DVD Write Tests

**click to enlarge**

16x DVD+R discs are becoming slightly easier to find.  DVD write tests were done with a variety of media, including 16x discs from both Memorex and Verbatim.

1. DVD+R Media

The Toshiba SD-R5372 is capable of writing to DVD+R discs at 16x.  Let's begin by looking at the writing process in Nero CD-DVD Speed.

Tests in Nero were done using one of the new Verbatim 16x DVD+R discs.  The drive uses the faster CAV method of writing to this media and we see the drive easily hit 16x close to the end of the disc.  This resulted in an average write speed of approximately 12x.  The spikes you see on the graph are nothing to be concerned about and are only due to the unique writing strategy used by the drive in order to achieve fast 16x writing. 

Actual Burn Results

Using one of the new Verbatim 16x DVD+R discs, the SD-R5372 was able to write 4.35GB is just under 6 minutes.  That's the fastest I've seen on a 16x drive.  I threw in a variety of other brands to check compatibility.  The results are shown below.

While this drive will not write to Taiyo Yunden 8x media at 16x, it will at least write to them at 12x.  Media compatibility was good, with the exception once again of the Ritek (Silver Shiny) 8x discs. 

As far as write quality goes, we tested one of the Verbatim 16x DVD+R discs and ran Nero's Disc Quality Test.  Writing quality wasn't the greatest but about average.  While PI Errors did stay below 300, PI Failures reported was 24. 

2. DVD-R Media

The Toshiba SD-R5372 will support 12x writing to this format.  Let's see how it handled our PioDATA 8x discs. 

Unfortunately, this drive would not write at 12x to any of the 8x discs I had on hand, including those PioDATA discs that do support this write speed.  So if you're particularly going to write in this format, you'll most likely have to wait till 16x DVD-R discs hit the shelves.

3. DVD+RW Media

Like all other writers, 4x writing is supported in this format.  Let's check out how it handled this media.

This drive was able to write to only two of the three 4x DVD+RW discs at 4x.  It did not support 4x writing with the Memorex media.  Write time to one of the Verbatim 4x discs was 14:33. 

4. DVD-RW Media

We also couldn't write to Ritek 4x DVD-RW media at 4x.  These are the only discs I have been able to find that are rated at 4x in this format. 

With the exception of DVD+R media, I wasn't too impressed with the level of media compatibility this drive offers.  It was unable to write at 12x to those DVD-R discs that do unofficially support it.  Also, it only supported 4x writing on two of the three 4x DVD+RW discs and would not write to 4x DVD-RW media at this speed either. 

Next: DVD+R9 DL Tests