Nero CD Speed v4.53 - BD-ROM:
To test the BRD-AM2B/U's BD-ROM reading performance, I used the Blu-ray Disc version of The Fifth Element. This single layer disc is about 23GB in size.
| I-O DATA BRD-AM2B/U |
Pioneer BDR-101A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
2.00x 2.00x 2.00x |
2.00x 1.99x 2.00x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
125ms 208ms 399ms |
56ms 174ms 385ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
0% 1% 1% 3% |
0% 1% 2% 3% |
Pioneer's new drive has a maximum speed of 2x when reading BD-ROM discs. By looking at the screenshot you can see that the drive starts reading at about 2x and stays there until the end.I should also point out that CD Speed's CPU usage test does not seem to work correctly. The drive cannot read BD media at 8x, let alone 4x, so I'm not sure how its generating those results.
Using the BRD-AM2B/U and InterVideo's WinDVD BD software, I was able to play back the movie on our test computer. However, because it lacks an HDCP compliant video card, the movie was downsampled to 540p. Keep this in mind if you plan on playing AACS protected titles with the BRD-AM2B/U or other PC-based Blu-ray Disc drives.
Nero CD Speed v4.53 - BD-R and BD-RE:
Next we'll look at the drive's BD-R and BD-RE reading performance. For this I created a few data discs using single layer BD-R and BD-RE media from Memorex and then ran our BD read tests with CD Speed.
Memorex BD-R
| I-O DATA BRD-AM2B/U |
Pioneer BDR-101A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
2.00x 1.99x 2.00x |
2.00x 1.99x 2.00x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
100ms 204ms 366ms |
71ms 200ms 349ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
0% 1% 2% 3% |
0% 1% 2% 3% |
Memorex BD-RE
| I-O DATA BRD-AM2B/U |
Pioneer BDR-101A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
2.00x 2.00x 2.00x |
2.00x 2.00x 2.00x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
100ms 203ms 360ms |
70ms 200ms 345ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
0% 1% 2% 3% |
0% 1% 2% 3% |
The BRD-AM2B/U had no problems reading Memorex's BD-R and BD-RE media. In both cases, the drive started reading at 2x and stayed at that speed throughout the entire session.
