Philips JackRabbit32 CD-RW/DVD drive - Page 5

DVD Error Correction Tests

In the following tests we examined the DVD error correction capabilities of the Philips JR32RWDV. For the tests we used CDVD Benchmark v1.21 and Nero CD/DVD Speed . The reference test media comes 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 ranging from 0.4 to 3.0 mm. The following transfer rate picture comes from CDVD Benchmark v1.21.

Philips JR 32RWDV seems to have no problem finishing the reading task with no errors. However, the drive did not reach the 12x maximum supported reading speed, and kept it at 6X until the end of the reading process. No read error were occurred.

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 are no scratches on it but some defected areas with dimensions ranging from 0.5 to 1.1 mm. There also fingerprints sized from 65 to 75 micro meters.

The drive did not have any problems to read the disc contents. The yellow dots correspond to the current speed in each area of the disc. No read errors were reported.

- Dual Layer media

ABEX TDR-841

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

Judging from the reading test with the single layer disc, we might expect the drive to finish the test with no problems. However, with the double layer disc Philips JR32RWDV gave a read error while reading the first layer. Then the drive skipped into the second layer of the disc, which was read with no problems.

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 in the range of 0.5 to 1.1 mm and the fingerprints are sized from 65 to 75 micro meters.

This time, the drive stopped reading by the end of the first layer of the test disc. The test could not be continued and terminated. It seems that the JR32RWDV needs some improvement in this area.

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 reference disc checks also the error correction capabilities of the drive and includes scratches from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.

As you can see from the CDSpeed test above, the drive did not manage to finish the reading test. The problems started after reading 2.2GB of the disc, where the drive showed instability while reading and slowed down reading. As a result, the test was terminated in the first layer of the DVD-Video disc.

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 65 - 75 micro meter fingerprints.

Black dots and fingerprints were not a problem for the drive. The test was successful, with an 5.71x average speed.