What's in the box?:
- LG BH12LS38 Super Multi Blue Blu-ray Disc ReWriter
- Super Multi Blue Install Disc
- Owner's Manual
- Verbatim 6x BD-R Disc
- SATA Cable
- SATA Power Cable
- Mounting Screws
- Warranty Information
Physical Features:
The drive LG sent us for this review was manufactured in July of 2011 and had firmware version 1.00. At the time of this review, this is the only official firmware available for the BH12LS38.
From the front, the BH12LS38 looks very similar to LG's 10x Blu-ray Disc rewriter, the WH10LS30. While there are a few slight differences, the two drives share the same basic design including the glossy black plastic and silver highlights. The BH12LS38 also has its share of logos. Along with the large "Super Multi Blue" and "LG" logos, you can see one showing support for the Blu-ray Disc format.
Below the silver strip you can see the BH12LS38's single LED. Off by default, this LED lights up a bright blue whenever the drive is reading or writing.
The rear of the BH12LS38 is pretty straightforward. By looking at the picture above you can see the drive's SATA interface and power connector.
Technical Specs:
The specs below have been taken from LG's website and the manual that came with the drive.
| LG BH12LS38 Super Multi Blue 12x Blu-ray Disc ReWriter | |
| BD-R Write Speeds | 12x (CAV) 10x, 8x, 6x (P-CAV) 4x, 2x (CLV) |
| BD-R DL Write Speeds | 12x (CAV) 8x, 6x (P-CAV) 4x, 2x (CLV) |
| BD-R LTH Write Speeds | 6x (P-CAV) 4x, 2x (CLV) |
| BD-RE Write Speeds | 2x (CLV) |
| DVD+R Write Speeds | 16x (CAV) 12x, 8x (P-CAV) 8x (Z-CLV) 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD+RW Write Speeds | 8x (Z-CLV) 6x, 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R Write Speeds | 16x (CAV) 12x, 8x (P-CAV) 8x (Z-CLV) 4x, 2x (CLV) |
| DVD-RW Write Speeds | 6x, 4x, 2x, 1x (CLV) |
| DVD+R DL Write Speeds | 8x (P-CAV) 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R DL Write Speeds | 8x (P-CAV) 4x, 2x (CLV) |
| DVD-RAM Write Speeds | 12x, 5x (P-CAV) 3x, 2x (CLV) |
| CD Write Speeds | 48x (CAV) 40x, 32x, 24x (P-CAV) 16x, 8x (CLV) |
| CD Rewrite Speeds | 24x (Z-CLV) 16x, 10x, 4x (CLV) |
| BD Read Speeds | 10x Max (BD-ROM Single Layer) 8x Max (BD-ROM Dual Layer) 10x Max (BD-R) 8x Max (BD-R DL) 8x Max (BD-RE) 6x Max (BD-RE DL) 6x Max (BD-R LTH) 4.8x (BDMV) |
| DVD Read Speeds | 16x Max (DVD-ROM Single Layer) 12x Max (DVD-ROM Dual Layer) 16x Max (DVD±R) 12x Max (DVD±RW) 12x Max (DVD±R DL) 12x Max (DVD-RAM) 12x Max (DVD-Video) |
| CD Read Speeds | 48x Max (CD-ROM/CD-R) 40x Max (CD-RW) |
| DAE Speeds | 40x Max |
| Buffer Size | 4 MB |
| Access Times |
180 ms (BD-ROM) 160 ms (DVD-ROM) 180 ms (DVD-RAM) 150 ms (CD-ROM) |
| BD Formats | BD-ROM BD-R/RE BD-R/RE DL |
| DVD Formats | DVD-ROM DVD-Video DVD±R DVD±RW DVD±R DL |
| CD Formats | CD-DA CD-ROM CD-ROM XA CD-I Video CD Photo CD CD-Extra CD-Text CD-R CD-RW |
LightScribe:
The BH12LS38 is the latest Super Multi Blue drive from LG to feature LightScribe technology. Developed by HP, LightScribe lets you burn durable, silk screen quality labels directly onto your CD's and DVD's using the same drive that burned the data. According to HP, it's as simple as burning the data, flipping the disc, and then burning the label.
Of course you can't do this with just any drive, media or software. While LightScribe capable drives use the same laser when burning both the data and label, they have to be able to accurately control the laser's focus and position as well as the spindle speed. They also must be able to recognize LightScribe media. These special discs have a thin dye coating on the label side that absorbs laser light. This triggers a chemical reaction that produces a color change, allowing the user to print text, artwork or graphics.
Even if you have a LightScribe capable drive and media, you will need software that supports it. Most major software companies have pledged support for the technology. However, at the time of this review, the list of compatible software is still relatively short. For the BH12LS38, LG turned to CyberLink. Using the bundled LabelPrint software you can create and burn LightScribe disc labels.
Once you've created your LightScribe label, you're ready to print it. Before you can do this though, you will need to choose the contrast. Keep in mind this option not only changes the level of detail, it also affects the amount of time it takes to print the label. The higher the quality, the longer the process will take.
How long does it take to print a label? For testing purposes, we printed a disc using Verbatim's LightScribe v1.2 CD-R media, with the quality set to "best". The results are shown below.
 |
| Verbatim 52x CD-R v1.2 - 23 minutes |
More Features:
By looking at the picture below, you can see that LG's new Super Multi Blue drive is identified as an "HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH12LS38."
The Nero screenshot also shows that the BH12LS38 has a maximum CD writing speed of 48x and a 4096KB buffer. This buffer is also backed up by some form of buffer underrun protection. According to Nero, the BH12LS38 can write CD-Text and overburn. When testing the drive's capacity I found that the drive was able to overburn up to 95:10 with CompUSA's 99 minute CD-R media.
Using Alex Noe's Weak Sector Utility we were able to determine that the BH12LS38 is a "two sheep" burner. This means that LG's new drive is capable of backing up titles protected by SafeDisc 2, including version 2.51.
Here is a screen shot from Erik Deppe's Opti Drive Control. Among other things, this program queries the drive to see what its reading and writing capabilities are. Opti Drive Control had no problems detecting the BH12LS38's reading and writing speeds and supported disc types.
Opti Drive Control also shows that the BH12LS38 is an RPC-2 DVD drive. This means that the drive's region is stored in the firmware. The region can be changed five times and after that it cannot be changed anymore. Unfortunately, a patched RPC-1 firmware is not yet available for this drive.
While InfoTool gives us a quick glance at the BH12LS38's features, DVDINFOpro provides a little more information on some of the drive's reading and writing capabilities. By looking at the screenshot above you can see that LG's new drive can read and write to most BD and DVD formats.
LG's new drive also supports a feature called "bitsetting." Using programs like Nero or CD Speed, you can set the book type of both DVD+R and DVD+R DL media to "DVD-ROM". For whatever reason though, the drive does not let you set the book type of DVD+RW discs.
