Pioneer DVR-A08XL DL Recorder - Page 2
DVD Recording Tests
- Writing Performance
The Pioneer DVR-A08XL supports 16X ± R (Z-CLV) writing
speeds along with 4X CLV for DVD±RW, 4X CLV for DVD+R9
media. Nero Burning Rom reported speeds are shown below, after inserting a
DVD-R media.
The Pioneer DVR-A08XL uses Zone-CLV recording strategy, meaning the disc area
is divided into zones, where in each zone the speed is constant. In order
to reach the 16X recording speed, the drive uses 4 zones (6X->8X->12X->16X).
As Pioneer explains "...ZoneCLV is a method for data writing in which the writing area within a disc is separated into "zones", between the inner, mid, & outer circumferences. Within each zone, writing speed is maintained at one fixed speed, this allows for the writing speed to be perfectly stable. Pioneer considers ZoneCLV writing as an important method for ensuring high quality writing and maintaining data integrity..."
The 16X speed is reached at the 4.00GB point, meaning that unless
you are burning a full 4.36GB project, you will not benefit from the
promised 16X speed. By using Nero CD-DVD Speed with DVD-R and DVD+R media,
we are able to see the 12X/8X Z-CLV recording technology being used by the
recorder.
By using the TDK 8X DVD-R we can see the writing strategy graph for reaching
the 16X writing speed. There are 4 zones, 6X from 0 to 0.8GB, 8X from 0.8GB
to 1.8GB, 12X from 1.8GB to 4.0GB and 16X from 4.0GB to the end. The average
writing speed reaches 10.34X.
By using a DVD+R media (create Data Disc), the average writing speed drops a little to 10.28X and the total recording time rises up to 6:48mins.
Below are the writing transfer tests for the 12X and 8X writing speeds:
- Burning Tests
We burned 4315MB of data on various DVD±R, DVD±RW media. We
used the maximum allowed writing speed for each disc. All tests were carried
out with the latest available firmware (v1.10) and we burned only ±R
media supported at 8+X speeds and not at 4X.
- Writing Time Results
- The only media we had in our labs that allowed 16X burning was
TDK 8X media with ID code TTH01. As far as we know, only two other media
are supported at 16X, SONY 8X -R (SONY08D1) and Maxell 8X -R (MXL RG03).
According
to Nero,
it took 6:54mins to finish the task at 16X. There is a big difference between
the recording time that Nero needed to burn the project (not full disc) 6:54mins
and what CDSpeed reported 6:24mins, where we noticed that Nero takes a long
time during the LeadOut area...
- The DVR-A08XLA supports more media at 12X. The recording times vary according
to the used media, the worst results coming with TDK 8X -R (TTG02) since
the drive lowered speed to 8X near the end.
- At 8X the recording times are similiar since both DataWrite and MMore 8X
-R are based on FuliFilm03 media.
Below are results after inserting several media in the drive. BenQ 16X
-R and LeaData 8X -R are only supported at 4X, as were also TY and Verbatim
4X media which with some drives have allowed speeds of 8X. Future firmware
upgrades hopefully will support more media at 8X.
8X DVD-R
12X DVD-R
16X DVD-R
The drive supports 4X writing with various 4X DVD-RW media we used. The burning times were from 14:35 ~ 14:48mins.
- The DVR-A08 supports more than one media at 16X. The lowest recording times
came with CMC Magnetics 8X and Verbatim 16X, while the TY 8X needed a few
more seconds to end the task.
- Many 8X rated media will burn at 12X with recording times of 7:07~7:19mins
- At 8X several media are supported, with recording times of 8:09~8:15mins.
In general DVD+R/RW recording times are higher, by a few seconds, compared
with the DVD-R/RW.
As we have seen with the DVD-R format, newer 16X DVD+R media is not supported
at 16X, only at 4X. Hopefully Pioneer will fix this with new firmware.
8X DVD+R
12X DVD+R
16X DVD+R
The recording times with DVD+RW format were impressive at 13:43mins.
- DVD Overburning Tests
Using Nero CD-DVD Speed, we tested if the drive can overburn using DVD+R and
DVD-R media. Unfortunately, the drive does not support overburning with either
±R media, returning an error message while trying to start the
burning process.
- DVD+MRW Tests
The drive doesn't support the Mount Rainier feature.
