LG WH10LS30 Super Multi Blue 10x Blu-ray Disc ReWriter

For the WH10LS30'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 WH10LS30. With this software, users can create various types of CD's, DVD's and BD's or 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 WH10LS30 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.

Like LG's previous Super Multi Blue drives, the WH10LS30 isn't short on features. This Serial ATA equipped drive not only looks good, it offers some of the fastest Blu-ray reading and writing speeds available. The WH10LS30 is also backwards compatible with all major CD and DVD formats and 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 WH10LS30 gets a solid 9 out of 10 for its features.

Along with smaller cable size, one of the biggest benefits of Serial ATA is its ease of installation. Because it uses a point to point connection, setting jumpers has become a thing of the past. In most cases, installation is as simple as plugging in the SATA and power cables and turning the computer on. Needless to say, it took only a couple of minutes to install LG's Super Multi Blue drive in our test computer. After making sure that the WH10LS30 was recognized by Windows, I was ready to start installing the software.

Software Installation:

As I mentioned earlier, the WH10LS30 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.

The Documentation:

Most of the WH10LS30's documentation is located in the "Owner's Manual." Similar to the ones included with LG's other 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 WH10LS30. 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 WH10LS30 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 WH10LS30.

Like LG's previous Super Multi Blue drive, the WH10LS30 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 WH10LS30 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 writers, the performance tests are normally broken down into six sections: CD read, CD write, DVD read, DVD write, BD read and BD write. 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.

BD Write Tests: To test the BD write speeds, CD Speed's "Create Data Disc" feature is used to burn an entire BD-R/RE disc. Times are recorded.

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 Super Multi Blue drive performed pretty well in our CD Winbench tests. In the transfer rate tests, the WH10LS30 started reading at 17.8x on the inside and reached a maximum speed of 43x on the outside of the disc. As you can see, this resulted in a very good overall CD Winbench score.

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 WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	36.01x 20.78x 47.61x	31.40x 18.46x 41.39x	30.94x 17.80x 40.63x	36.43x 21.08x 48.18x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	134ms 148ms 206ms	148ms 169ms 308ms	114ms 129ms 186ms	127ms 146ms 214ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 2% 3%	6% 9% 6% 71%	1% 1% 8% 9%	1% 1% 2% 5%

The WH10LS30 didn't perform as well as I had expected when reading pressed CD's. While rated at 48x,LG's new Blu-ray Disc writer came up a little short of this number in our tests. On a more positive note, the WH10LS30's seek times were fairly good.

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 WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	36.59x 20.96x 48.72x	31.66x 18.40x 42.02x	25.32x 14.58x 33.57x	36.95x 21.17x 48.93x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	141ms 154ms 207ms	162ms 177ms 374ms	161ms 187ms 335ms	122ms 145ms 225ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 2% 4%	0% 1% 3% 6%	2% 8% 6% n/a	1% 1% 2% 5%

The WH10LS30 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 48.72x in our tests.

LG's new Blu-ray drive had no problems recognizing our 99 minute CompUSA media. The WH10LS30 read our test disc from start to finish, reaching a maximum transfer speed of 49.51x.

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 WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	30.60x 17.88x 40.42x	18.71x 11.01x 24.71x	18.72x 10.99x 24.74x	30.00x 17.48x 39.69x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	134ms 152ms 203ms	157ms 180ms 319ms	155ms 179ms 319ms	119ms 142ms 215ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 2% 3%	0% 1% 2% 4%	0% 8% 6% n/a	1% 1% 2% 5%

While the WH10LS30 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 WH10LS30 supports accurate stream and has the ability to retrieve C2 error information from the CD, it does not cache audio data.

CD Speed	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20
Average: Start: End: DAE Quality: Accurate Stream:	30.80x 18.26x 40.69x 10 Yes	31.26x 18.84x 41.23x 10 Yes	31.27x 18.84x 41.36x 10 Yes	30.25x 17.91x 39.96x 10 Yes

The WH10LS30 did fairly well in our DAE tests. While not as fast as the Plextor PX-B940SA and Pioneer BDR-2203, it was able to rip pressed audio CD's at at respectable 40.69x.

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 WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20
Average: Start: End: DAE Quality: Accurate Stream:	30.20x 18.04x 39.81x 10 Yes	31.02x 18.79x 41.05x 10 Yes	24.83x 15.09x 32.76x 10 Yes	29.90x 17.99x 39.43x 10 Yes

LG's new Blu-ray drive was a little slower when ripping audio CD-R discs. Nevertheless, this didn't keep it from reaching a maximum DAE speed of 39.81x in our tests. So how did it do in CD Speed's advanced DAE tests? Take a look below.

The WH10LS30 completed CD Speed's advanced DAE tests with an average score of 28.94x. 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 WH10LS30 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 WH10LS30 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 21.59x and accelerates, reaching a maximum speed of 48.53x at the end of the session. This gave LG's new drive an average writing speed of about 36.62x.

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 WH10LS30 was able to write an entire 701MB CD in 2:41.

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 WH10LS30'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 WH10LS30 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 WH10LS30 took 2:26 to write 400MB with Nero and 2:37 to do the same with Drag-to-Disc.

The WH10LS30 also erases at 24x. At this speed, it took the drive 18 seconds to do a quick erase and 3:43 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 WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	12.30x 6.81x 16.43x	11.93x 6.65x 15.96x	11.93 6.64x 15.96x	12.34x 6.84x 16.51x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	113ms 126ms 192ms	155ms 189ms 339ms	153ms 186ms 338ms	111ms 115ms 191ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 6% 12% 61%	14% 13% 25% 46%	12% 13% 23% 44%	4% 8% 15% 27%

The WH10LS30 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 16.43x. Looking at the other scores, you can see that the drive's seek 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 WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	12.33x 6.84x 16.46x	11.94x 6.64x 16.00x	11.95x 6.64x 15.98x	12.36x 6.88x 16.52x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	122ms 126ms 195ms	165ms 196ms 353ms	165ms 198ms 352ms	116ms 125ms 191ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 6% 12% 61%	14% 14% 25% 47%	16% 13% 23% n/a	4% 8% 15% 28%

Verbatim DVD-RW

	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	9.28x 5.13x 12.41x	9.36x 5.21x 12.50x	9.36x 5.20x 12.52x	7.72x 4.28x 10.32x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	114ms 150ms 216ms	167ms 378ms 388ms	167ms 394ms 385ms	106ms 124ms 199ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 6% 12% n/a	14% 14% 25% n/a	14% 13% 24% n/a	4% 8% 15% 28%

The WH10LS30 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 WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	9.73x 6.12x 12.24x	4.77x 3.13x 5.00x	4.97x 4.73x 5.00x	4.65x 3.01x 5.02x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	168ms 171ms 224ms	206ms 4ms 1ms	193ms 3ms 1ms	185ms 201ms 276ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x:	5% 8% 13%	23% 40% 71%	18% 30% 45%	21% 34% 53%

The WH10LS30 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 6.12x 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 WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	12.33x 6.83x 16.49x	11.95x 6.62x 16.02x	11.95x 6.67x 16.00x	12.37x 6.87x 16.53x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	121ms 128ms 197ms	167ms 201ms 357ms	170ms 204ms 357ms	120ms 127ms 198ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 6% 12% 62%	14% 14% 25% 46%	16% 13% 23% n/a	4% 8% 15% 28%

Verbatim DVD+RW

	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	9.30x 5.16x 12.42x	9.38x 5.20x 12.55x	9.39x 5.23x 12.56x	7.73x 4.30x 10.33x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	114ms 129ms 197ms	167ms 200ms 352ms	166ms 199ms 353ms	108ms 122ms 190ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 7% 12% 60%	15% 14% 25% n/a	14% 13% 23% n/a	4% 7% 15% 28%

Verbatim DVD+R DL

The WH10LS30'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 WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	9.12x 5.04x 12.20x	11.81x 6.57x 15.82x	11.81x 6.58x 15.79x	3.66x 2.03x 4.89x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	124ms 143ms 224ms	157ms 192ms 341ms	149ms 176ms 327ms	134ms 167ms 228ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 6% 12% 60%	14% 13% 25% 46%	12% 13% 23% 43%	4% 7% 13% 31%

The WH10LS30 didn't do as well as some of the other drives when reading DVD videos. While not nearly as slow as the BH08LS20, it reached a maximum read speed of only 12x when reading single layer discs.

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 WH10LS30 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 WH10LS30 uses CAV. By looking at the screenshots above, you can see that LG's new drive starts writing at about 6.7x and accelerates, reaching its maximum speed at the end of the disc.

The WH10LS30 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 WH10LS30 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 WH10LS30 , 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 WH10LS30'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 WH10LS30'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 WH10LS30 performed fairly well in our packet writing tests. While not as fast as the other drives when writing to DVD+RW discs, it turned in some respectable times with DVD-RW and DVD-RAM media.

Double Layer DVD Write Tests - Nero Burning Rom 9.4.26.0:

To test the double layer DVD writing performance of the WH10LS30, 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 WH10LS30 performed relatively well when writing to DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media. Thanks to its 8x writing speed, the drive took 16:18 to write 8001MB of data to DVD+R DL media and 16:53 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 Verbatim's 8x DVD+R DL media. Aside from a few isolated spikes, the PI/PIF rates stayed within acceptable limits. Unfortunately, the results weren't as good with Verbatim's 8x DVD-R DL and Memorex's 8x DVD+R DL media. While there weren't any readability issues, the error rates were a bit high throughout some sections of the discs.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - BD-ROM:

To test the WH10LS30'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 WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	3.61x 2.02x 4.83x	5.95x 3.33x 7.94x	5.93x 3.33x 7.85x	3.62x 2.02x 4.83x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	87ms 4ms 3ms	78ms 208ms 350ms	68ms 198ms 346ms	93ms 4ms 3ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 0% 1% 2%	0% 1% 8% 4%	0% 1% 5% 3%	0% 0% 1% 2%

While the WH10LS30 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 Blu-ray Disc writer 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 WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	7.64x 4.34x 10.14x	5.97x 3.41x 7.94x	5.94x 3.41x 7.78x	6.09x 3.47x 8.08x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	90ms 5ms 4ms	76ms 215ms 363ms	84ms 223ms 368ms	104ms 4ms 3ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 1% 3%	0% 1% 7% 4%	0% 1% 6% 4%	0% 0% 1% 2%

Memorex BD-RE

	LG WH10LS30	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	6.10x 3.48x 8.10x	5.97x 3.41x 7.92x	5.91x 3.41x 7.41x	3.64x 2.07x 4.84x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	91ms 4ms 4ms	79ms 220ms 369ms	81ms 221ms 361ms	116ms 4ms 3ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 1% 3%	0% 1% 7% 4%	0% 1% 6% 4%	0% 0% 1% 2%

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.

BD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16:

To test the BD writing performance of LG's new drive I used BD-R, BD-R DL and BD-RE media from Memorex, Moser Baer, Sony, TDK and Verbatim. To get the writing times, CD Speed's "Create Data Disc" feature was used. I also ran the discs through CD Speed's transfer rate test to make sure that the WH10LS30 could read them back. .

The WH10LS30 is the first drive from LG that can write to BD-R media at 10x. By looking at the screenshot above, you can see that LG's new drive starts writing at about 5.1x and accelerates, reaching its maximum speed at the 14.25 GB mark.

The WH10LS30 performed very well when writing to BD-R media. While not as fast as the Plextor PX-B940SA, it took about 11 and a half minutes to burn a 25GB disc. LG's new drive didn't disappoint when writing to BD-R DL media either. Thanks to its 8x writing speed, the WH10LS30 took a little more than 27 minutes to burn an entire 50GB worth of data.

The WH10LS30 completed our Blu-ray writing tests without any problems. The drive wrote to all of our test media at its rated speeds or better and, looking at the transfer rates, you can see that it had no problems reading the discs back.

Performance Revisited:

Like LG's previous Super Multi Blue drives, the WH10LS30 performed pretty well throughout most our tests. The drive flew through our BD writing tests, turning in some very impressive times with BD-R and BD-R DL media. Reading Blu-ray Discs wasn't a problem for the WH10LS30 either. The drive was able to read BD-R discs at 10x and both BD-RE and BD-R DL media at 8x, but slowed to 4.8x when reading AACS protected BD-ROM's.

The WH10LS30 also did reasonably well in our CD and DVD read tests. Along with some fairly good seek times, the drive 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 WH10LS30 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 WH10LS30 gets a solid 8 out of 10 for the performance section of this review.

The WH10LS30 is a good example of what we've come to expect from LG. While affordably priced, this Super Multi Blue drive offers some of the fastest BD reading and writing speeds available as well as support for technologies like LightScribe.

The WH10LS30 is the first drive from LG with the ability to write to both BD-R media at 10x. At this speed, it took about 11 and a half minutes to burn an entire 25GB disc. While this wasn't enough to top the 12x Blu-ray Disc writer from Plextor, LG's new Super Multi Blue drive gave it a serious run for its money. The WH10LS30 also performed very well when writing to BD-R DL media, burning a full 50GB BD-R DL disc in a little more than 27 minutes. The drive wasn't nearly as fast when writing to BD-RE media. However, its performance was on par with the other Blu-ray Disc writers I've tested.

Using the bundled software, the WH10LS30  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 WH10LS30 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.

LG's new drive also has the ability to read and write to all standard DVD formats, including DVD-RAM. The WH10LS30 performed very well when writing to DVD±R discs, taking about 6 minutes to burn an entire 4.7GB DVD.  The drive also had no problems holding its own when writing to other types of media. However, the writing quality could have been better with some DVD±R DL discs. Nevertheless, the WH10LS30 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 WH10LS30 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 WH10LS30 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 Super Multi Blue drive also has its share of features. To prevent buffer underruns, the WH10LS30  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.

The retail version of the LG WH10LS30 is available now and can be purchased through retailers like Amazon for less than $170.

Highs:

• Writes to BD-R  media at 10x
• Writes to BD-R DL media at 8x
• Writes to BD-RE media at 2x
• 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 BD-ROM's and BD-R media at 10x
• Reads BD-RE and BD-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-R and DVD±R writing quality
• Low seek times
• 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
• Questionable writing quality with some DVD±R DL media
• Cannot set the book type of DVD+RW media
• Overburns to only 95:10