Pioneer DVR-R100 16x DVD±RW

DVD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 6.3.1.26:

To test the DVD writing performance of the DVR-R100 I used Verbatim 16x DVD+R, Verbatim 16x DVD-R, Verbatim 6x DVD-RW and Ricoh 8x DVD+RW media. I used Nero CD/DVD Speed's Data Disc creation feature to burn 4.36GB of random files and directories to our test discs.

When writing to DVD+R media at 16x, the DVR-R100 uses CAV. By looking at the screenshot above, you can see that Pioneer's new drive starts writing at just under 6x and works its way up to just over 16x by the end of the disc. This writing style is the same for DVD-R media when recorded at 16x, however the drive begins burning closer to 6.7x, which allows for a slightly shorter recording time for this format.

The DVR-R100 performed well enough when writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media at 16x. In both cases, the drive took neither the first place nor the last place in our comparison tests. Rewriting also wasn't a problem for Pioneer's new drive, which managed to break the previous record for fastest DVD-RW recording, although performed a little below average when recording DVD+RWs.

So now you're wondering about what kind of media support the DVR-R100 has? Just take a look below for a list of all the media we have put through this drive while it has been at our labs.

Finding media that would work at 16x was not as simple as I would have liked. Much of the 16x DVD±R media currently available at retail outlets and online media stores worked at speeds ranging from 4x to as high as 12x. Only the 16x media from TDK, Sony, Maxell, and a few other major brand were able to be burned at their proper speed. On the bright side, many different types of 8x DVD-R and DVD+R media were able to be burned at 12x.

So what about writing quality? Testing a drive's DVD writing quality isn't easy. Until recently there were very few options for an end user, unless you wanted to shell out thousands of dollars for a certified test machine. Fortunately, there are now several drives capable of testing for different types of read errors on DVD±R and DVD±RW media. For this review, we will be using the Plextor PX-716SA combined with PXScan (created by Alex Noe) to scan for PIE, PIF, Jitter and Beta errors. Additional software from Plextor is used to run transfer rate tests on the media as well. The Lite-On SOHW-832S is also being used in this review, and combined with DVDInfoPro it is able to scan for PI errors and PI Failures. Finally, a third drive, the BenQ DW1640 is also used, to offer a third and "tie breaking" opinion for each disc tested. The BenQ DW1640 when also combined with DVDInfoPro, it is able to report not only PI Errors, and PI Failures, but also PO Failures (Parity Outer Failures), and even Jitter.

So what are "good" results supposed to look like? Unfortunately, every drive has its own way of interpreting the media's quality, so it's impossible to set an exact set of values which will be true in all situations. However, it's generally accepted that with an ECC sum of 8, the number of PI errors should not exceed 280, and with an ECC sum of 1 PI Failures should not exceed 4 (in the case of the BenQ DW1640 they should not exceed 32 since it scans with an ECC sum of 8 and not 1 like the Lite-On does). Since POF errors are uncorrectable, we really don't want to see any of these errors at all. For Beta errors as tested on the PX-716SA, we want to see minimum and maximum values between the levels of -5% and +15%. For Jitter errors as tested on the BenQ DW1640, we want to see maximum values below that of 12% for maximum compatibility with DVD players.

16x DVD-R

Acro Circle 16x DVD-R @ 4x (OPTODISCR016) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate

BeAll 16x DVD-R @ 4x (BeAllG16001) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate

BenQ 16x DVD-R @ 16x (DAXON016S) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate

Maxell 16x DVD-R @ 16x (MXLRG04) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate	Memorex 16x DVD-R @ 16x (MCC03RG20) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate	Prodisc 16x DVD-R @ 12x (PRODISCF02) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate
RiData 16x DVD-R @ 12x (RITEKF1) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate	Sony 16x DVD-R @ 16x (SONY16D1) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate	Taiyo Yuden 16x DVD-R @ 16x (TYG03) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate

TDK 16x DVD-R @ 16x (TTH02) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate

Verbatim 16x DVD-R @ 16x (MCC03RG20) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate

8x DVD-R

Acro Circle 8x DVD-R @ 8x (OPTODISCR008) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate	BenQ 8x DVD-R @ 12x (SONY08D1) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate	MAM-A 8x DVD-R @ 8x (TTG02) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate
Maxell 8x DVD-R @ 12x (MXLRG03) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate	Memorex 8x DVD-R @ 8x (MCC02RG20) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate	Optodisc Generic 8x DVD-R @ 8x (OPTODISCR008) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate
Optodisc Generic 8x DVD-R @ 8x (TYG02) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate	Prodisc 8x DVD-R @ 8x (PRODISCF01) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate	RiData 8x DVD-R @ 8x (RITEKG05) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate
Ricoh 8x DVD-R @ 12x (CMCMAGAE1) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate	Sony 8x DVD-R @ 12x (SONY08D1) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate	Taiyo Yuden 8x DVD-R @ 12x (TYG02) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate

TDK 8x DVD-R @ 8x (TTG02) BenQ/Lite-On Test Transfer Rate