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This story was printed from CdrInfo.com,
located at http://www.cdrinfo.com.
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Appeared on: Wednesday, April 21, 2004
LiteOn SOWH-812S


1. Package - Installation

Lite-On SOHW-812S - Page 1

LITE-ON IT CORP. has released the SOHW-812S half-height ATAPI / E-IDE 8x DVD Dual ReWriter. Sharing internal parts and mechanism with the previous LiteOn model (LDW-811S), the drive is capable of writing DVD+R and DVD-R media at 8x, while the rewritable speed is 4x for both DVD+RW and DVD-RW formats.

- Specifications

SMART-BURN avoiding Buffer Underrun Error, automatically adjusting writing strategy & running OPC to provide the best burning quality.

SMART-X function adjusts CD-DA / VCD / DVD data extraction to the fastest allowable speed according to both data request rate from host and disk quality.

 
Interface
ATAPI / E-IDE Half-Height internal DVD+R / DVD+RW / DVD-R / DVD-RW / DVD-ROM / CD-R / CD-RW / CD-ROM combination drive
Buffer Size
2MB
Access Time
DVD Family : 160 ms
CD Family : 160 ms
Write Speed
DVD Family
DVD+R 8x ( 10800KB/sec ) maximum by Z-CLV
DVD-R 8x ( 10800KB/sec ) maximum by Z-CLV
ReWrite
DVD+RW 4x ( 5400KB/sec ) by CLV
DVD-RW 4x ( 5400KB/sec ) by CLV
CD Family
40x ( 6000KB/sec ) maximum by P-CAV
ReWrite CD-RW
24x ( 3600KB/sec ) maximum by Z-CLV in UltraSpeed disc
Read Speed
DVD Family
12x ( 16200KB/sec ) maximum by CAV
CD Family
40x ( 6000KB/sec ) maximum by CAV
Supported Formats
DVD Family
DVD single / dual layer ( PTP / OTP ), DVD-R ( 3.9 GB / 4.7 GB ), DVD-R multi-borders, DVD+R, DVD+R multi-sessions, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW

CD Family
CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-ROM / XA, Photo-CD, Multi-session, Karaoke-CD, Video-CD, CD-I FMV, CD Extra, CD Plus, CD-R, and CD-RW

Writing mode
Support Fixed Packet, Variable Packet, TAO, SAO, DAO, Raw Mode Burning & Over-Burn
Support OS
Windows 98 / NT 4.0 / ME / 2000 / XP
Dimensions
145.0 ( W ) x 41.3 ( H ) x 170.0 ( D ) mm
Weight
< 0.9 Kg
Supprot both 8 cm and 12 cm disc of CD and DVD family

According to Nero Infotool, LiteOn 812S does not support DVD-RAM reading/writing, while all other formats are supported.

- Retail package

LiteOn's complete retail package includes two software CD-ROMs, containing the Sonic MyDVD CD/DVD authoring software, CyberLink PowerDVDXP player, installation drivers and a pdf manual.

Included are also two DVD writable media, one DVD+R certified for 8x writing and one DVD-R certified for 4x writing. A quick installation quide, audio cable and mounting screws complete the retail package contents.

- The drive

The drive's front panel has the usual features. The tray door has the RW DVD+ReWritable logo on the left, the DVD R/RW logo at centre, and Compact disc ReWritable logoat right. Between the DVD R/RW and Compact disc ReWritable logos is LiteOn's web url, www.liteonit.com. On the lower half of the drive, below the tray door, starting at left there are the headphones jack, volume control and power/activity led, and on the right the eject button. The emergency eject hole is located just above the volume control. The activity LED lights up green when busy and red when reading/writing is in progress.

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. The LiteOn SOHW-812s further incorporates (located on the underside of the controller circuit board), a high-speed DVD dual Optical Disk Controller chipset from MediaTek Inc. consisting of two CMOS ultra-scale integrated circuits, the MT1816E and MT1818E. The MT1816E is the front-end analog signal processor and the MT1818E is the servo control and Endec IC. The pickup system is the Sanyo SF DB 10SA.

Click for Higher Resolution!

- Installation

The LiteON drive was connected to our test PC and was identified as "LiteON DVDRW SOHW-812S" under WinXP. All tests were done with firmware v.US0A

The following pages include test results for the Liteon drive in comparison with the Teac DV-W58G-A.


2. Data CD Reading Tests

Lite-On SOHW-812s - Page 2

Data CD Reading Test

- Pressed CD results (Click for CDSpeed results)

To check the reading performance of the LiteOn with pressed CD media, we used NeroCDSpeed and a data pressed disc.

Both drives support 40x maximum reading speed for CD media. LiteOn, started the reading process at 18.12x and finished at 41.53x resulting in an average speed of 31.35x while CAV reading strategy was used by the drive.

LiteOn and Teac returned similar seek times. LiteOn proved to be slightly slower on seek times for all three tested modes. Although the random and 1/3 seek times are acceptable, the reported full seek times for the LiteOn at 203ms and the Teac at 202ms are slightly higher than what we consider to be an acceptable.

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

To check the reading performance of Aopen with CDR media, we used NeroCDSpeed and a clone of the previous tested pressed media.

Teac and LiteOn returned nearnequal reading times for the CD-R media reading process. LiteOn finished the task with an average reading speed of 41.49x and as with the pressed disc, the drive read the disc under CAV.

The reported seek times for the LiteOn with pressed CD and writable CD-R are similar. The LiteOn drive finished the random and 1/3 seeks with 113 ms and 144 ms respectively. The full seek at 221ms is slightly high .

- ReWritable Media (Click for CDSpeed results)

To check the reading performance of the LiteOn with US-RW media, we used NeroCDSpeed and a USRW disc from Mitsubishi Chemicals.

The LiteOn and Teac drives returned similar average reading speeds after the end of the HS-RW media reading test. All tested CD-R media up to that point, were read under CAV by the LiteOn and the rewritable media was no exception. Despite the fact that CAV reading strategy was expected according to the drive's specifications, LiteOn did not manage to reach the specifications for 40x maximum reading speed.


3. CD Error Correction Tests

Lite-On SOHW-812s - 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)

The LiteOn's 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 total 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 to reading with most drives. LiteOn had very good error correction performance with the previous test disc and it was to be expected that it would receive a very good average score in this test. When the reading process finished the software awarded the drive with a total score 100.0 points out of 100.0 (perfect).

- 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
LiteOn SOHW-812S
5/5
5/5
5/5
0/5
0/5

The LiteOn drive managed to playback only the first three tracks of the Audio check disc. Although most drives find it difficult to read the fifth track, most of them read the fourth without audiable clicks at least two or three times out of five. The performance of the LiteOn is on the borderline if it is to be considered as a good CD error correcting drive.

- 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 LiteOn 812s 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

Lite-On SOHW-812s - Page 4

DVD reading tests

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

To check the reading performance of LiteOn with single layer DVD-ROM, we used NeroCDSpeed and 820A test disc by Abex.

The LiteOn drive managed to reach and do slightly better than the manufacturers specification for 12x maximum reading speed for single layer DVD-ROM. CAV reading strategy was used and the test finished with a reported average speed of 9.29x. while similar speeds were reported for the Teac drive.

The seek times of the LiteOn and Teac drives are similar and quite acceptable for random and 1/3 modes. The 179ms reported full seek time of the LiteOn is slightly higher than Teac's and a bit over the acceptable level.

- 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.

Just like the previous tested DVD-ROM the two devices reported similar reading speeds in all three measurements as shown on the above graph. LiteOn read the disc under CAV reading strategy and NeroCDSpeed reported that the drive finished each layer with end speed 8.39x while the average reading speed was 6.28x, a value that was 0.4x slower than Teac's.

The reported seek times of the LiteOn and Teac drives for dual layer DVD-ROM reading, are similar to those of the single layer disc. Fast random and 1/3 seek times for both devices while on full seek, the LiteOn proved to be 11ms slower than the Teac.

- 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.

 

All pressed discs were read under CAV mode and the OTP disc was no exception. The drive once again outdid the manufacturer's specification for 8x, ending the test at 8.35x. The seek times, except for full seek are quite acceptable. As shown on the above screenshot, NeroCDSpeed indicates a smooth reading process and 6.26x average reading speed.

- DVD Ripping Tests

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

Both devices proved slow with DVD ripping. Although the average speed of the tested writers is not the slowest we have experienced, the 6.3x average ripping speed for the LiteOn needs some improvement.

- DVD Recordable / Rewritable reading Tests

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

The LiteOn drive read all four media types under CAV mode. The drive returned 6.07x and 6.09x average reading speed for DVD+R and DVD-R respectively . With the rewritable reading tests, the reported average speed for both media was slightly faster in comparison to the writable. Similar results were reported for the Teac, as shown by the above graphs.


5. DVD Error Correction Tests

Lite-On SOHW-812s - 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 821 test disc was read without problems by the LiteOn 812s. The drive read the disc under CAV strategy and finished the test with an end speed of 12x. The yellow dots at around 500mb mark on the disc's surface, indicate that the drive changed speed in its attempts to bypass the defective areas, but despite this, the disc was read without any anomalies.

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.

On this test the reading performance of LiteOn was not as smooth as the previous test. The drive used CAV reading strategy and finished once again the error correction test with an end speed of 13x but with a slower average speed. During the reading process, the speed decreased from 9x to 5x just before the laser beam reached the fingerprints area. The LiteOn kept the reading speed at 5x for about 100mb but then was increased again to 10x. The test finished without reading errors.

- 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 LiteOn read the 841 dual layer test disc fast and without changes to the reading speed. CDVD Bencmark reported reading errors in the first layer of the disc at a point just after the defective area. On the second layer there were more speed changes as the drive tried to bypass the defective regions, but the overall process was not effected by this.

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. Here we can see a number of speed fluctuations where the defectiver regions are, but also a lot of activity around the layer switch.

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.

NeroCDSpeed reported that the LiteOn read the disc under CAV and as shown by the screenshot below, the reading speed of the drive was decreased momentarily at the beginning of the second layer but not during the switch layer operation. The test ended successfully without read errors.

 

 

 

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 micrometres high fingerprints.

 

The reading and error correction capabilities of the LiteOn with the Abex TDV-545 was perfect. NeroCDSpeed screenshot shows smooth reading under CAV strategy.

 

 

 


6. Protected Disc Tests

Lite-On SOHW-812s - Page 6

Protected Disc Tests
- Reading Tests

To create an image of the various protected titles onto a hard disk, we used Clone CD and the appropriate settings, depending on the protection type of the inserted discs. Below are summarized the capabilities of the LiteOn 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

The LiteOn proved to be faster than the Teac drive for ripping protected games. The drive reported a faster average ripping speed with all games. CloneCd reported that the DVD writer finished the Safedisc ripping process with an average speed of 6.03x while for the PSX game the overall time of the process was only 3:30min and that value is about half of Teac's.

- Writing Tests

The LiteOn 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 CloneCd. Two different discs were created for each title; one with the "Amplify Weak Sectors " 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

Amplify Weak Sectors On

Amplify Weak Sectors Off
LiteOn 812s
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*
Yes*
Fifa 2004
v3.10
No
No

The LiteOn SOHW-821S managed to make 100% working backups only with the SD v2.6. With v2.8-2.9,the backups were partially working but in specific drives although not in the LiteOn drive itself. This is strange since LiteOn has a good reputation with game protection schemes. Maybe with a firmware upgrade this will solve the problem.


7. DAE Tests

Lite-On SOHW-812s - Page 7

DAE Tests

- Pressed and CDR AudioCD results

To test the reading performance of LiteOn with audio discs, we used a pressed audio disc and we emulate the reading process with NeroCDSpeed.

Nero CDSpeed confirms LiteOn's specifications for 40x maximum reading speed on DAE discs. The process finished with an end speed of 40.85, average speed of 30.95x while the reported reading strategy was CAV. The seek times are good for all three modes.

 

 

 

On the graphs below we summarize the average ripping speed of both drives with pressed and CD-R media. For this test we used a pressed disc and a clone of it on a CD-R disc.

As shown on the above graphs, the LiteOn returned similar average ripping speeds on both CD-ROM and CD-R media. The reported average speeds for the LiteOn were faster for both media in comparison to Teac's ripping speeds.

- Advanced DAE Quality

NeroCDSpeed Advanced DAE quality test reported that the LiteOn can be safely used for on the fly copying of audio discs. The average speed during the reading test was 27.98x, a value that is quite acceptable but slightly slower than Teac's. The LiteOn received a quality score of 100(perfect) and as shown on the above screenshot can read Leadin/Leadout information, Cd Text and Subchannel data.

- Support of 90/99mins AudioCDs

LiteOn successfully ripped the contents of both 90 and 99mins Audio CD.

- 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
LiteOn SOHW-812S
OK
OK
TEAC DV-W58G-A
OK
OK

Both the LiteOn and Teac drives managed to playback and rip the contents of both audio protected discs.


8. CD Recording Tests

Lite-On SOHW-812s - Page 8

CD Recording Tests

- CD-R Writing Tests

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.

The writing strategy of the LiteOn 812s for CD-R media is CAV and therefore we expect the device to be fast with writing tasks. The disc was written at an average speed of 31.46x while the end speed of 41.94x confirms the manufacturers specifications for 40x writing. The screenshot below shows smooth writing performance.

 

 

- Recording Times

We created an 80min data compilation with Nero Burning Rom and recorded it on a 700MB disc.

The LiteOn and Teac drives support 40x maximum writing speed under CAV and therefore they needed almost the same time to complete the writing task at the maximum available speed.

Both devices support the same writing speeds and use the same writing strategy. Therefor the writing times for both devices, as expected, were about equal. The Teac drive proved to be slightly faster at writing speeds over 24x. At the maximum avaliable speed of 40x, the graph above shows that the Teac drive was 7sec faster than the LiteOn.

We used various manufacturers media to test the writing speed and media compatibility of the LiteOn and we summarize the results in the above graph. As expected, the LiteOn finished all writing tasks at equal time.

- CD-RW Writing Tests

To test the writing speed and writing method of the drive we used blank 74min CD-RW discs from various manufacturers and NeroCDSpeed to emulate the writing process.

The LiteOn is certifed for 24x maximum rewriting speed for the CD family. Although we used many media certified for 24x writing, the writing process shows that the media was written under CLV at end speed 16.32x

 

 

 

Below we provide a comparison of the two drives where we used Nero Burning Rom software to burn a 651MB data compilation onto 24x US-RW media .

Both tested devices finished the writing process at about the same time, with LiteOn being about 10sec faster. The two writers are ceritfied for 24x maximum writing speed under Z-CLV but their writing times idicate that the process was done at 16x writing speed.

- 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
2:32 min
18.1X
Write
2:50 min
16.2 X

The reading and the writing process under packet writing, gave back almost the same results. The average reading speed is 18.1x while the average writing speed is 18.0x.

- Other features

Overburning
Up to 99 min
CD text reading/writing
Yes


9. Writing quality - 3T Jitter Tests

Lite-On SOHW-812s- Page 9

Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests

The LiteOn 812s supports 40x maximum writing speed. To test the writing quality of the writer, we burned different media at the maximum available speed .On the following graphs we summarize the 3T Pit & Land Jitter of the various written discs.

- 3T Pit results

The above graph shows the writing quality of the LiteOn drive. The acceptable level for Pit JItter according to Red Book is 35ns. The graph shows that all media exceeded that level and we have to mention that three of the six tested media (Intenso, Hi-Space, BenQ) reported TimeOut errors meaning that we could not take mesurements on specific areas of the discs. In order to graphically depict these errors, we have given value of 52ns. The graph also shows that the quality problems of the LiteOn occur at around the 50min mark on the disc's surface where the writing speed is about 36x.

the very bad writing quality

The above graph shows the average Pit values for each recorded disc. Notice that almost all discs exceed the 35ns Red Book limit. The highest average Pit Jitter comes from Hi-Space at 44.56x. Although Benq as shown on the above graph has the lowest average Pit Jitter, the disc reported a TimeOut error at the 60min mark.

- 3T Land results

The Land Jitter values for the same discs written with the LiteOn 812s are at around the same levels in comparison with the Pit values. The graph shows that alll discs reported values over the 35ns Red Book limitat while once again there were time out errors from Intenso, Hi-Space and BenQ discs.

The above graph shows the average Land Jitter value of all written media with the LiteOn 812s. The best quality written media according to the average Land Jitter values was Philips but its average value exceed the Red Book limit.The fact that all media gave back average values over the 35ns limit idicates that the LiteOn needs some improvement with writing quality of CD-R media.

 

Recording Speed
Average 3T Pit Jitter (ns)
Average 3T Land Jitter (ns)
> 35ns
Max 3T jitter values (ns)
TY 48X
39.95
40.98
Yes
44 Pit, 45 Land
MAM 48X
35.78
40.46
Yes
39 Pit, 44 Land
Hi-Space 48X
44.56
48.10
Yes
41 Pit, 50 Land (Time Out errors)
Philips 48X
36.02
37.02
Yes
38 Pit, 38 Land
BenQ 48X
34.56
39.32
Yes
33 Pit, 41 Land (Time Out errors)
Intenso 52X
39.66
43.61
Yes
35 Pit, 43 Land (Time Out errors)

The above table shows the average Land Jitter, Pit Jitter and the maximum value for all written media. All discs gave back values over the 35ns Red Book limit while three of the six written media reported Time Out errors, meaning that we were not able to take Pit and Land mesurements on specific areas. It is important to mention however, that all written media were fully readable by LiteOn and all other devices we used for the reading process.


10. C1 / C2 Error Measurements

Lite-On SOHW-812s - 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.

  • HiSpace 48x recorded at 40x

  • Intenso 52x recorded at 40x

  • Mam 52x recorded at 40x

  • Philips 52x recorded at 40x

Disc
ID Code
Taiyo Yuden 48X
TaiyoYuden 97m24s01f
Benq 48X
Ricoh 97m22s67f
HiSpace 48x
Moulage Plastique de L'Ouest 97m25s07f
Intenso 52X
Moser Beer India. LTD. 97m17s06f
MAM 52X
Mitsui Chemicals 97m27s58f
Philips 52X
Ritek Co, 97m15s17f

The screenshots from Umdoctor show some minor spikes with all written media but at specifice areas. Although no C2 errors were reported, one of the worst written media was TY at 24x that returned C1 errors out of screenshot. Umdoctor confirmed the bad CD-R written quality of Hi-Space and Philips.


11. DVD Recording Tests

Lite-On SOHW-812s - Page 11

DVD Recording Tests

- Writing Performance

Liteon 812s support DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW writing. The drive uses same writing speed and strategy for the writable format at 8x under P-CAV. For rewritable discs the maximum writting speed of 4x is supported while the writing strategy is CLV for both formats.

8x DVD+R

The test ended with an end speed of 8.30x. The result is above the maximum writing speed of the manufacturer's specification. The process started at 3.95x and the maximum writing speed of 8x was reached after 1.5Gb. NeroCDSpeed reported that the average writing speed of the LiteOn for the +R media was 7.16x

 

 

 

8x DVD-R

The writing simulation of the -R media was similar to the previous tested +R disc, with P-CAV writing strategy. Although the start speed for both processes was exactly the same, on the -R media, the LiteOn reached the maximum writing speed of 8x at about 1.7Gb as opposed to 1.5Gb with the +R disc. Therefore the reported average speed was slighlty slower in comparison to +R. Moreover, the end speed of the writing process was 8.08x and that speed once again is above the manufacturer's specifications and quite acceptable.

 

4x DVD+RW

The LiteOn drive started the writing process at 3.95x and finished with an end speed of 4.33x, again slighlty above the manufacturer's specification. The simulation ended with an average speed of 4.02x under CLV writing strategy.

 

 

 

4x DVD-RW

Just as with all previous tested DVD+/-R and DVD+RW media, the writing process with -RW disc finished with an end speed slighlty over the manufacturer's specification. As with +RW disc, the writing strategy was CLV and the reported average speed was 3.97x

 

 

 

- Burning Tests

The following graphs show the maximum writing speed of devices with all supported DVD writable and rewritable media.

As shown on the first graph, the LiteOn was about 30sec faster in comparison to the Teac with writing of +R media while it proved to be sligthly slower with the +RW format. For the minus format, the two drives reported about equal writing times with the LiteOn being faster on writable media and Teac faster on rewritable media.

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
Philips 8x DVD+R
Philips C08
8x
CMC 8x DVD+R
CMC MAG. A01
8x
Verbatim 4x DVD+R
MCC 002

4x

CMC 8x DVD-R
CMC MAG. AE1
8x
Thats 8x DVD-R
TYG02
8x
Verbatim 8x DVD-R
MCC 02RG20
8x
Maxell 4x DVD-R
TYG01
4x
Ritek 4x DVD-R
RITEKG04
4x
N-Tech 4x DVD-R
MXLRG01

2x

MKM DVD+RW 4X
MKM A02
4x
Mitshubishi Kagaku 4X DVD-RW
MCC 01RW4X
4x

The table above presents writing speeds of the drive, for various media formats. LiteOn performed normally by writting all media at their certified writting speed.

- 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
1:45 min
3.15x
Write
1.15 min
4.40x

DVD+RW
Duration
Average speed
Read
1.52 min
2.95x
Write
1.28 min
3.75x

12. KProbe PI/PO quality tests

Lite-On SOHW-812s - 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 LiteOn SOHW-812S at the maximum permitted speed.

The software used for the measurements was KProbe v1.1.28, 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 used, 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
Phlips 8x DVD+R
Phlips C08
Mitshubishi Kagaku 8x DVD+R
MCC003
CMC 8x DVD+R
CMC MAG. A01
Verbatim 4x DVD+R
MCC 002
CMC 8x DVD-R
CMC MAG. AE1
Maxell 4x DVD-R
TYG01
That's 8x DVD-R
TYG02
Verbatim 8x DVD-R
MCC02RG20
MKM 4x DVD+RW
MKM A02
Mitshubishi Kagaku 4x DVD-RW
MCC 01RW4X

Kprobe reported that the PIPO mesurements with LiteOn written DVD media are high. After the end of he tKprobe mesurements we used NeroCDSpeed to read the discs that reported high PI/PO errors. The only disc that was not readable was the CMC DVD-R disc.


13. Conclusion

Lite-On SOHW-812s - Page 13

Conclusion

Pros

Cons

  • 8x DVD+R/-R writing
  • 4x DVD+RW/-RW writing
  • 40/24/40 CD-RW
  • DAE speed
  • Good CD/DVD Error correction
  • Fast DVD Video read
  • CD-R Overburning up to 99min
  • Support of 90/99min discs
  • Fast writing DVD
  • Can playback and rip audio protected media
  • Low CD/DVD Writing quality with specific media
  • Increased 3T jitter
  • Cannot backup latest SafeDisc builds

The LiteOn drive supports maximum DVD writing speeds of 8x for both writable formats, while for rewritable media the maximum supported speed is 4x. On the CD family the maximum allowed speed is 40x for CD-R and 24x for CD-RW.

The drive came to our labs in the European retail package and it was complete enough.

With the CD family, the drive managed to reach the manufacturer's specifications for 40x maximum readig speed while the reported CAV reading strategy was smooth with all media. The error correction tests showed that the writer can easily read scratched and defective media where our test software awarded the drive with a high avarge quality score. With the writing tasks, the LiteOn 812s burned all tested media at the maximum avaliable speed of 40x, again under CAV. Although the quality mesurements of the written media reported increased Pit/Land Jitter, all discs were fully readable.

On the DAE tests, the LiteOn proved to be fast on the ripping process and managed to rip and playback the protected audio discs fast and without problem.

With the DVD family, all reading tests were made under CAV strategy and the drive managed to do slightly better than the manufacturer's specifications. The DVD error correction abilities of the drive were satisfactory since it managed to finish all tests without read erros. The drive managed to write all certified 8x writable media at about 9min while double time was needed for the rewritable formats. The write quality tests of the written media although, reported increased PI/PO mesurements while one of the tested media was not readable.

One of the weakest points of the LiteOn was the inability of the drive to make valid backups of protected games. Although the ripping process of all tested titles finished fast, the device didn't manage to make working backups above Safedisc v2.6.



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