LiteOn Slimtype SDW-431SX - Page 4

DVD reading tests

- Single Layer DVD-ROM (Click for CDSpeed results)

To check the reading performance of the LiteOn drive with single layer DVD-ROM, we used NeroCDSpeed and the 820A test disc from Abex.

The LiteOn and Pioneer drives returned almost the same reading speed with single layer DVD-ROM while the Freecom was by far the fastest. The external LiteOn drive, read the disc under CAV mode, but as CDSpeed showed the speed of the drive was not constant. With the seek times, the LiteOn returned slightly increased times compared to the Freecom drive, but the times are still quite acceptable.

- Dual Layer PTP DVD-ROM (Click for CDSpeed results)

The two layers of a PTP DVD-ROM disc are read sequentially, with the drive starting the read process from the inner tracks on the disc, where lies the beginning of each layer and progressing outwards towards to the outer tracks for each layer. The tools for this test are Nero CDSpeed and Abex 840 test disc.

Although the LiteOn did not perform smoothly with the previously tested single layer DVD-ROM, the dual layer disc was read without problems and the test finished with an end speed of 6.19x. The seek times graph shows that the LiteOn performed faster than the Pioneer but slower than Freecom drive.

- Dual Layer OTP DVD-ROM

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 on 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 inwards towards the inner tracks of the disc.

The CDSpeed screenshot shows smooth reading performance during the OTP reading test. Speed-wise, the test finished with an average reading speed of 4.60X and 6.14X at the end of the first layer. The drive used CAV reading strategy.

- DVD Ripping Tests

We measured the DVD-Video ripping speed of the LiteOn drive using the latest version of DVD Decrypter. The DVD Video title is the "Matrix" pressed DVD-Video.

The LiteOn returned an acceptable average ripping speed after the end of the ripping test. According to DVD Decrypter, the average read rate was 6.730 KB/s (4.9X) while during the test, the maximum read rate reached 8.651 KB/s (6.2X) The above graph shows that the LiteOn was faster than the external Pioneer DVR-SK12D but slower than the Freecom external writer.

- DVD Recordable / Rewritable reading Tests

The chart below shows the Nero CDSpeed average reading speed results for the following formats:

• 8x DVD+R
• 4x DVD+RW

• 8x DVD-R
• 4x DVD-RW

The LiteOn read all four tested writable and rewritable DVD's at almost the same average speed. The LiteOn external device, read all discs under CAV reading strategy and reported average speeds that ranged from 4.54X up to 4,57X for all media. According to the graphs, the LiteOn drive was faster than the Pioneer and about equal to the Freecom.