Samsung SH-B123L review

Review Pages

1. Features, specifications
2. CD reading speeds
3. Reading of defected CDs
4. DVD reading speeds
5. Reading of defected DVDs
6. BD reading - Page 1
7. BD reading - Page 2
8. CD/DVD testing platform - The IQB Omni CD DVD Analyser by Quantized
9. CD-R burning - Taiyo Yuden 48x 80min
10. CD-R burning - Verbatim 52x 74min
11. CD-RW burning - Verbatim 32x
12. DVD-R burning - CMC Magnetics 16x CMC MAG AM3
13. DVD-R burning - Verbatim 16x MCC 03RG20
14. DVD-R burning - Datawrite 16x TTH02
15. DVD-R burning - Taiyo Yuden TYG03
16. DVD-R DL burning - Verbatim 8x MKM 03RD30
17. DVD-RW burning - Verbatim 6x MKM RW6X01
18. DVD+R burning - Prodisc 16x PRODISC R04
19. DVD+R burning - Philips 16x INFOME R30
20. DVD+R burning - Moser Baer India 16x MBIPG101R05
21. DVD+R burning - Taiyo Yuden 16x YUDEN T03
22. DVD+R DL burning - Verbatim 8x MKM 003
23. DVD+RAM burning - Maxell 5x MXL16, MXL22 12x
24. DVD+RW burning - Verbatim 16x MKM A03
25. Summary of CD and DVD quality, Bitsetting, overburning
26. Samsung MagicSpeed, Live Update, LightScribe
27. Summary

Today we put Samsung's SH-B123L 12x Blu-ray disc combo drive under out usual tests. This is Samsung's second BD combo drive, after the SH-B083L model that supported 8x reading for Blu-ray discs. The new drive can play Blu-ray discs and record to CDs and DVDs. Plus, it has fast read speeds, which go all the way up to 12x for BD-ROM discs. In addition to HD picture support (1920 x 1080 pixels), the SHB123L is available with a capacity of up to 25 GB for a single-layer disc, and 50 GB for a dual-layer disc. The SH B123L is also equipped with several technologies for smooth operation, including two lenses and two laser diodes for reading and writing data to CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs.

The drive does not offer the writing capabilities found on more expensive units, but its relatively low cost could be attractive to users who need a BD drive in order to watch Blu-ray movies on their computers. It retails retails for about €85~90 in online stores.

Basic features include 12x BD read speeds, reading of DVD's at 16x and CD's at 48x. In addition, the drive will burn your DVDs at 16 max and your CDs at 48x. Below you can see more details about the drive's basic features:

SATA interface, 5 ¼" Half-Height internal BD Combo drive.
Max. 12X CAV BD-ROM SL (no movie), 8X BD-ROM /BD-R /BD-RE DL CAV reading
Max.16X DVD+R/-R SL writing, 8X DVD+RDL/-RDL writing
Max. 12x DVD-RAM writing/reading
Max. 16X DVD-ROM/+R/-R reading
Max. 12X DVD+RDL/-RDL/-RW/+RW reading
Max. 48X CD-ROM, 40X CD-R/RW reading
Max. 48X CD-R, 24X CD-RW writing
Buffer Under Run Free Technology: Prevents Buffer Under Run error, enabling high-speed.
Precision Step Control Technology PSCT: The track pitch of Blu-ray disc is half of the track pitch of DVD discs. Smaller BD track pitch requires more resolution in OPU position control system
Spherical Aberation Compensation Technology SACT: Improves reading quality on a BD whose protective layer is not uniform in thickness
Aerodynamic Frame Design: Lower acoustic noise by eliminating pressure concentrator in specific areas
Speed Adjustment Technology S.A.T
Double O.P.C Technology
Tilt Actuator Compensation Technology T.A.C
Buffer Underrun Free Technology
Weight Balancing System W.B.S
Automatic Ball Balancing System A.B.S
Magic Speed: Enables flexibility of drive operation ; low noise mode and high-speed mode.
Lightscribe

Retail package

The retail package of the drive includes:

Samsung SH-B123L BD combo drive
CyberLink BD Suite: PowerDVD 9 (BD disc playback), PowerProducer 5 (DVD Authoring), MediaShow 4 (Media management), Power2GO 6 (data burning), InstantBurn 5 (packet writing), LabelPrint 2 (Label designs, LightScribe), BDAdvisor 2.
Quick Installation Guide
SATA Cable
Mounting Screws

The drive sports a glossy finish, and has the stylish operation LED / eject button below the tray:

The rear panel is straightforward and and has a power connector and the SATA interface:

Let's take a look at the drive's internal board. It is recommended not to open the case of your drive since that would void the warranty.

The main board is small as you can see in the picture below:

The drive uses the Mediatek ARM MT1939L SDU controller.

The drive was connected to the PC via a typical SATA interface and was identified as "DVDWBD SH-B123L " firmware version SB01:

However, TSST released a new firmware soon after we finished our testing. The new SB02 firmware offers the following enhancements:

Multisession disc writing speed adjustment (spinning RPM) on DVD-R Dual layer Disc (Verbatim DVD-R DL 4X)
8cm BD-RE disc read improvement
Dual layer disc writing quality tuning.

As a result, we run the corresponding tests related to DVD DL (writing, reading , quality) and 8cm BD-RE reading with the latest Ver. SB02 firmware installed.