BenQ DW1620 - Page 1

after the release of the DW1620A model, a new firmware revision has been released which according to the manufacturer, improves the writng quality of the burner, especially with the DVD-R format. In order to confirm any kind of improvements, we retest the drive with firmware B7P9.

Anyone new to this drive is advised, before proceeding, to read the original DW1620A review that contains the full reading tests.

- Drive Features

The BenQ DW16xx series support the following unique features:

• Over-Speed burning technology (allows media to be burned at higher recording speeds than rated)
• Seamless Link: buffer under run protection as with all previous BenQ DVD Recorders.
• High-Speed Signal Algorithm: As the writing speed is increased, signal loss becomes the key cause for the significant decrease in writing quality. BenQ’s High-Speed Signal Algorithm manages the high EFM (Eight-to-Fourteen Modulation) frequency signal loss that often takes place at high-speed writing - ensuring superb writing quality.

• WOPC + BLER OPC: Unlike other drives which preset the writing power before the actual writing of data, the WOPC II (Walking Optimal Power Control) algorithm evaluates the writing quality constantly and adjusts the writing power accordingly in order to ensure the best possible writing quality over the entire disc. The BLER OPC (Block Error Rate Optimal Power Control) further enhances the writing quality near the end of the disc, where the risk of warping is higher.

• Tilt Control: BenQ's Tilt Control always keeps the writing angle at 90 degrees to the disc's surface to ensure uniform writing.
• Sliding Cone Mechanism: With Sliding Cone design, the disc position on the turntable is improved considerably. This greatly helps to reduce data access time and also to deliver superior reading and writing quality.

- Specifications

The drive does not support Mount Rainier and it uses the well known RPC II region control, allowing a user to change the drive's region at most 5 times. DVD-RAM media is also not supported for either reading or writing. Below are the drive's main specs as given by NeroInfoTool and DVDInfoPro:

- Installation

The drive was installed as secondary master and under WindowsXP was recognized as "BENQ DVD DL DW1620". We flashed the drive with the B7P9 firmware revision.

Below is a screenshot of Nero Burning Rom's specs for the drive.

- Testing software

In order to perform our tests we used:

1. Nero CD-DVD Speed v3.40
2. Nero Info Tool v2.27
3. PlexTools v2.17 (Reader: For CD/DVD Plextor PX-712A firmware v1.04, Reading speed 8X CLV for CD-R and 2X CLV for DVD media with medium accuracy)
4. DVDInfoPro v2.63
5. BenQ Booktype Management v8.30
6. Nero Burning Rom v6.6.0.1