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This story was printed from CdrInfo.com,
located at http://www.cdrinfo.com.
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Appeared on: Tuesday, July 27, 2004
LiteOn SOHW-1213S


1. Introduction/Features

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 1

LiteOn enters the 12X writing speed with a new DUAL DVD burner with the model name "SOHW-1213S". The drive uses the third generation MediaTek chipset combined with Sanyo's OPU and promises to offer fast recording/reading speeds. Through our tests we aim to investigate how the drive performs compared with another 12X recorder from Plextor...

- Features

The drive features 12X DVD+R, 8X DVD-R, 4X DVD±RW, 48X CD-R and 24X CD-RW maximum burning speeds. Reading speeds are at 12X for DVD±R/RW/ROM and 48X for CD-R/RW. Also offers the below features:

The model name SOHW-1213S, is coded according to the SONY Alliance Models ODD Naming Rule:

- Specifications

Interface:
ATAPI/E-IDE supported PIO mode 4, DMA mode 2 and Ultra DMA mode 2
Writing Speed:

DVD+R: 12X Z-CLV/ -R: 8X Z-CLV, DVD+RW: 4X CLV, DVD-RW: 4X CLV

CD-R: 48X CAV, CD-RW: 24X Z-CLV
Read Speed:

DVD+R/-R/+RW/-RW: 12X CAV

DVD-ROM: 12X CAV, CD-R/RW: 48X CAV
Access Time:

DVD: 160msec
CD: 160 msec

Buffer Size:
2MB
Supported Disc Formats:
DVD: 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: 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
Installation Angle:

Horizontal/Vertical

Physical Dimensions: 145x41.3x170mm (WxHxD)
Weight: 0.9Kg

The drive also uses the RPC II region control, allowing a user to change the drive's region at most 5 times, which however can easily be bypassed with various utilities.

Below are the drive's main specs as given by NeroInfoTool and DVDInfoPro:

KProbe software offers additional information for the LiteON drive:

- Retail package

The retail package includes the LiteOn SOHW-1213S drive, a quick installation guide, mounting screws, one sound cable and one DVD-R media from Taiyo Yuden. Also included are Nero v6 OEM version and CyberLink PowerDVD v5.0 retail version.

On the front panel, there are as usual on the tray the CD-RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+RW and compact disc rewritable logos. The phone jack, the sound level control and the activity led are located on the left side, below the disc tray. On the right side there is the eject button.

On the rear panel you can see the analogue and digital outputs (SPDIF), the IDE connector and the power input.

The drive is a half-height internal device, much shorter than the usual CD/DVD recorder, making mounting an easy task for PCs with the smaller cases. Below you can see a picture of the drive with noticably smaller dimensions compared to the Plextor Premium drive.

Removing the screws and opening the drive's cover voids the drive's warranty. For reference reasons, we post the following pictures. You can click on the mainboard picture for a higher resolution image:

The LiteOn SOHW-1213S 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 MT1828E. The MT1816E is the front-end analog signal processor and the MT1828E is the servo control and Endec IC. The pickup system is the Sanyo SF-DB 10SA.

- Installation

The drive was installed as secondary master and WindowsXP recognized it as "LITE-ON DVDRW SOHW-1213S". The drive arrived with firmware vTS08. Below is a picture from Nero Burning Rom, showing the drive's specs.

We will compare the drive with the Plextor PX-712A, since both drives have about the same DVD/CD recording specs.

- Testing software

In order to perform our tests we used:

  1. Nero CD-DVD Speed v3.00
  2. CDVD Benchmark v1.21
  3. ExactAudioCopy v0.9 beta5
  4. Nero Info Tool v2.21
  5. KProbe v2.2.2 (Reader: LiteOn LDW-811S firmware vHS0Q, Reading speed 8X CAV)
  6. PlexTools v2.14 (Reader: Plextor PX-712A firmware v1.01, Reading speed 8X CLV for CD-R)
  7. DVDInfoPro v2.54
  8. LiteOn Booktype Utility v1.0.6
  9. Nero Burning Rom v6.3.1.15

2. Transfer Rate Reading Tests

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 2

Transfer Rate Reading Tests

- CD Format

The LiteOn SOHW-1213S supports up to 48X reading speed. Below are the transfer rate graphs:

the LiteOn is slightly faster compared with the Plextor drive but the Plextor is faster with rewritable media offering 40X reading speed.

- DVD Format

The SOHW-1213S was slower than the Plextor drive when using PTP single layer DVD-ROM media.

The two layers of a PTP DVD-ROM disc are read sequentially with the drive starting reading from the inner part of the disc, which is the beginning of each layer, towards the outer range, for each layer. The SOHW-1213S times were about 33% slower than the Plextor's times.

Click for full graph

The first layer of an OTP dual layer DVD-ROM is read exactly the same way as the first layer of the PTP disc we tested previously. The difference here is the reading strategy of the second layer of the disc. The beginning of the second layer is located in the outer part of the disc, so the drive starts reading from the outer tracks toward the inner part of the disc. The average reading speed is 6.01X.

With DVD+R media the SOHW-1213S is slightly faster compared with the Plextor while with DVD-R/RW and DVD+RW media Plextor is faster about 3X transfer rate speed.

The LiteOn reached 7769 kb/s, a good ripping transfer rate.

- Appendix

Nero CD-DVD Speed Graphs


3. CD Error Correction Tests

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 3

CD Error Correction Tests

In the following tests we check the drive's behavior when it comes to reading scratched / defective discs. The test discs we use are the ABEX series from ALMEDIO.

- ABEX TCD-721R

Errors total
Num: 6485532
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
Num: 83263
Avg: -50.1 dB(A)
Max: -10.7 dB(A)
Error Muting Samples
Num: 30973
Avg: 1.1 Samples
Max: 12 Samples
Skips Samples
Num: 1827
Avg: 8.8 Samples
Max: 588 Samples
Total Test Result
55.0 points (out of 100.0 maximum)
C2 Accuracy
56.0 % (out of 100.0% maximum)

The SOHW-1213S performed poorly with the ABEX TCD-721R. The total error count of over 6 million is one of the highest we have seen.The maximum loudness error of -10.7 dB(A), and muting errors are all very high and there were a lot of skipped samples, so the total score of 55 points is not surprising. We must also note that the C2 accuracy reached 56%, a really poor performance.

- ABEX TCD-726

Errors total
Num: 1635402
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
Num: 7996
Avg: -28.0 dB(A)
Max: -4.9 dB(A)
Error Muting Samples
Num: 296
Avg: 3572.2 Samples
Max: 3584 Samples
Skips Samples
Num: 2
Avg: 318.0 Samples
Max: 318 Samples
Total Test Result
60.9 points (out of 100.0 maximum)
C2 Accuracy
50 % (out of 100.0% maximum)

The analyzing software awarded the drive with 60.9 points total and 50 % for C2 accurancy. The LiteOn offers poor error correction, even with this easier test disc, the ABEX TCD-726.

- 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 abilities to read music and reproduce it completely. Five tracks on the disc contain a sequence of progressively difficult tests. These tracks are referred as Check Level-1 through Check Level-5.

The files 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 tested device.

Error Level
1
2
3
4
5
LiteOn SOHW-1213S
5/5
5/5
5/5
0/5
0/5

The drive passed the first three Check Levels of the test. The performance is average for this audio teest disc. The fourth and fifth levels are generally only read by the better drives. The fifth level includes an error size of 1.500mm and here the drive produced many audible clicks.

- Conclusion

The LiteON SOHW-1213S offers rather poor CD error correction with a final average score of 57.95 out of 100. The drive's capabilities so far seem lower than previous 2nd generation mediatek chipsets drives...


4. DVD Error Correction Tests

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 4

DVD Error Correction Tests

In the following tests we examined the DVD reading capabilities of the 1213S drive with scratched / defective DVD media. For the tests we used CDVD Benchmark and Nero CDSpeed. The reference test media came 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 LiteOn SOHW-1213S read the disc at 12X CAV and the scratched area did not affect the process. The disc was read accurately and no read errors were reported.

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 the difference that there are no scratches on it but defective areas of dimensions ranging from 0.5 to 1.1 mm.

There are also fingerprints sized between 65 and 75 micrometers.

As before, the disc was read without any "read errors" and the test was finished successfully.

- 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, in both layers.

The drive read both layers without any major problems, as the above graph shows.

ABEX TDR-845

The disc is a single sided, dual layer DVD-ROM disc of a capacity of 8.5GB. The only difference between the TDR-845 and the TDR-841 is that the first includes defective areas and fingerprints.

The dimensions of the defective areas range from 0.5 to 1.1 mm and the fingerprints are sized from 65 to 75 micro meters.

The drive passed the fingerprint defective area without any reading speed drops and finished the test without problems.

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 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 checks also the error correcting capabilities of the drive and includes scratches from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.

Click for full graph

The reading process started at 3.38X and reached 8.08X at the 4.0GB point, where the drive changed layer and then gradually decreased its reading speed till the end. There are some small glitches at the start of the second layer which isn't a serious reading problem. The drive finished the reading process without a problem.

ABEX TDV-545

The TDV-545 disc is based on the TDV-540 series. It is a single sided, dual layer DVD-VIDEO disc with a capacity of 8.5GB.

The TDV-545 includes artificial black dots on the data surface, sized from 0.4 to 1.0 mm. It also has 65 - 75 micro meters fingerprints.

Click for full graph

Black dots and fingerprints on the disc's surface did not create any reading problems, and the drive finished the task successfully.


5. Protected Disc Tests

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 5

Protected Disc Tests
- Reading Tests

To create the image of the various protected titles to the hard disk, we used Alcohol 120% software and the appropriate settings, according to the protection type of the inserted discs. Below you can see the duration of each process as well as the transfer rate in each case.

Game Title
Protection Scheme
Duration
Reading speed
PSX "NBA Jam Extreme"
Lybcrypt
3:08 min
480 sectors/sec
Serious Sam The Second Encounter
SafeDisc v.2.50.051
11:38 min
480 sectors/sec
VRally II
SecuROM v.2
3:39 min
1014 sectors/sec

The LiteOn 1213S drive performed much worse than the Plextor drive, offering low ripping speeds with all of the game titles we used.

- Writing Tests

The LiteON SOHW-1213S supports the DAO-RAW writing mode. For checking the drive's EFM correction status, we used 3 different game titles with different SafeDisc 2 versions having the latest software patches installed. After making the images of the various titles onto the hard disk, we burned them (maximum speed) with Alcohol 120% v1.9.2.1705. 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 worked (game installed / played normally), or not.
Drive

Fifa 2004
SD v3.1

Sims Superstar SD v2.9
Sims Unleashed SD v2.8
Serious Sam-Second Encounter
SD v2.51.051
Max Payne
SD v2.51.020
EFM OFF
EFM ON
EFM OFF
EFM ON
EFM OFF
EFM ON
EFM OFF
EFM ON
EFM OFF
EFM ON
Toshiba
SD-M1502
No
Yes
Yes
Creative CD5233E

LiteOn
SOHW-1213S

No

The drive's Safedisc2 backup capabilities reached only up to v2.51.020. The drive will produce partially working backups with the v2.8x & v2.5x and dosen't support v2.9 & v3.1x builds at all.


6. DAE Tests

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 6

DAE Tests

- Pressed and CDR AudioCD

The LiteOn SOHW-1213S supports up to 40X CAV DAE speed. When using a pressed AudioCD and its CD-R copy with EAC, we logged the following results:

Plextor is faster than the LiteOn 1213S with the test discs. As EAC reports, the drive caches DAE, supports accurate stream and can report C2 error information.

- Advanced DAE Quality

The LiteOn SOHW-1213S received a score of 100 (perfect) in the Nero CD Speed Advanced DAE test. CDSpeed showed that the average reading speed is 27.87X, and the drive supports reading of SubChannel data, Leadin / Leadout data and CD Text.

- Reading 90/ 99mins AudioCDs

Click for full graph

Click for full graph


7. Protected AudioCDs

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 7

Protected AudioCDs

For the test procedure we used three audio discs with different audio copy protections. The ripping process carrried out on all protected Audio discs was performed with Exact Audio Copy v0.9beta5.

The tested protected Audio discs were:

The Cactus Data Shield 200 protection scheme contains artificial errors that are not easily bypassed by the reader, while the Key2Audio contains a second session, causing problems for readers when trying to read the Table Of Contents (TOC).

The tested tasks are:

The LiteON SOHW-1213S recognized up to the 13th Audio track of the CDS200 disc,

and with the "Retrieve Native TOC" option removed the 14th Data track.

The test results are shown in the following table:

Key2Audio
CDS200
LiteOn SOHW-1213S
Ripping process completed, EAC reports timing problems, Read&Test CRC comparison successful for all tracks
Ripping process completed, EAC reports timing problems, Read&Test CRC comparison not the same for all tracks

The LiteOn SOHW-1213S will rip both Key2Audio/CDS200 protected audio discs. Both discs were recognized and their contents were ripped at the maximum speed. However, the drive may not rip 100% accurately CD200 discs since EAC reported timing problems and at the same time, Read&Test CRC check comparison was not the same for all tracks. Timing problems were noticed with Key2Audio discs also.

This is a "special" CDS200 build which doesn't contain any artificial errors during the ripping process. Most problems occur when trying to write the ripped wav files, since the produced CD-R disc contains C2 and CU errors! This "problem" is rumored to be connected to the specific chipset weaknesses..

We ripped the disc contents with EAC and burned the produced wav with the latest Nero version as AudioCD+CD-Text. The burned media was checked for C1/C2 errors with PlexTools/KProbe software using Plextor PX-712A (firmware v1.01) and LiteOn LDW-811S (firmware vHS0Q).

CDS 200.0.4 - 3.0 build 16a
LiteOn SOHW-1213S
Reading completed without any errors but writing resulted in some C2 errors.

The C1/C2 error graphs indicate that the drive dosen't manage to produce a 100% error free disc. There are small C2 errors around 42minutes.

Lets try to extract all wav files with the Plextor PX-712A and PlexTool DAE Error Correction 5th Level enabled:

No errors were reported after extracting all files. Good performance from the drive.


8. CD Recording Tests

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 8

CD Recording Tests

The LiteOn SOHW-1213S supports 48X CD-R and 24X US-RW recording speeds.

The drive supports 8X, 16X (CLV), 24X, 32X, 40X (P-CAV) and 48X (CAV) writing speeds. Below are the recording speeds as detected by Nero Burning Rom.

It's quite possible that due to the Smart-Burn system, the maximum burning speed is reduced down to 32X or even 24X (for example Mam 48X SG Ultra). The user can disable Smart-Burn and get the maximum writing speed. This can be done under Nero Burning Rom->Choose Recorder->Options->Un-tick Smart-Burn Enabled.

Another utility that can be used to check the maximum speed of the inserted media comes from LiteON - "SMART-BURN Media Check Program", a very useful utility for LiteON users:

According to Nero CDSpeed, the drive reached the maximum 48X speed. The test started at 21.77X and finished at 48.87X having an average speed of 37.03X. Click on the image below to see the whole graph.

Click for full graph

For the burning tests we created an 80min data compilation through Nero Burning Rom, recording the data on a 700MB disc. The LiteON SOHW-1213S finished the task in 2:43 minutes, for the maximum 48X writing speed.

The writing performance varies according to the inserted media. The SmartBurn system will lower the writing speed if the media ID code is not found in the drive's firmware. Below is a chart demonstrating all recording times with various media.

The best performance came with CMC 80min 52X media at 163secs (2:43 mins) with SmartBurn disabled. The highest recording time was with Taiyo Yuden 80min 48X media at 188 secs (3:08 mins).

- Other features

Overburning writing
CD text reading/writing
Yes

The SOHW-1213S supports the 16X CLV & 24X Z-CLV rewriting speeds with Ultra Speed Rewritable Media (US-RW).

Below you can see the Nero CD-DVD Speed writing simulation test with blank 24X US-RW media from Mitsubishi Chemicals.

Click for full graph

The drive starts the writing task at 15.98X and reaches the maximum 24X at the 14:00 min address mark on the disc. According to CDSpeed, the average writing speed is 22.48X.

We also used Nero Burning Rom in order to burn a data disc with 24X US-RW media from MCC. The data compilation we burned had a size of 651 MB and the duration of the recording process was 3:56 minutes.

- CD-RW Mount Rainier Tests

The Mount Rainier format isn't supported by the SOHW-1213S drive.


9. 3T Jitter Tests

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 9

3T Jitter Tests

In this page you can see the 3T Pit & Land Jitter graphs using various media burned at 48X CAV writing speed.

- 3T Pit results

The drive performed satisfactorily with three of the five media used although all media at some point overshot the 35nsec Redbook limit. The highest average 3T Pit jitter reached was 37,33nsec. The best results came with BenQ 52X CD-R media.

- 3T Land results

The average 3T Land results were also satisfactory. The maximum average 3T Land Jitter reached wass 36,56nsec while Verbatim 52X CD-R media produced the best results. Again, no media managed to stay below the 35nsec limit.

On the following page we check the C1 and C2 error rates for the same discs, to come up with more specific conclusions.


10. C1 / C2 Error Measurements

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 10

C1 / C2 Error Measurements

We measured the C1 / C2 error rate on the recorded discs we burned at the various supported writing speeds. The software we used is PleXTools Professional v2.14, and particularly the built-in Q-Check utility. The reader was the Plextor PX-712A (firmware v1.01)

BenQ 80min 52X CD-R @ 48X

CMC Magnetics 80min 48X @ 48X

Verbatim 80min 52X @ 48X

TraxData 80min 52X @ 48X

TaiyoYuden 80min 48X @ 48X

- Summary

The LiteOn SOHW-1213S offers good writing quality with certain CD-R media. Only with Taiyo Yuden & CMC media did we notice C2 errors.

- Appendix

Media Label
ID Code
Manufacturer Name
Lead Out TIme
Verbatim 80min 52X
97m34s23f
Verbatim
79m59s73f
CMC Magnetics 80min 48X
97m26s66f
CMC Magnetics
79m59s71f
BenQ 80min 48X
97m22s67f
Daxon Technology
79m59s74f
TY 80min 48X
97m24s 1f
Taiyo Yuden
79m59s72f
TraxData 80min 52X
97m15s17f
Ritek
79m59s70f

11. DVD Recording Tests

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 11

DVD Recording Tests
- Writing Performance

The LiteOn SOHW-1213S supports the DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW writing formats. The maximum supported speed for DVD+R is 12X ( Z-CLV, for DVD-R 8X ( Z-CLV) & 4X CLV for DVD±RW media. Nero Burning Rom reported speeds are shown below.

Nero CD-DVD Speed's "create disc" function with Taiyo Yuden 8X DVD+R media, shows us the 12X Z-CLV recording technology being used by the LiteOn SOHW-1213S recorder.

Click for full graph

The drive starts writing at 5.97X until 0.6GB where it shifts up to 8X until 2.4GB where it further shifts to 12X and stays there till the end. The average writing speed is 9.56X. The Zone-CLV recording strategy is used for both DVD±R formats but for DVD-R the maximum writing speed stops at 8X, as shown below.

Click for full graph

The writing procedure for DVD-R media starts at 4.02X until 0.4GB where it shifts up to 6X until 1.6GB where it shifts to 8X and stays there till the end, yielding a final average writing speed of 7.09X.

- Burning Tests

We burned 4315MB of data on various DVD±R, DVD±RW media. We used the maximum allowed writing speed for each disc, with the SmartBurn feature enabled. For the 12X DVD+R burning speed, the supported media list is poor as only three of our media was compatible with that speed. The best recording times for the DVD+R format came from Taiyo Yuden 8X media with 7:14 mins burning time.

With DVD-R media, we also have poor supported media list for the 8X writing speed. The lowest burning time and incompatibility came with 3A 8X DVD+R media at 14:34 mins and 4X writing speed.

Below are all the burning results with the various media types used.

Disc Label
Disc Information
Max Allowed Writing Speed
Total Recording Time (mins)
MKM/Verbatim 8X
MCC 02RG20
8X
9:29
CMC 8X
CMC MAG. AE1
8X
9:21
TraxData 8X
RITEKG05
8X
9:18
Maxell 8X
MXL RG03
6X
10:42
MKM/Verbatim 4X
MCC 01RG20
4X
14:29
MMore 4X
MBI 01RG20
4X
14:32
Taiyo Yuden 8X
TYG01
8X
9:48
BenQ 4X
SONY04D1
4X
14:30
Mam 4X
MAM4XG02
4X
14:31
3A 8X
POMS3A
4X
14:34
TraxData 4X
RITEKG04
4X
14:31
Verbatim 4X RW
MCC 01RW4X
4X
14:18
TraxData 4X RW
RITEK W04
2X
29:04
Disc Label
Disc Information
Max Allowed Writing Speed
Total Recording Time (mins)
MKM/Verbatim 8X
MCC 003
12X
7:28
3A 8X
Plasmon1 C01
8X
8:27
CMC 8X
CMC MAG E01
8X
8:10
Taiyo Yuden 8X
YUDEN000 T02
12X
7:14
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4X
MCC 002
4X
14:10
Traxdata 4X
RICOHJPN R01
4X
14:10
Traxdata 8X
RITEK R03
8X
8:01
Ricoh 8X
RICOHJPN R02
12X
7:24
MCC 4X RW
MKM A02
4X
13:43
TraxData 4X RW
RICOHJPNW11
4X
13:40

- DVD Overburning Tests

In order to test the drive's DVD overburning capabilities, we used two media types, one from CMC 8X DVD-R and one from 3A 8X DVD+R. As you can see, the drive refused to start the test with DVD-R media.

While with DVD+R, the test started but when it reached 4.38GB, stopped with an error message.

The LiteON SOHW-1213S cannot overburn either with DVD±R formats.

- DVD+MRW Tests

The drive doesn't support Mount Rainier format.


12. KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 1

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 12

KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 1

In the following screenshots you can see the PI/PIF scans for the DVD+R/RW media we burned with the LiteOn SOHW-1213S. The software we used for all measurements is the KProbe v2.2.2, and the reader is the LiteOn LDW-811S with "HS0Q patched" firmware, being able to read DVD±R/RW media up to 8X CAV. All scans have been performed at 8X with PI/PIF Sum8. Note that LiteOn drives cannot report PO but PIF errors, despite what KProbe reports. In addition, all discs have been scanned with PX-712A v1.01 using PlexTools v2.14 for comparison levels.

Comparing the KProbe/PlexTools scans we can see major differences in the reported PI/PIF error rates. The main explanation is that we have two different readers, with different pickup/chipset combinations, scanning at different reading speeds (8X CAV for KProbe, 2X CLV for PlexTools). It's interesting to see the disc scanned at low & high speed, since when error rate increases at a specific disc area, it should appear in both scans...else it would be, perhaps, a reading glitch of the tested reader.

Note: PI/PIF errors only give us a quick look at the error rate of the burned media. Those scans should be taken not as the absolute criteria of the burning quality but as an indication level.

CMC 8X DVD+R @ 8X

3A 8X DVD+R @ 8X

MKM/Verbatim 8X DVD+R @ 12X

Taiyo Yuden DVD+R 8X @ 12X

MCC DVD+R 4X @ 4X

Ricoh DVD+R 8X @ 12X

TraxData 8X DVD+R @ 8X

MCC 4X DVD+RW @ 4X

TraxData 4X DVD+RW @ 4X

- Summary

According to the PIE/PIF scans, we can conclude that the LiteON SOHW-1213S performed rather poorly with the used DVD+R media. All the DVD+R media presented high PI errors except for Mitsubishi Cemicals recorded at 4X speed. There are cases where PI failures occurred, but this was specifically MKM/Verbatim 8X recorded at 12X & Traxdata 8X DVD+R recorded at 8X, where the latter didn't finish the quality check process with Plextools. Both DVD+RW media we used offer good burning quality.

- Appendix

Disc Label
Disc Information
Max Allowed Writing Speed
Total Recording Time (mins)
MKM/Verbatim 8X
MCC 003
12X
7:28
3A 8X
Plasmon1 C01
8X
8:27
CMC 8X
CMC MAG E01
8X
8:10
Taiyo Yuden 8X
YUDEN000 T02
12X
7:14
Mitsubishi Chemicals 4X
MCC 002
4X
14:10
Traxdata 4X
RICOHJPN R01
4X
14:10
Traxdata 8X
RITEK R03
8X
8:01
Ricoh 8X
RICOHJPN R02
12X
7:24
MCC 4X RW
MKM A02
4X
13:43
TraxData 4X RW
RICOHJPNW11
4X
13:40

13. KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 2

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 13

KProbe/PlexTools Scans - Page 2

In the following screenshots you can see the PI/PIF scans for the DVD-R/RW media we burned with the LiteOn SOHW-1213S. The software we used for all measurements is the KProbe v2.2.2, and the reader is a LiteOn LDW-811S with "HS0Q patched" firmware, being able to read DVD±R/RW media up to 8X CAV. All scans have been performed at 8X with PI/PIF Sum8. Note that LiteOn drives cannot report PO but PIF errors, despite what KProbe reports. In addition all discs have been scanned with PX-712A v1.01 using PlexTools v2.14 for comparison levels.

Comparing the KProbe/PlexTools scans we can see major differences at the reported PI/PIF error rates. The main explanation is that we have two different readers, with different pickup/chipset combinations, scanning at different reading speeds (8X CAV for KProbe, 2X CLV for PlexTools). Its interesting to see the disc scanned at low & high speed, since when error rate increases at a specific disc area, it should appear at both scans...else it would be, perhaps, a reading glitch of the tested reader.

Note: PI/PIF errors only give us a quick look at the error rate of the burned media. Those scans should be taken not as the absolute criteria of the burning quality but as an indication level.

BenQ 4X DVD-R @ 4X

3A 8X DVD-R @ 4X

MKM/Verbatim 8X DVD-R @ 8X

CMC 8X DVD-R @ 8X

TraxData 4X DVD-R @ 4X

TraxData 8X DVD-R @ 8X

Mam 4X DVD-R @ 4X

Taiyo Yuden 8X DVD-R @ 8X

Maxell 8X DVD-R @ 6X

MMore 4X DVD-R @ 4X

MKM/Verbatim 4X DVD-R @ 4X

Verbatim 4X DVD-RW @ 4X

TraxData 4X DVD-RW @ 4X

- Summary

The LiteOn SOHW-1213S offers about the same results with DVD-R media as it did with +R media. Burned media at 4X speed, offers good quality but the recorded media at 8x speed has high PI errors and three of the discs showed incompatibility with the supported writing speed - 3A 8X recorded at 4X, Maxell 8X at 6X and Traxdata 4X DVD-RW at 2X writing speeds. The incompatibility issue should be looked at by LiteON engineers and fixed in the near future with upcoming firmware releases.

- Appendix

Disc Label
Disc Information
Max Allowed Writing Speed
Total Recording Time (mins)
MKM/Verbatim 8X
MCC 02RG20
8X
9:29
CMC 8X
CMC MAG. AE1
8X
9:21
TraxData 8X
RITEKG05
8X
9:18
Maxell 8X
MXL RG03
6X
10:42
MKM/Verbatim 4X
MCC 01RG20
4X
14:29
MMore 4X
MBI 01RG20
4X
14:32
Taiyo Yuden 8X
TYG01
8X
9:48
BenQ 4X
SONY04D1
4X
14:30
Mam 4X
MAM4XG02
4X
14:31
3A 8X
POMS3A
4X
14:34
TraxData 4X
RITEKG04
4X
14:31
Verbatim 4X RW
MCC 01RW4X
4X
14:18
TraxData 4X RW
RITEK W04
2X
29:04

14. 1213S&832S vs. SA300 - Page 1

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 14

1213S&832S vs. SA300 - Page 1

To check exactly what the LiteOn SOHW-1213S & SOHW-832S report and how different the new chipset inside the new LiteOn drive is compared with the old one, we used different media, burned with other recorders. Three media have been measured with the well known AudioDev SA300 DVD CATS system at 1X.

Since all LiteON drives report only PI/PIF errors, we will compare those measurements at various reading speeds:

Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested SOHW-1213S drive. Using other 1213S drives can produce totally different results. Be aware!

For comparison levels we have also included the results from an 832S drive.

#1st Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 12X Reading speed

The PI error rate is about the same as the SA300 and PIF error rate trend line looks similar to the SA300 but with totally different value levels.

#1st Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed

SOHW-1213S Result

SOHW-832S Result

The PI error rate line looks similar to the SA300 but with different value levels while the PIF error rate line looks similar to the SA300 at about the same value levels

#1st Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 6X Reading speed

SOHW-1213S Result

SOHW-832S Result

About the same results as previously.

#1st Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 4X Reading speed

SOHW-1213S Results

SOHW-832S Results

With this test disc, all reading speeds 12X, 8X, 6X, 4X showed that at the end of the disc, the PI/PIF error rate increases compared with the SA300 system which also measured similar performance. We can observe a difference with the measurements between the LiteOn SOHW-1213S & SOHW-832S but with no significant improvements with the new chipset compared through the SA300.


15. 1213S&832S vs. SA300 - Page 2

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 15

1213S&832S vs. SA300 - Page 2

For checking exactly what the SOHW-1213S & SOHW-832S reports and how different the new chipset inside the LiteOn is compared with the previous one, we used different media, burned with other recorders. Three media have been measured with the well known AudioDev SA300 DVD CATS system at 1X.

Since all LiteON drives reports only PI/PIF errors, we will compare those measurements at three reading speeds:

Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested SOHW-1213S drive. Using other 1213S drives can produce totally different results. Be aware!

For comparison levels we have included the results from an 832S drive.

#2nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 12X Reading speed

At 12X reading speed, the error trend line rises at the end. This is also what the SA300 series showed but not at the same level. The PIF error trend line as reported by the 1213S shows the same behavior as the SA300 system.

#2nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed

SOHW-1213S Result

SOHW-832S Results

Using the LiteOn SOHW-1213S & 832S as readers at 8X is not recommended because the reported PI/PIF error level results are low, which is definitely not the case.

#2nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 6X Reading speed

SOHW-1213S Results

SOHW-832S Results

The same as above.

#2nd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 4X Reading speed

SOHW-1213S Results

SOHW-832S Result

The 8X, 6X & 4X reading speeds, results in almost high quality. Again, not recommended.


16. 1213S&832S vs. SA300 - Page 3

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 16

1213S&832S vs. SA300 - Page 3

For checking exactly what the SOHW-1213S & SOHW-832S reports and how different the new chipset inside the LiteOn is compared with the previous one, we used different media, burned with other recorders. Three media have been measured with the well known AudioDev SA300 DVD CATS system at 1X.

Since all LiteON drives report only PI/PIF errors, we will compare those measurements at three reading speeds:

Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested SOHW-1213S drive. Using other 1213S drives can produce totally different results. Be aware!

#3rd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 12X Reading speed

At the 12X reading speed, the drive reported a totally different PIE/PIF error trend line compared with the SA300 system and of course the values are not the same.

#3rd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 8X Reading speed

The same as above.

#3rd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 6X Reading speed

The same as above.

#3rd Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - 4X Reading speed

The 4X reading speed is not recommended too, since the reported PI/PIF error rate(s) gives the viewer the impression that the disc is at perfect condition...


17. 1213S&832S vs. SA300 - Page 4

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 17

1213S&832S vs. SA300 - Page 4

For checking exactly what the SOHW-1213S reports, we used different media, burned with other recorders. Three media have been measured using the well known AudioDev SA300 DVD CATS system at 1X. Since all LiteON drives report only PI/PIF errors, we will compare those measurements at one reading speed (max). The disc actually read from 2.4X~5.5CAV. We didn't use KProbe v2.2.2 for the scan since all the times we tried, froze at 50%, with ASPI/SPTI layer.

Please note that the posted results are only valid for the specific tested SOHW-1213S drive. Using other 1213S drives can produce totally different results. Be aware!

#4th Test Disc - PISum8/PIF Comparison - MAX Reading speed

SOHW-1213S Results

SOHW-832S Results

The SOHW-1213S as well as 832S certainly cannot be used for scanning DVD+R DL media since they report much higher error rates than what the SA300 series actually measured.


18. BookType Setting

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 18

BookType Setting

The LiteOn SOHW-1213S supports the BookType Setting for the DVD±R/RW formats. The user must set the BookType setting before burning any project. Using KProbe, under Tools->Bitsetting, the user can view the current Disc Type and change the BookType to either DVD-ROM/DVD+R/+RW. Unfortunately, Bit Setting isn't supported for DVD-R/RW media.

Lets now try changing the Bit Setting for DVD+R media, the current Booktype is NORMAL (DVD+R)

After pressing the "Set" button, the booktype changed to DVD-ROM


19. Conclusion

LiteON SOHW-1213S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 19

Conclusion

The SOHW-1213S is the first LiteON recorder to include the 3rd generation MediaTek chipset, allowing up to 12X DVD+R. That's the drive's strongest feature which unfortunaly dissapointed us... Its performance with either of DVD±R was at best mediocre tending towards bad, resulting in successful burns but with high PI/PIF error rates. Certainly the drive needs major improvements in this area in order to become competitive in the 12X writer playground, against the likes of drives such as the Plextor PX-712A.

The drive's inability to backup the latest SafeDisc protected titles along with the very low CD Error Correction/C2% accuracy, certainly made us stop and think about the abilities of the 3rd generation MediaTek chipsets. The previous generation had very good performance in this department, but we don't know if this can be improved with a future firmware update.

The CD recording tests were good with low C1/C2 errors but again problems were noticed with various media (TY and CMC Magnetics), which should be improved.

Concluding, we can say that the drive has potential, but LiteON needs to improve its performance with firmware update(s). The cost of the drive is around US$100.00.

- The Good

- The Bad

- Like to be fixed



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