LG UH10LS20 Super Multi Blue 10x Blu-ray Combo Drive

Model: LG UH10LS20 Super Multi Blue 10x Blu-ray Combo Drive
Manufacturer: LG Electronics
Provided By: LG Electronics USA

LG Electronics has been a leader in the industry for nearly 50 years. Since the introduction of their first radio in 1959, the company has grown to become one of the world's top electronics manufacturers, offering everything from large home appliances to tiny mobile phones. LG is no stranger to the optical storage industry either. Working closely with companies like Hitachi, they've lead the way in this area, developing and manufacturing a wide range of products, including the industry's first "Super-Multi" drives.

Like most drive manufacturers, LG has begun to focus on the growing Blu-ray Disc market. Earlier this year, the company introduced the industry's first 10x Blu-ray combo drive, the UH10LS20. This Serial ATA equipped drive is capable of 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD±R DL, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. On top of that, it can read Blu-ray Discs at speeds as high as 10x. The UH10LS20 also includes features like a 4MB buffer, support for HP's LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling system and a software bundle from CyberLink.

Needless to say, this is only a taste of what LG's new BD combo drive has to offer. Over the next few pages we'll take a look at the UH10LS20's features and then see how it compares to some of the the Blu-ray drives from Lite-On and Plextor. Does LG's new Super Multi Blue drive have what it takes? More importantly, is it the best bang for your buck? Keep reading to find out.

What's in the box?:

• LG UH10LS20 Super Multi Blue Blu-ray Disc Combo Drive
• Super Multi Blue Install Disc
• Owner's Manual
• SATA Cable
• SATA Power Cable
• Mounting Screws
• Warranty Information

Physical Features:

The drive LG sent us for this review was manufactured in January of 2010 and had firmware version 1.00. At the time of this review, this is the only official firmware available for the UH10LS20.

From the front, the UH10LS20 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 UH10LS20 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 UH10LS20's single LED. Off by default, this LED lights up a bright blue whenever the drive is reading or writing.

The rear of the UH10LS20 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.

LightScribe:

The UH10LS20 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. For the UH10LS20, 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, I printed a disc using Verbatim's LightScribe v1.2 CD-R media, with the quality set to "best". The results are shown below.

Verbatim 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 UH10LS20."

The Nero screenshot also shows that the UH10LS20 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 UH10LS20 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 UH10LS20 is a "two sheep" burner. This means that Sony'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 UH10LS20's reading and writing speeds and supported disc types.

Opti Drive Control also shows that the UH10LS20 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 Opti Drive Control gives us a quick glance at the UH10LS20'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 DVD formats and read back BD-R, BD-RE and BD-ROM discs.

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.

For the UH10LS20's software bundle, LG has turned to CyberLink. The CD that comes with the drive contains the CyberLink BD Solution suite which includes PowerProducer, Power2Go, PowerBackup, LabelPrint, MediaShow and PowerDVD.

CyberLink PowerProducer 5 - With CyberLink's PowerProducer you can create your own movie discs quickly and easily. Right from the start, this wizard based software gives you a number of options to select from. From here you can choose to produce a new movie disc, edit an existing one or record video directly to DVD or BD.

PowerProducer lets you create a number of different movie discs. Looking at the menu below, you can choose to create a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray Disc. The software also supports various disc capacities and formats including DVD-VR, DVD+VR and BDAV.

While you can capture your own video, PowerProducer gives you the ability to import video files in a number of different formats. Once added to your production, you can use the built-in editor to trim, merge or split your video clips. PowerProducer also allows you to set chapters within the video content and add your own custom menus, backgrounds, fonts and titles.

CyberLink Power2Go 6 - Power2Go is the main disc burning program included with the UH10LS20. With this software, users can create various types of CD's, DVD's and BD's as well as make backups of existing discs. Power2Go also offers enhanced security features, allowing you to password protect and encrypt the names of files on your discs.

CyberLink PowerBackup 2.5 - If you're looking for a quick and easy way to backup your data, PowerBackup is the answer. Depending on your needs, PowerBackup can do full, differential, and incremental backups as well as fast stream-to-disc archiving.

Backup jobs can be scheduled to run at regular intervals so the data is always protected. PowerBackup also offers more advanced features like file filtering, compression and password protection.

CyberLink LabelPrint 2.5 - The UH10LS20 also comes with CyberLink's disc labeling software. With LabelPrint, you can design and print labels, covers and inlays in four easy steps. Just select your template type, disc information, text layout, background image and print destination. LabelPrint also supports LightScribe technology, allowing you to burn images and text onto the top of your discs.

CyberLink MediaShow 4 - With MediaShow, you can manage, enhance and share your photos and videos. The software features drag-and-drop functionality as well as automatic sorting, built-in search, easy-to-add tags, and detailed thumbnails. MediaShow can also be used to fix and enhance your photos and videos and create a slideshow which can be burned to DVD, turned into a screensaver or uploaded to Flickr and YouTube. 

CyberLink PowerDVD 8 - CyberLink's PowerDVD is one of the more popular software DVD players on the market right now. Along with support for DVD's, it can be used to play back Blu-ray Discs and other high-def formats including H.264, HD MPEG-2, and WMV-HD. With its support for BD-Live, PowerDVD also gives you the ability to access additional content via the Internet.

While affordably priced, LG's new BD combo drive delivers a good number of features. The UH10LS20 not only supports all major CD, DVD and BD formats, it offers some pretty impressive specs. The drive is capable of 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD±R DL, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. More importantly, it can read Blu-ray Discs at speeds as high as 10x. The UH10LS20 also includes features like a 4MB buffer, support for LightScribe and a great software bundle from CyberLink. With all this, it's easy to see why the LG UH10LS20 gets a solid 9 out of 10 for its features.

Software Installation:

As I mentioned earlier, the UH10LS20 comes with a CD full of software from CyberLink. If you have autorun enabled, the menu pictured below will automatically come up when you insert the disc.

As you can see, this menu is pretty straight forward. To start the setup process, simply click on the "Install Now" button. After selecting your preferred language and entering your customer information, you'll be presented with a list of components to choose from.

From here you can choose to install the BD Advisor, LabelPrint, MediaShow, Power2Go, PowerBackup, PowerDVD, PowerProducer, YouCam or LG's firmware update utility. To complete the installation, select the components you want and click next a few more times. Once the files are copied over, you can start burning your own discs and playing Blu-ray movies.

The Documentation:

Most of the UH10LS20's documentation is located in the "Owner's Manual." Similar to the ones included with LG's other Super Multi Blue drives, this manual covers a number of topics. It starts out by going over the system requirements and the functions of the various buttons and connectors located on the front and back of the UH10LS20. While the diagrams are small, they are clearly labeled and easy to understand. You will also want to pay special attention to the system requirements, especially if you plan to play Blu-ray movies protected by AACS.

From here, the manual jumps into the physical installation of the drive. The instructions cover all the basics including how to install the UH10LS20 into an empty drive bay and hook up the cables. The manual continues on by going over the basic operation of the drive. It explains how to insert and eject a disc and how to get one out of the drive in case of an emergency. Last but not least, it finishes up with a short troubleshooting section and a page full of specifications for the UH10LS20.

Like the other LG drives we've reviewed, the UH10LS20 was very easy to install. Even though Blu-ray is still a relatively new technology, there were no problems getting the drive or the software installed and working correctly. If you do run into trouble, the documentation LG has provided is more than sufficient. With this in mind, the UH10LS20 scores a 9 out of 10 for the installation portion of this review.

While CPU, memory, OS and other variables don't often make a huge difference, there are some nonetheless. We have a computer that is used only for testing hardware. We do this so all tests can be compared reliably.

Test System:

For Blu-ray Disc Combo drives, the performance tests are normally broken down into five sections: CD read, CD write, DVD read, DVD write and BD read. Each benchmark test has been run three times. The score given is an average of the three. DMA has been enabled in device manager for all IDE devices supporting it.

CD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the CD-ROM benchmarks, CD WinBench 99 v3.0 and CD Speed v4.7.7.16 are used to test read speeds, access times and CPU usage. For DAE testing, CD Speed is used to give an overall speed rating.

CD Write Tests: To test the write speeds, Nero Burning Rom is used to write 650MB and 700MB to our test media. Times are recorded. To test rewrite scores, Nero is used again to time how long it takes to write 400MB of random files and directories. Then Roxio's Drag-to-Disc is used to test packet writing speeds. The same files are copied and pasted in Windows Explorer and timed.

DVD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the DVD benchmarks CD Speed v4.7.7.16 is used to test read speeds, access times, and CPU usage.

DVD Write Tests: To test the DVD write speeds, Nero Burning Rom is used to write a 4.38GB image to our test media. Times are recorded. Then Roxio's Drag-to-Disc is used to test packet writing speeds. For this, 4GB of random files and directories are copied and pasted in Windows Explorer and timed.

BD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the BD benchmarks, CD Speed v4.7.7.16 is used to test read speeds, access times, and CPU usage.

CD Winbench 99 Scores:

The CD Winbench test is as close as we can get to testing every day usage. It fires off eight different applications using scripts. This tries to mimic the activities of a person loading these programs onto their own computer.

LG's new BD Combo drive gave us some mixed performance in our CD Winbench tests. While the UH10LS20's overall score wasn't as high as some of the other drives, its transfer rates were fairly good. It started reading at 17.9x (2680 / 150) and reached a maximum speed of about 43.1x (6460 / 150) on the outside.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - Pressed CD:

For this test I used a pressed CD containing one Mode 1 data track. The disc is 74:38 in size and is full of data and directories.

 

	LG UH10LS20	Lite-On iHES208	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	36.10x 20.87x 47.78x	35.68x 20.74x 47.20x	36.01x 20.78x 47.61x	31.40x 18.46x 41.39x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	151ms 173ms 241ms	125ms 140ms 227ms	134ms 148ms 206ms	148ms 169ms 308ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 2% 4%	1% 1% 2% 5%	0% 1% 2% 3%	6% 9% 6% 71%

 The UH10LS20 didn't perform as well as I had expected when reading pressed CD's. While rated at 48x, LG's new BD combo drive came up a little short of this number in our tests. Looking at the other scores, its access times were also a little higher than we'd like to see. 

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - CD-R Media:

For this test I made a copy of our pressed test CD. I used 12x rated Memorex Gold 74 minute media for the tests.

 

	LG UH10LS20	Lite-On iHES208	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	36.67x 21.01x 48.58x	36.46x 20.87x 48.34x	36.59x 20.96x 48.72x	31.66x 18.40x 42.02x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	164ms 176ms 224ms	129ms 145ms 212ms	141ms 154ms 207ms	162ms 177ms 374ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	1% 1% 2% 4%	1% 1% 4% 6%	0% 1% 2% 4%	0% 1% 3% 6%

The UH10LS20 was a little faster when reading CD-R media. Thanks to this small speed boost, the drive was able to reach a maximum transfer speed of 48.58x in our tests.

LG's new Blu-ray drive had no problems recognizing our 99 minute CompUSA media. The UH10LS20 read our test disc from start to finish, reaching a maximum transfer speed of 49.53x.

 

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - CD-RW Media:

For this test I made a copy of a pressed test CD. I used some PNY 80 minute CD-RW media for the tests. 

 

	LG UH10LS20	Lite-On iHES208	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	30.66x 17.85x 40.51x	30.10x 17.46x 39.79x	30.60x 17.88x 40.42x	18.71x 11.01x 24.71x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	158ms 171ms 221ms	138ms 162ms 250ms	134ms 152ms 203ms	157ms 180ms 319ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 2% 4%	1% 1% 3% 6%	0% 1% 2% 3%	0% 1% 2% 4%

While the UH10LS20 is rated at 48x when reading pressed and CD-R media, its CD-RW read speeds are limited to only 40x. As you can see, the drive had no problems reaching this speed in our tests.

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 (DAE) - Pressed CD:

For this test I used Pure Funk. The CD is almost exactly 74 minutes. This helps to squeeze the maximum performance out of the CD.

Exact Audio Copy can tell us a lot about a drive's capabilities. You can see from the screen shot that while the LG UH10LS20 supports accurate stream, caches audio data and has the ability to retrieve C2 error information from audio CD's.     

 

CD Speed	LG UH10LS20	Lite-On iHES208	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA
Average: Start: End: DAE Quality: Accurate Stream:	30.82x 18.20x 40.72x 10 Yes	36.03x 21.71x 47.61x 10 Yes	30.80x 18.26x 40.69x 10 Yes	31.26x 18.84x 41.23x 10 Yes

The UH10LS20 did fairly well in our DAE tests. While not nearly as fast as the Lite-On iHES208, it was able to rip pressed audio CD's at at respectable 40.72x.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 (DAE) - CD-R Media:

For this test I used a copy of the Pure Funk CD. It's burned onto the same Memorex Gold 74 minute media I used in the CD Speed tests.

 

CD Speed	LG UH10LS20	Lite-On iHES208	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA
Average: Start: End: DAE Quality: Accurate Stream:	30.23x 18.03x 39.86x 10 Yes	35.70x 21.49x 47.07x 10 Yes	30.20x 18.04x 39.81x 10 Yes	31.02x 18.79x 41.05x 10 Yes

LG's new BD combo drive was a little slower when ripping audio CD-R discs. While the drive still performed relatively well, it reached a maximum DAE speed of only 39.86x. So how did it do in CD Speed's advanced DAE tests? Take a look below.

The UH10LS20 completed CD Speed's advanced DAE tests with an average score of 28.99x. The drive did not create any errors, but for whatever reason, it was not able to pass all of the on-the-fly copying tests. If you look at the advanced features, you can see that the UH10LS20 was able to read the CD-Text, subchannel data and lead in but failed to read the lead out section of the CD.

CD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 9.4.26.0 and Drag-to-Disc 9.0:

For this test I randomly generated 650MB and 700MB of files and directories to test the time it takes the drive to write and close a CD. All of the files are between 1MB and 25MB in size and no more than 10 directories deep. 

The UH10LS20 has a maximum CD writing speed of 48x. To reach this speed, it uses CAV, or Constant Angular Velocity. With Taiyo Yuden's 52x media, the drive started writing at about 21.64x and accelerates, reaching a maximum speed of 48.64x at the end of the session. This gave LG's new drive an average writing speed of about 36.73x.

To test the drive's writing times, I wrote our test data to some Taiyo Yuden media rated at 52x. The results are below.

LG's new drive did very well in our CD writing tests. Thanks to its 48x CD writing speed, the UH10LS20 was able to write an entire 701MB CD in 2:42.

To test the drive's writing quality I used Lite-On IT's KProbe2. Written by Karr Wang, this utility can be used to test the number of C1 and C2 errors on a disc. For these tests I used a Lite-On LTR-52246S (firmware 6S0F) and read the discs at 32x. 

Moser Baer 52x

Taiyo Yuden 52x

Verbatim 52x

The UH10LS20's writing quality was very good. By looking at the KProbe screenshots, you can see that the discs burned by the drive had a low number of C1 errors. More importantly, there were no C2 errors at all. 

For the rewriting tests I created 400MB of files on the hard drive and wrote them in DAO mode using Nero. To test the packet writing speeds I copied and pasted the same files off the hard drive onto a CD-RW disc using Drag-to-Disc from Roxio. Verbatim's 24x Ultra Speed CD-RW media was used for these tests.

While the UH10LS20 uses CAV when writing to CD-R discs, it uses Z-CLV, or Zone CLV, when rewriting at 24x. The drive starts rewriting at about 16x and then jumps to its maximum speed at the 9 minute mark.

LG's new drive did very well in our rewriting tests. Thanks to its 24x rewriting speed, the UH10LS20 took 2:28 to write 400MB with Nero and 2:38 to do the same with Drag-to-Disc.

The UH10LS20 also erases at 24x. At this speed, it took the drive 19 seconds to do a quick erase and 3:55 to fully erase the disc.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD-ROM:

For this test I used a single layer, single sided data DVD-ROM disc that is 4.37GB in size.

 

	LG UH10LS20	Lite-On iHES208	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	12.32x 6.81x 16.48x	12.12x 6.74x 16.20x	12.30x 6.81x 16.43x	11.93x 6.65x 15.96x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	115ms 125ms 207ms	112ms 127ms 203ms	113ms 126ms 192ms	155ms 189ms 339ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 7% 13% 62%	6% 9% 14% 27%	4% 6% 12% 61%	14% 13% 25% 46%

The UH10LS20 was fairly quick when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. In our tests it started reading at 6.81x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 16.48x. Looking at the other scores, you can see that the drive's access times were also quite good.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD-R and DVD-RW:

First, we'll look at the drive's DVD-R and DVD-RW reading performance. For this I made copies of our DVD-ROM test disk using some general use 16x DVD-R and 6x DVD-RW media from Verbatim and then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. For the DVD-RAM tests, media from Maxell was used. The results are below.

Verbatim DVD-R
 

	LG UH10LS20	Lite-On iHES208	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	12.36x 6.89x 16.52x	12.06x 6.73x 16.11x	12.33x 6.84x 16.46x	11.94x 6.64x 16.00x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	120ms 128ms 194ms	118ms 140ms 212ms	122ms 126ms 195ms	165ms 196ms 353ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 7% 13% 62%	7% 9% 15% 28%	4% 6% 12% 61%	14% 14% 25% 47%

Verbatim DVD-RW
 

	LG UH10LS20	Lite-On iHES208	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	9.27x 5.13x 12.40x	9.17x 5.09x 12.27x	9.28x 5.13x 12.41x	9.36x 5.21x 12.50x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	115ms 160ms 240ms	122ms 162ms 247ms	114ms 150ms 216ms	167ms 378ms 388ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 6% 12% n/a	9% 12% 30% 42%	4% 6% 12% n/a	14% 14% 25% n/a

The UH10LS20 had no problems reading DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media. In our tests, the drive read DVD-R discs at 16x, and both DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media at a respectable 12x.

Maxell 12x DVD-RAM
 

	LG UH10LS20	Lite-On UH10LS20	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	9.14x 6.17x 12.32x	10.46x 6.01x 12.57x	9.73x 6.12x 12.24x	4.77x 3.13x 5.00x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	195ms 192ms 35ms	127ms 142ms 216ms	168ms 171ms 224ms	206ms 4ms 1ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x:	5% 10% 18%	4% 11% 15% 27%	5% 8% 13%	23% 40% 71%

The PX-B940SA has a maximum transfer speed of 12x when reading DVD-RAM discs. By looking at the screenshot you can see that it starts reading at 6.17x and quickly accelerates, reaching 12x at the 2.6GB mark. 

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD+R and DVD+RW:

Next we'll look at the drive's DVD+R and DVD+RW reading performance. For this I made a copy of our DVD-ROM test disk using some 16x DVD+R and 8x DVD+RW media from Verbatim. I then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. The results are below.

Verbatim DVD+R
 

	LG UH10LS20	Lite-On iHES208	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	12.35x 6.86x 16.51x	12.06x 6.72x 16.12x	12.33x 6.83x 16.49x	11.95x 6.62x 16.02x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	120ms 129ms 194ms	119ms 122ms 223ms	121ms 128ms 197ms	167ms 201ms 357ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 7% 13% 62%	6% 9% 15% 28%	4% 6% 12% 62%	14% 14% 25% 46%

Verbatim DVD+RW

	LG UH10LS20	Lite-On iHES208	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	9.30x 5.17x 12.43x	9.19x 5.12x 12.27x	9.30x 5.16x 12.42x	9.38x 5.20x 12.55x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	115ms 128ms 206ms	116ms 158ms 226ms	114ms 129ms 197ms	167ms 200ms 352ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 6% 12% n/a	6% 9% 15% 27%	4% 7% 12% 60%	15% 14% 25% n/a

Verbatim DVD+R DL

	LG UH10LS20	Lite-On iHES208	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	9.29x 5.17x 12.39x	6.17x 3.44x 8.22x	9.28x 5.17x 12.37x	9.48x 5.27x 12.63x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	134ms 146ms 223ms	129ms 175ms 222ms	136ms 148ms 228ms	177ms 205ms 362ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x:	4% 19%	6% 11%	3% 13%	13% 12%

The UH10LS20's performance was very similar to what we saw with DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media. The drive read DVD+R discs at 16x and both DVD+RW and DVD+R DL media at 12x.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD-Video:

For these tests I am using the US version of Transformers: The Movie on DVD. The disc is over 4GB and single sided.

 

	LG UH10LS20	Lite-On iHES208	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	9.13x 5.05x 12.21x	11.99x 6.67x 16.04x	9.12x 5.04x 12.20x	11.81x 6.57x 15.82x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	125ms 141ms 218ms	112ms 129ms 208ms	124ms 143ms 224ms	157ms 192ms 341ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 7% 12% n/a	6% 9% 14% 26%	4% 6% 12% 60%	14% 13% 25% 46%

The UH10LS20 didn't do as well as some of the other drives when reading DVD videos. In our tests, it started out at about 5.05x and reached a maximum read speed of only 12.21x.

To see how well LG's new drive worked as a DVD player, I watched a few scenes from Transformers: The Movie and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace using the bundled version of PowerDVD. The UH10LS20 had no problems playing back either movie and was fairly quiet. 

DVD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 9.4.26.0 and Drag-to-Disc 9.0:

To test the DVD writing performance of LG's new drive I used Verbatim 16x DVD+R, 16x DVD-R, 6x DVD-RW and 8x DVD+RW media. To get the writing times, a 4.38GB image was burned to our test discs using Nero.

When writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media at 16x, the UH10LS20 uses CAV. By looking at the screenshots above, you can see that LG's new drive starts writing at about 6.8x and accelerates, reaching its maximum speed at the end of the disc.

The UH10LS20 also features 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW writing speeds. While the drive uses CLV when writing to DVD-RW media, it uses Z-CLV to reach its maximum DVD+RW writing speed.

The UH10LS20 performed very well in our DVD writing tests. While not nearly as fast as some of the 22x and 24x DVD writers we've looked at recently, it turned in some respectable times with both DVD±R and DVD±RW media.

To check the media compatibility of the UH10LS20 , I ran a few tests using some of the media available in my area. The media types, along with the average time it took the drive to write our 4.38GB image, are listed below.

So what about writing quality? Testing a drive's DVD writing quality isn't easy. Until now, there were very few options, unless you wanted to shell out thousands of dollars for a certified test machine. Thanks to KProbe, we can test a disc's PI (Parity Inner) and PIF (Parity Inner Fail) rates. For these tests I used a Lite-On SOHW-1673S and read the discs at 4x with the PI and PIF ECC sums set to 8 and 1 respectively. For comparison, I also tested the discs on a BenQ DW1640. When combined with Nero CD Speed, the DW1640 is able to report PI Errors, PI Failures, Parity Outer Failures and even jitter levels. For this test, the discs are read at 8x with both the PI and PIF ECC sums set to 8.

So what are "good" results supposed to look like? With KProbe, the PI errors should not exceed 280 and the number of PIF errors should stay below 4. When testing with CD Speed, the number of PI errors should stay below 280 as well. However, because it scans with an ECC sum of 8, a higher number of PIF errors is acceptable, as long as they do not exceed 32. Since POF errors are uncorrectable, we really don't want to see any of them at all.

I also put these discs through a "stress test" by reading them back at 16x with the DW1640. By reading these discs back at this speed, we can see if there are any readability issues caused by the number of errors or high levels of jitter. 

The UH10LS20's writing quality was pretty good with most of the DVD+R media we tested. Aside from a few small spikes, the PI/PIF rates stayed within acceptable limits.

Lastly, here are some results from our DVD-R test media. While the writing quality varied from one manufacturer to another, the results were fairly good for the most part.

To test the UH10LS20's packet writing performance I used Drag-to-Disc 9.0. Verbatim 8x DVD+RW, Verbatim 6x DVD-RW and Maxell 5x DVD-RAM media were used once again.

The UH10LS20 performed fairly well in our packet writing tests. While not as fast as the Lite-On iHES208 when writing to DVD-RAM discs, it turned in some respectable times with DVD-RW and DVD+RW media.

Double Layer DVD Write Tests - Nero Burning Rom 9.4.26.0:

To test the double layer DVD writing performance of the UH10LS20, I used DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media from Verbatim and Memorex. I created about 8GB of random files and directories on my hard drive and then burned them to our test discs with Nero.

The UH10LS20 performed relatively well when writing to DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media. Thanks to its 8x writing speed, the drive took 16:26 to write 8001MB of data to DVD+R DL media and 17:04 to do the same with DVD-R DL discs. So what about writing quality? Take a look below.

The writing quality was pretty good with the DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media from Verbatim and Memorex. Aside from a few small spikes, the PI/PIF rates stayed within acceptable limits and there were no readability problems.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - BD-ROM:

To test the UH10LS20'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.

 

	LG UH10LS20	Lite-On iHES208	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	3.62x 2.02x 4.83x	6.05x 3.38x 8.08x	3.61x 2.02x 4.83x	5.95x 3.33x 7.94x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	92ms 4ms 3ms	71ms 188ms 253ms	87ms 4ms 3ms	78ms 208ms 350ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 1% 3%	0% 0% 1% 3%	0% 0% 1% 2%	0% 1% 8% 4%

While the UH10LS20 is rated at 10x when reading single layer BD-ROM discs, its speeds are limited to only 4.8x when reading AACS protected titles. In our tests, the drive started reading at 2.02x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 4.83x.

LG's new BD combo drive had no problems playing back The Fifth Element and The Simpsons Movie using the bundled version of PowerDVD. Just keep in mind that if your monitor is connected to your video card using DVI or HDMI, both need to be HDCP compliant to play AACS protected titles. If not, you can still play them by switching the connection to VGA or using software like Slysoft's AnyDVD HD.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - 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 Panasonic and then ran our BD read tests with CD Speed.

Panasonic BD-R
 

	LG UH10LS20	Lite-On iHES208	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	7.68x 4.36x 10.19x	4.59x 2.62x 6.10x	7.64x 4.34x 10.14x	5.97x 3.41x 7.94x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	91ms 5ms 4ms	91ms 195ms 291ms	90ms 5ms 4ms	76ms 215ms 363ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 1% 3%	0% 1% 1% 3%	0% 1% 1% 3%	0% 1% 7% 4%

Memorex BD-RE

	LG UH10LS20	Lite-On iHES208	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	6.10x 3.48x 8.10x	4.59x 2.62x 6.10x	6.10x 3.48x 8.10x	5.97x 3.41x 7.92x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	98ms 5ms 4ms	88ms 184ms 273ms	91ms 4ms 4ms	79ms 220ms 369ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 1% 3%	0% 1% 1% 3%	0% 1% 1% 3%	0% 1% 7% 4%

Panasonic BD-R DL

LG's new drive had no problems reading BD-R, BD-RE and BD-R DL media.  In our tests, the drive read BD-R discs at 10x, and both BD-RE and BD-R DL media at an impressive 8x.

Performance Revisited:

Like LG's previous Super Multi Blue drives, the UH10LS20 performed pretty well throughout most our tests. The drive had no problems playing back Blu-ray movies and reached some impressive speeds when reading BD-R, BD-RE and BD-R DL media. The UH10LS20 also did reasonably well in our CD and DVD read tests. While there were a few cases where its access times were a bit high, it read CD's at speeds as high at 48x and single layer data DVD's and DVD±R media at 16x. When it came to writing CD's and DVD's, the UH10LS20 held its own throughout most of our tests and the writing quality was, for the most part, quite good. With all things considered, the LG UH10LS20 gets a solid 8 out of 10 for the performance section of this review.

Over the years, we've had a number of LG's Super Multi Blue drives in the 'Labs. With each new drive, they've raised the bar in regards to performance and features. While lacking BD writing capabilities, the UH10LS20 continues this trend by offering some of the fastest reading and writing speeds available on a BD combo drive as well as support for technologies like LightScribe.

Using the bundled software, the UH10LS20 played all of the Blu-ray movies I had on hand, including those protected by BD+ and with BD-Live enabled features. The drive also performed fairly well in our transfer rate tests, reading BD-R discs at 10x and both BD-RE and BD-R DL media at a respectable 8x. Unfortunately, the UH10LS20 slowed to only 4.8x when reading AACS protected BD-ROM's. While this doesn't have any effect on movie playback, there are better drives out there if you want to rip BD movies.

With a maximum DVD±R writing speed of 16x, the UH10LS20 is no match for the current crop of DVD writers. Nevertheless, it was faster than most of the Blu-ray drives I've tested,  taking about 6 minutes to burn an entire 4.7GB DVD.  The UH10LS20 also had no problems holding its own when writing to other types of media and was fairly quick when reading DVD's. In our tests, it was able to read single layer DVD-ROM's and DVD±R discs at 16x and other types of recordable media at 12x.

Reading and writing CD's wasn't a problem for the UH10LS20 either. In our tests, it read pressed and CD-R media at speeds as high as 48x and CD-RW discs at 40x. This level of performance carried over to our DAE tests, where the drive ripped audio CD's at speeds as high as 40x. As a writer, the UH10LS20 performed as expected. The drive turned in some respectable times thanks to its 48x CD-R and 24x CD-RW writing speeds and its writing quality was quite good.

LG's new BD combo drive also has its share of features. To prevent buffer underruns, the UH10LS20 is equipped with a 4MB buffer that is backed up by some sort of buffer underrun technology. The drive also supports HP's LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling system and has the ability to set the book type of DVD+R and DVD+R DL media. Last but not least, LG has included a great software bundle from CyberLink.

In the end, it usually comes down to price. For what it offers, LG's BD combo drive is surprisingly affordable. The retail version of the UH10LS20 can be purchased from Amazon or through the retailers listed on Pricegrabber for about $115.

Highs:

• Reads single layer BD-ROM's and BD-R media at 10x
• Reads BD-RE and BD-R DL media at 8x
• Writes to DVD-R and DVD+R media at 16x
• Writes to DVD+RW media at 8x
• Writes to DVD-RW media at 6x
• Writes to DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media at 8x
• Reads single layer DVD-ROM's at 16x
• Reads DVD±R media at 16x
• Reads DVD±RW and DVD±R DL media at 12x
• Features 48x CD-R and 24x CD-RW writing speeds
• Includes buffer underrun prevention technology
• 4MB buffer
• Good CD and DVD writing quality
• Includes software from CyberLink
• Nice looking design with bright blue LED
• Supports bitsetting for DVD+R and DVD+R DL media
• Affordably priced

Lows:

• Reads AACS protected BD-ROM's at only 4.8x
• Cannot set the book type of DVD+RW media
• High CD access times
• Overburns to only 95:10