 / C2 Error Measurements

TEAC DV-W58G - Page 11

Writing Quality Tests - C1 / C2 Error Measurements

The C1 / C2 error rate was measured for the recorded discs, burned during the previous writing tests (jitter). The software used was UMDoctor Pro II and the reader is the Optorite DD0203 drive.

 

 

  • MAM SG Ultra 48x recorded at 24x

  • Maxell 48x recorded at 40x

  • Ritek 40x recorded at 40x

  • CMC 40x recorded at 40x

  • TDK 48x recorded at 40x

Below is presented information on the CD-R media used in this test.

Disc
ID Code
Taiyo Yuden 48X
TaiyoYuden 97m24s01f
Creation 48X
Plasmon Data Systems Ltd 97m27s18f
MAM SG Ultra 48x
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.97m27s58f
Maxell 48x
Ritek Co.97m15s17f
Ritek 40x
Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.97m26s45f
CMC 40x
CMC Magnetics Corporation 97m26s66f
TDK Printable 48x
TDK Corporation 97m15s 5f

Taiyo Yuden 48x recorded at 8x, Creation 48x recorded at 40x, Ritek 40x recorded at 40x, CMC 40x recorded at 40x and TDK 48x recorded at 40x presented the most acceptable performance.


11. DVD Recording Tests

TEAC DV-W58G - Page 11

DVD Recording Tests

- Writing Performance

TEAC DV-W58G supports DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW writing. The maximum supported speed is 8x for DVD+R and 4x for DVD-R. With RW format, TEAC supports 4x for DVD+RW and 2x for DVD-RW.

4x DVD-R

To test the performance of the TEAC DV-W58G with DVD-R writing process, we used NeroCDSpeed to emulate the process and a TY DVD-R, certified at 4x writing. After the end of the test, the software reports that the drive wrote the disc under CLV, with an average speed of 3.96x, while the start speed was 3.95x and the end speed 4.11x.

 

 

8x DVD+R

With plus format, the TEAC supports 8x writing speed and uses the Z-CLV writing strategy. For this test we used Nero`s CDSpeed "create disc" function. The software reports that the write process started at 6.13x and finished with an end speed of 8.10x. As we can see from the picture below the drive increased the speed after the 1.3GB address mark on the disc.

 

 

4x DVD+RW

With DVD+RW format, drive supports 4x CLV writing method. After the end of the test, manufacturers specifications were confirmed with start and end speed at around 4x.

 

 

 

2x DVD-RW

With DVD-RW format, TEAC supports 2x writing speed. After the end of the test, the software reports that the disc was written under CLV mode with average writing speed 1.99x.

 

 

 

- Burning Tests

The following graphs show the maximum writing speed for all available DVD formats . For comparison, we also include the writing times of the Sony DRU-530A and Pacific Digital 8xDVD drives.

There is no major difference between the drives except for DVD+R media where the Sony was slightly slower. Despite the closeness of the comparative times, the TEAC drive wa the fastest among the three.

The following screenshot was taken from Nero, after successful burnings. The recording project is the same DVD-Video compilation for all tests.

Media
Code
Speed
Mitshubishi Kagaku 8x DVD+R
MCC003
8x
TDK 4x DVD-R
TTG01
4x
Mam 4x DVD-R
MCI4XG01

1x

Pony 4x DVD-R
RITEKG04
4x
Verbatim 4x DVD-R
MCC01RG20
4x
N-Tech 4x DVD-R
MXLRG01

2x

TY 4x DVD+R
YUDEN000T01
8x
JVC DVD-RW 4X
JVC0VictorD7
2x
TY DVD-R 4x
TYG01
4x
CMC DVD-R 8x
CMC MAG. AE1
1x
CMC DVD+R 8x
CMC MAG F01
4x
Pioneer DVD-RW
PVCW00V00245
2x

The table above presents writing speeds of the drive, for various media formats.

- Packet Writing Tests

For this test we copied a 403 MB file (412.822 KB) from Hard Disk (on the same PC as the recorder) in to formatted RW media, through Windows explorer (drag and drop).

DVD-RW
Duration
Average speed
Read
2:23 min
2.1x
Write
5:30 min
0.9x

DVD+RW
Duration
Average speed
Read
2:24 min
2.1x
Write
2:29 min
2.1x

12. KProbe PI/PO quality tests

TEAC DV-W58G - Page 12

KProbe PI/PO quality results

The following screenshots show the PI/PO scans for various DVD-/+R and DVD-/+RW media, recorded with TEAC DV-W58G at the maximum permitted speed.

The software used for the measurements was KProbe v1.1.26, the ECC was set to 8 and the reader was LiteOn LDW-811s. The specific methodology is very dependent on the drive used as a reader, while the reliability of the PI/PO provided output is also not technically confirmed. Hence, we cannot safely come up with conclusive results, although we do make a comparison of the drive behavior when using various DVD recordable/rewritable media.

The recordable discs we use, came from Verbatim, Taiyo Yuden, CMC, MAM, Maxell , MC and Ritek. Further details about each disc type are presented at the bottom of this page.

 

 

Media
Code
JVC 8X DVD-R
TTG02
VERBATIM 4X DVD-R
MCC01RG20
CMC 4X DVD-R
CMCMAG.AF1
TDK 4X DVD-R
TTG01
MAM 4X DVD-R
MCI4XG01
RITEK 4X DVD-R
RITEKG04
MITSUBISHI KAGAKU 8X DVD+R
MCC003
TY 4X DVD+R
TY T01
CMC MAGENTICS 8x DVD+R
CMCMAG EO1
PHILIPS DVD+RW 4X
PHILIPS 041
JVC DVD-RW 4X
JVC0VictorD7

13. Conclusion

Teac DV-W58G - Page 13

Conclusion

Pros

Cons

  • 8x DVD+R writing
  • 4x DVD+RW writing
  • 40/24/40 CD-RW
  • DAE speed
  • Good CD/DVD Error correction
  • CD-R Overburning
  • Fast DVD ripping
  • Partially working backups with Safedisc v3.10 protection
  • Support of 90/99min discs
  • Cannot playback/rip Key2Audio disc
  • Increased PI/PO values with some DVD media
  • Low CD Writing quality with specific media
  • CD-RW and DVD±R/RW reading speed

In the CD reading tests, the drive returned very good results, with low seek times and accurate reading even at the maximum speed of 40x. The reading accuracy of the drive was also very good, which means that it can safely be used for playback and ripping of old and ligtly scratched media.

With DVD media, the drive had low seek times and accurate reading under the supported CAV mode. In the DVD ripping process with DVD Decrypter, Teac had the fastest speed compared to the other two drives used in the comparison. In addition, the error correction tests with defective DVD media posted near perfect results, where the drive managed to pass all the tests without read errors.

The drive also proved to be a good recorder for protected games. For our tests we used games with the latest protection schemes, like Safedisc 3.10 where the drive managed to create a valid backup, with Amplify Weak Sectors (Clone CD) enabled.

The DAE speed of the drive was high, although it does not support Key2Audio protected discs.

In the recording tests, the drive confirmed the supported 40x writing for CD-R format. The writing strategy is CAV and all media we tested was written at the maximum available speed. The only exception was MAM media, which was recorded at 24x. Despite the writing speed compatibility, written discs reported increased Pit and Land jitter values with some discs such as Taiyo Yuden, TDK and Creation. In addition, the C1/C2 error measurements revealed high C1 levels, while in two others, C2 errors were reported.

For DVD+R media the drive used the 6-8x Z-CLV writing strategy, making it faster than other DVD burners, offering a three-step Z-CLV implementation (4x-6x-8x). This means that the writing time is about 8:20 min for DVD+R. On the other hand, DVD-R was burnt in 14:30 minutes. The quality of the DVD written media was checked with KProbe which reported high PIPO values with some brands. However, with Taiyo Yuden and Mitsubishi Chemicals DVD+R media, the drive made quality recordings.

Weighing up all the pros and cons, and despite the fact that overall performance could be better, the reasonable price of the Teac DV-W58G at around $130 on the market, could be a good enough incentive for buying it.



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