DVD Error Correction Tests

In the following tests we examined the DVD reading capabilities of LiteOn LDW-401S drive with scratched / defected DVD media. For the tests we used CDVD Benchmark v1.21 and the 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, in which there are scratches with dimensions from 0.4 to 3.0 mm. The following transfer rate picture comes from CDVD Benchmark v1.21.

The disc was read without any problems. The scratched area of the disc seems not to be a problem for the LiteOn drive. The test finished fast and CDVD didn't report any read errors. The performance in the test is very good.

ABEX TDR-825

This is also a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM with a 4.7GB capacity. The data structure of the disc is exactly the same as the TDR-821, with the difference that there not scratches on it but defected areas with dimensions of 0.5 to 1.1 mm. There also fingerprints sized from 65 to 75 micro meters.

Again the test was completed fast and without any read errors. As we can see from the screenshot above, the drive starts reading the disc at 5x and finished the task with reported end speed at 12x.

- Dual Layer media

ABEX TDR-841

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

Both layers of the PTP DVD-ROM disc were accurately read. The reading speed throughout the whole disc was not infected by the scratched areas.

ABEX TDR-845

The disc is a single sided, dual layer DVD-ROM disc with 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 are ranged from 0.5 to 1.1 mm and the fingerprints are sized from 65 to 75 micro meters.

As in the corresponding test with the ABEX TDR-825 (defected single layer DVD-ROM), the drive had no problems to finish the task successfully with end speed at 8.5x for each layer.

ABEX TDV-541

The TDV-541 is a single sided, dual layer DVD-VIDEO disc, with 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 correction capabilities of the drive and includes scratches sized of 0.4 to 3.0 mm.

The drive had some reading problems in the outer addresses of the first layer, approximately at the 3.2GB mark. Although reading was resumed quickly, the problems were repeated in the beginning of the second layer. The drive needed to slow down to read the scratched areas. With this behavior in mind, we checked the playability of the specific DVD Video disc with Power DVD software. The movie gave some stills in the second layer, but the playback was resumed very soon.

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 has also fingerprints sized of 65 - 75 micro meters

On this test the drive read the contents of the disc without any read errors. The average speed was 6.32x..