DVD-ROMs and recordable DVD media.

[Phoenix '97]

I wish DVD-ROM manufactueres would focus on improving the read speeds for recordable DVD media. My so-called "16X" LG DVD-ROM drive will read a DVD-R at most at 6.4x (CAV) while it won't budge above 2.7x (CLV) for DVD-RW discs. I mean, these speed ratings are way worse than with CD technology: my LG 16x10x40x burner will read all CD-ROM discs and almost all CD-Rs at full speed (~40x for full discs, a little less for less-than-full discs, but with the same angular velocity), and most CD-RW discs at 32x (max).
Are there any DVD-ROM drives out there that particularly excel at reading recorded DVD media?

[HyperYagami]

I wish DVD-ROM manufactueres would focus on improving the read speeds for recordable DVD media. My so-called "16X" LG DVD-ROM drive will read a DVD-R at most at 6.4x (CAV) while it won't budge above 2.7x (CLV) for DVD-RW discs. I mean, these speed ratings are way worse than with CD technology: my LG 16x10x40x burner will read all CD-ROM discs and almost all CD-Rs at full speed (~40x for full discs, a little less for less-than-full discs, but with the same angular velocity), and most CD-RW discs at 32x (max).
Are there any DVD-ROM drives out there that particularly excel at reading recorded DVD media?

I hope you realize that

1x DVD = 1325KB/s
1x CD-ROM = 153KB/s

In a sense, your "40x" CD-ROM is like a "5x" DVD-ROM transfer-rate-wise.

Also, as we all know all those speed rates are pretty deceiving.

[Phoenix '97]

I realize that, but what I was trying to say was:
While the 32x and 40x read speeds you get for CD media on a CD-ROM/RW drive are very close to the 40x that the drive is rated for, the read speeds of 3x to 6x you get on a 16x DVD-ROM drive are quite below its rated speed. There is still quite a bit of room to improve read speeds for DVD-ROM drives before the discs are spinning so fast that they're in danger of shattering (16-18x for DVD? I know it's something like 55-60x for CDs.)

[HyperYagami]

I realize that, but what I was trying to say was:
While the 32x and 40x read speeds you get for CD media on a CD-ROM/RW drive are very close to the 40x that the drive is rated for, the read speeds of 3x to 6x you get on a 16x DVD-ROM drive are quite below its rated speed. There is still quite a bit of room to improve read speeds for DVD-ROM drives before the discs are spinning so fast that they're in danger of shattering (16-18x for DVD? I know it's something like 55-60x for CDs.)

My "8x" DVD-ROM reads at 8x ONLY at the outer-range. The average is only like 5.9x (that's a movie DVD, not sure about burned DVD media). I think the "16x" is totally deceiving, although it doesn't surprise me to see a speed drop with medias. Heck, they're totally different things altogether compare to retail DVDs. In terms of room for improvement speed-wise that's pretty much a given.

[cfitz]

Does your drive read pressed, single-layer DVD media at the rated 16x speed? In other words, is it slow only on recordable media?

cfitz

[Ian]

I've found that most DVD-ROM drives read recordable media at the same speed as dual layer discs.

At least when it comes to DVD+R/RW media, this might be because the reflectivity (sp?) of DVD+R/RW media is very similar to dual layer discs. Any thoughts on this?

[Phoenix '97]

Does your drive read pressed, single-layer DVD media at the rated 16x speed? In other words, is it slow only on recordable media?

cfitz

I believe so. I remember it could read the Transformers movie rather quickly near the edge. I might rent it again soon and do some more tests with my drives with it.

Actually, it would look rather similar to this:
http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.ph ... erformance
As the review says, likely 8x for DVD movies. However, my drive reads recorded DVD media better than in this review. It could be that I'm using firmware 1.01 instead of 1.00, or the fact that media and recorder quality has improved in the ~15 months since this review.