Sony RDR-VX530 writing quality?

[tlotz]

I just bought a new Sony RDR-VX530 DVD recorder/VCR combo unit. I have looked at the writing quality of some of the disks I've burned with a Plextor PX-716SA computer DVD burner. On a Verbatim 16X DVD+R (MCC 004 media code), I got extremely low PIE (<=20 throughout), but high PIF. The PIF was almost entirely in the 3-4 range, with several spikes to 5, and two spikes to 8. On that Plextor computer burner, I usually see PIF in the 1-2 range, with spikes in the 3-4 range with the same media. Should I be concerned? I am not under the impression that this should be a problem--after all, this is a standalone DVD recorder, not a computer DVD burner.

[Ian]

What setting where you using when testing with the Plex? Sum1 or Sum8? If its Sum8, the results are fine. If its Sum1, its borderline. If its only a couple of spikes and the discs read back fine, I wouldn't worry about it.

[tlotz]

What setting where you using when testing with the Plex? Sum1 or Sum8? If its Sum8, the results are fine. If its Sum1, its borderline. If its only a couple of spikes and the discs read back fine, I wouldn't worry about it.

Thanks for your replying Ian! I don't have any scans, but the spikes I'm complaining about (some were spikes to 5, two were spikes to 8) are SUM1. The Sum8 scan had PIE <= 20 (which is as most here know is excellent PIE). I was using Plextools Professional, not Pxscan. So, I shouldn't be concerned? My feeling now is to let it be, as it is. I took back 3 Plextor PX-716SA over writing quality concerns, and 1 or 2 of those didn't need to be returned. I really don't want to go through that again. One question for you Ian--I am burning Verbatim 16X DVD+R MCC004 media on the DVD recorder. The manual says it is compatible with 16X DVD+R/-R media. However, as I understand it, the DVD recorder records at 1X. Could recording at an excessively low speed cause higher error rates? Or could the standalone DVD recorder just not be optimized for that media? Clearly my PX-716SA was intended to record on this media, which is why it's PIF (SUM1) error rate is where it should be (if I record at 8X with PowerREC OFF, that is!)

[Ian]

A lot of the newer media is optimized for higher writing speeds. I haven't seen it myself, but I've seen a number of people claim that writing to this media at slower speeds can yield poorer results. I can't imagine that your DVD recorder wouldn't be optimized for Verbatim media as its fairly common place. It might be worth trying some decent quality 4x or 8x rated discs to see how the writing quality is with those.

[tlotz]

I ran another test tonight, this time on a Fuji 8X DVD+R Made in Japan disc (TY, YUDEN000T02). The disc had 2.93 GB of video recorded from the DVD recorder. The SUM1 (PIF) had 4296 total PIF, with a max PIF of 4. The PIF level remained at 1-2 during 99.999% of the scan (hence the *high* total number of PIF), with 8 single spikes to PIF = 4 and two spikes to PIF = 3. See the attachment below. As I understand it, I should not be concerned with the high number of PIF, is that correct? As for the SUM8 (PIE) scan, it was **excellent**. PIE max was 10--I seldom see I disc with PIE that low!

[tlotz]

I just redid the SUM1 PIF scan of the original MCC004 Verbatim 16X DVD+R disc that I was the main subject of this thread so I can post the scan. Below is the scan. Doesn't that disc just plain suck, compared to the Fuji TY disc? The total number of PIF is 16896, and the PIF spike to 8 is not a single spike!