DVD Error Correction Tests

In the following tests we examined the DVD error correcting capabilities of the Asus SCB2408 drive. For the tests we used CDVD Benchmark v1.21 and Nero CDSpeed . The reference test media comes from ALMEDIO.

- Single Layer media

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.

Asus SCB-2408 read the disc contents flawlessly without posting any errors. The drive started reading the disc at a low speed, but accelerated at 3.5x very fast, to reach 6x speed by the 900,000 sector address. Reading finished at 6x and no read errors occurred.

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 defected areas of dimensions ranging from 0.5 to 1.1 mm. There are also fingerprints sized between 65 and 75 micrometers.

As in the previous test, the drive finished with no read errors. The reading speed was 6x P-CAV.

- Dual Layer media

This is a 8.5GB dual layer, single sided DVD-ROM disc with artificial scratches of dimensions from 0.4 to 3.0mm, in both layers.

Compared to the Abex TDR-821 test disc, the TDR-841 has the same contents and scratches, but it is a dual layer PTP disc. Asus SCB-2408 read both layers at 5.5x CAV and no read errors were reported.

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

Once again the drive had no problems to read the defected dual layer DVD. The performance of the drive is familiar to that of the TDR-841 test disc and the maximum reading speed at the end of each layer was 5.5x.

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

Testing the reading performance of a DVD-Video disc is very important, since many users use their DVD-ROM drive to watch their favorite movies on their PC. The Asus drive read the disc smoothly using the CAV mode for both layers. Note that the test disc is an OTP. The average reading speed for each layer was 4.02x.

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 has also 65 - 75 micro meters fingerprints.

According to the CDSpeed transfer graph, the defected areas of the disc did not produce any read errors. They did not even make the drive slow down its reading speed. The performance is considered very good.