Lite-On LH-20A1H 20x "Super AllWrite" DVD±RW/RAM

What's in the box?:

• Lite-On LH-20A1H 20x "Super AllWrite" DVD±RW/RAM Drive
• Nero Software CD
• User's Manual
• Quick Installation Guide
• Front Panel Replacement Guide
• Beige Replacement Bezel
• Mounting Screws
• Warranty Information

Physical Features:

The drive Lite-On sent us for this review was manufactured in November of 2006 and had firmware LL05.For this review we used firmware versions LL05 and LL06.

The look of Lite-On's drives really hasn't changed much over the last few years. While they've gotten new features and faster speeds, the basic design has remained the same. The LH-20A1H is no exception. From the front, it's almost identical to Lite-On's previous DVD writers, sharing not only the bezel design, but many of the same logos. Along the front of the tray you can see a few showing support for the DVD+ReWritable and DVD Multi specifications, as well as HP's LightScribe technology.

Below the tray you can see the LH-20A1H's single LED. Off by default, this LED lights up green whenever the drive is reading or writing.

If black isn't your color, you're in luck. The retail version of the LH-20A1H also comes with a beige replacement bezel.

The rear of the LH-20A1H is fairly straight forward. By looking at the picture below you can see the drive's IDE interface, power connector and audio output connectors.

Starting from the left of the IDE connection you'll see the jumper switch for master, slave and cable select. Next to the jumper block is the analog audio connector. The connector on the far left is the digital audio output.

Technical Specs:

The specs below have been taken from Lite-On's website and the documentation that came along with the drive.

LightScribe:

Note: We took a much closer look at LightScribe technology in our review of the BenQ DW1625. In this review we'll just go over some of the basics and see how the LH-20A1H performs with the bundled software.

The LH-20A1H is one of the latest drives from Lite-On 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 LH-20A1H, Lite-On turned to Nero. Using the bundled software you can both 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 created a few discs using Verbatim's LightScribe v1.2 DVD+R and color CD-R media. In both cases, the quality has been set to "best". The results are shown below.

Verbatim CD-R v1.2 - 21 minutes		Verbatim DVD+R v1.2 - 19 minutes

While the LH-20A1H had no problems printing labels, its LightScribe implementation does have one annoying issue. If you print a label and then try to burn a DVD, the drive's writing speed is limited to only 6x. The only way to get the LH-20A1H to write at its maximum speed is to reboot the computer. Lite-On is aware of the problem and is currently working on a fix.

The LH-20A1H features what Lite-On calls SmartWrite technology. Previously known as HyperTuning, SmartWrite automatically creates writing strategies for unknown, or unsupported, DVD±R and DVD±R DL media. Simply enable SmartWrite, insert your disc and burn. The new writing strategy is then created on-the-fly.

SmartWrite also works with supported media. When enabled, the drive will ignore the writing strategy stored in the firmware and instead create a new one. This is very useful if you are trying to record a disc that uses another company's MID code (I.E. fake TYG02 code discs).

OverSpeed:

The LH-20A1H also supports Lite-On's OverSpeed function. When enabled, the drive will try to write to your DVD±R media at a speed higher than what would normally be supported. To do this, OverSpeed relies heavily on SmartWrite. When a disc is written at a higher than normal speed, SmartWrite will automatically create a new writing strategy for it.

I should point out that OverSpeed does have some limitations. To prevent people from writing to all DVD±R media at 20x, the writing speed can only be bumped up one level. For example, if your disc was normally supported at only 8x, the LH-20A1H would now give you the option to write to it at 12x.

More Features:

By looking at the picture below, you can see that Lite-On's new DVD writer is identified as a "LITE-ON DVDRW LH-20A1H."

Nero also shows that the LH-20A1H has a maximum CD writing speed of 48x and a 2048KB buffer. This buffer is backed up by Super-Link buffer underrun protection as well. According to Nero, the LH-20A1H can also write CD-Text and overburn. When testing the drive's capacity, it had no problems overburning up to 99 minutes with our CompUSA media.

Using Alex Noe's Weak Sector Utility we were able to determine that the LH-20A1H is a "two sheep" burner and is capable of backing titles protected by SafeDisc 2.90. Like most drives, it did not pass the "three sheep" test.

Here is a screen shot from Nero's InfoTool. This program queries the drive to see what its reading and writing capabilities are. InfoTool had no problems detecting the LH-20A1H's maximum reading and writing speeds, recording modes, buffer underrun protection and 2MB buffer.

InfoTool also shows that the LH-20A1H 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. While there isn't an RPC-1 firmware available for the drive, there is a utility available that can make the drive region free.

While InfoTool gives us a quick glance at the LH-20A1H'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 while Lite-On's new drive can read and write to DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL and DVD-RAM media, it does not support the Mt. Rainier format.

The LH-20A1H also supports a feature called "bitsetting." Using CD Speed, you can set the book type forDVD+R, DVD+RW and DVD+R DL media. Take note that the settings are all linked together so when you set the book type for one media type, it is applied to all.