DVD Write Tests

The SHW-1635S is capable of writing to recordable DVD media at 16x.  Let's begin with the results using DVD+R media...

1. DVD+R Media

The SHW-1635S uses the faster CAV method of writing to this media.  When looking at the write process in Nero, we see a maximum write speed of 15.95x and an average write speed of just under 12x.  This is about as fast as it gets for DVD writing.  Let's go now to the actual write tests and see how well it handled a variety of media...

Overall, this drive can write a full disc in just over 6 minutes.  Not quite as fast as the excellent BenQ DW1640, but pretty damn close.  Lowest write time was exactly 6:06 minutes using Verbatim media.

We can see from the media compatibility results above that the SHW-1635S does not support overspeed on quality 8x media.  Also, the drive failed to write at 16x to BeALL branded 16x discs.  However, note that the difference in write times between 12x and 16x are quite minimal.  These results were not as impressive as with how the drive handles CD-R media.

2. DVD-R Media

Writing the same test movie, which was exactly 4.35GB in size, the SHW-1635S certainly did impress.  The lowest write time was 5:53 minutes using Taiyo Yuden 16x discs.  It was closely followed by Verbatim media.  This is about as fast as DVD writing does get folks.

Again, no overspeed on quality 8x media.  Also, we confirm it is quite finicky with BeALL media as it failed to write to them at their rated speed once again. 

3. DVD+RW Media

High speed rewritable DVD media continues to be quite difficult to find.  Fortunately, Verbatim kindly provided samples for proper testing. 

Using sample discs from Verbatim, the SHW-1635S was able to write to them at 8x and the write time for a full 4.35GB discs was 7:51 minutes.  It took exactly 8:06 minutes to fully erase the disc using Nero. 

4. DVD-RW Media

This drive also supports faster 6x writing to this format and fortunately, I also have some sample Verbatim 6x DVD-RW discs on hand for testing.

Using the sample 6x disc, it took 10:49 minutes to write the same data.  As expected, a full erase in Nero took exactly 10:55 minutes.  For those who have not played with rewritable media much, a disc in this format usually writes much faster than a +R disc but performing a full erase on the media takes substantially longer.

5. DVD Write Quality

Based on some research over the years, Lite-On drives tend to have a bad reputation when it comes down to write quality.  However, this new drive is certainly an exception and its write quality was very impressive.  This is probably due to the different chipset this particular model does carry.  Write quality tests were performed using Verbatim 16x media and results are given for both DVD+R and DVD-R discs.

With DVD media, write quality is determined by the number of PI Errors and PI Failures. Every disc will report a certain number of PI Errors, however, they should remain below 300 to be considered a quality burn. PI Failures, on the other hand, are what you should be most concerned with. Using Nero's Disc Quality Test, they should remain below 25 for high quality. Also, you should not have any PO Failures reported. If you do, you will most likely experience some severe playback issues.

Also, please keep in mind that the results will vary greatly depending on the type of media used. With that said, it is only fair to test with only the highest quality media in order to determine its true capabilities. If you are after the highest quality burn, you should seriously consider using such media.
 

The Lite-On SHW-1635S maintained a high 90+ score with both formats.  As expected, the results were better with the -R format.  The majority of the errors were at the very start of the write process and no errors were reported at the end of the actual burn.

Next: DVD DL Tests