After the pressed media, lets see something more realistic for our tests, burned DVD media

- Reference Scans

and here are the test results!

(in reply to emperor)

I'm perplexed about something specwise. Toshiba list the 1712 and 1802 as having a max DVD-R read rate of 4.8X. Yet you clearly saw 12-16X. And their specs never mention +R/RW, although I assume read-compatibility is assumed for +R/RW. See:

http://sdd.toshiba.com/cda/main.aspx?Path=/818200000007000000010000659800001516/81820000011d000000010000659c000003fd/8182000001c8000000010000659c00000599/8182000001d5000000010000659c000005b0/81820000059e000000010000659c00001113

and

http://sdd.toshiba.com/cda/main.aspx?Path=/818200000814000000010000659c00001ae1

Did your drive samples simply read at that speed, no problem? And is the 1802 a very new drive, not yet widely available?

(in reply to emperor)

kentech, i would suggest checking the Comparing TOSHIBA DVD-ROM for Transfer Graphs #1 topic for answer, in short, we used a patched firmware to allow reading up to 16X. 1802 is the latest Toshiba drive, not very new i must say!

(in reply to kentech)

From your first message:

quote:

Fortunatly, we have all Toshiba DVD-ROM ever produced with 16X DVD reading speed, that includes 1502, 1612, 1712 and 1802. The first problem is that the DVD reading limit of CSS and non CSS DVD discs, with the correct "fixed" firmware overpassed, and all inserted media can be read up to 16X (CAV)!

Sorry, I couldn't get from your statement that you used custom firmware. (You didn't mention DVD-R at all.) Too bad, since the drive looks to be quite competent at reading everything, but the unprivileged buyer won't have this opportunity.

I checked the Toshiba site in the "obsolete" category, and found support for the 1802. So maybe it's actually a discontinued drive. More's the pity!

(in reply to emperor)

[Deleted by Admins]

(in reply to kentech)

I did state "...with the correct "fixed" firmware overpassed..." sorry for not being clear, the 1802 should be still sold around, try looking

(in reply to Deleted User)

emperor,

thanks again for wonderful tests.

I must agree with you that Toshiba's 1612 and 1802 are not very useful in regards to their transfer rate graphs (when trying to assess disc readability / quality estimates): they barely flinch even with supposedly really bad discs (i.e. discs that measure sub-par in kProbe/Plextools).

In fact, this leads me to believe that the dvd error correction on those drives could be less than stellar. Their performance in reading (transfer speed) is so superior to anything else I've seen, that it leaves a small doubt in my mind as to the actual error detection/correction capability of those drive (for dvd media). After all, if they had limited error correction, they wouldn't have to slow down on problematic discs, unless they completely lost sync signal...

Anyway, I have been unable to find any good tests of SD-M1802 (or 1612) on the web that shows the dvd media error correction capability of the aforementioned drives.

If you know more about this (or can test with your A-bex dvd test discs), please chime in.

best regards,
Halcyon

PS Do you have any Panasonic drives (e.g. SW-9582) to test transfer speeds with? I'd imagine Matsushita is self-sustaining enough to use their own chipset, pick-up heads and designs...

(in reply to emperor)

Halc, we may need to re-test all the Toshiba DVD-ROM drives at a big roundup...with the ABEX Test Discs would show their differences i imagine.

No i don't have any panasonic DVD-ROM drive, except their DVD Recorders, which aren't so fast i suppose...

(in reply to Halc)