Nero CD Speed v4.50 - DVD-ROM:
A little editorial note here. Like a CD-ROM, you will get different benchmark results depending on what kind of discs you are using. You are probably going to get varying results from a full data disc to a single layer movie disc. You're also going to get different results for single and dual layer discs.
The CD Speed website recommends using a single layer DVD-ROM disc with a capacity of at least 4GB. If you use a dual layer disc you probably won't get the best results because most DVD-ROM drives slow down to read them. Some even slow down to read single layer DVD-Video discs. To make a long story short, I am using a 4.37GB single layer, single sided disc for this test.
| Samsung SH-S162L |
Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
12.14x 6.67x 16.24x |
12.11x 6.45x 16.20x |
11.94x 6.57x 15.97x |
12.34x 6.80x 16.51x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
83ms 97ms 171ms |
115ms 135ms 213ms |
136ms 148ms 226ms |
105ms 121ms 189ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
12% 12% 21% 41% |
9% 9% 20% 96% |
15% 15% 28% 52% |
6% 12% 23% 43% |
The SH-S162L performed very well when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. In our tests it started reading at 6.67x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 16.24x.Looking at the other scores, you can see that the drive's seek times were also quite good.
Nero CD Speed v4.50 - DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM:
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 disc using some general use 4x DVD-R and 2x 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
| Samsung SH-S162L |
Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.09x 5.03x 12.15x |
9.20x 5.04x 12.29x |
11.97x 6.60x 16.01x |
7.71x 4.27x 10.31x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
100ms 112ms 180ms |
125ms 136ms 229ms |
135ms 156ms 248ms |
99ms 119ms 177ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
10% 13% 25% 50% |
5% 8% 25% n/a |
16% 17% 31% 62% |
6% 13% 23% 43% |
Verbatim DVD-RW
| Samsung SH-S162L |
Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.21x 3.43x 8.30x |
9.20x 5.05x 12.30x |
9.81x 5.40x 13.12x |
6.17x 3.41x 8.25x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
112ms 129ms 205ms |
110ms 120ms 202ms |
124ms 154ms 251ms |
118ms 144ms 213ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
6% 13% 25% 46% |
5% 9% 27% n/a |
9% 15% 28% 50% |
6% 11% 22% 42% |
Verbatim DVD-R DL
| Samsung SH-S162L |
Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.22x 3.46x 8.30x |
6.05x 3.37x 8.06x |
5.47x 3.04x 7.29x |
6.19x 3.44x 8.26x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
106ms 110ms 186ms |
124ms 130ms 221ms |
211ms 221ms 316ms |
127ms 152ms 220ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: |
11% 12% |
6% 9% |
8% 13% |
7% 13% |
The SH-S162L had no problems reading DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media. In our tests, the drive was able to read DVD-R discs at a respectable 12x, but slowed to about 8x when reading DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media.
Maxell 5x DVD-RAM
| Samsung SH-S162L |
Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
4.59x 2.98x 4.95x |
4.64x 2.99x 5.00x |
4.99x 4.94x 5.01x |
4.67x 3.02x 5.04x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
94ms 101ms 195ms |
125ms 137ms 274ms |
207ms 195ms 311ms |
141ms 145ms 194ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: |
8% 13% 24% |
6% 14% 25% |
7% 13% 24% |
21% 32% 53% |
Samsung's new drive has a maximum transfer speed of 5x when reading DVD-RAM discs. By looking at the screenshot you can see that it starts reading at about 3x and accelerates, reaching 5x at the 1.6GB mark.
Nero CD Speed v4.50 - 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 disc using some 4x DVD+R and 2.4x DVD+RW media from Verbatim. I then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. The results are below.
Verbatim DVD+R
| Samsung SH-S162L |
Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
9.08x 5.01x 12.14x |
9.17x 5.09x 12.27x |
11.96x 6.60x 16.00x |
7.72x 4.25x 10.32x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
94ms 103ms 179ms |
101ms 109ms 185ms |
133ms 154ms 250ms |
97ms 121ms 186ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
10% 13% 27% 55% |
10% 7% 25% n/a% |
16% 17% 34% 65% |
6% 12% 23% 42% |
Verbatim DVD+RW
| Samsung SH-S162L |
Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.21x 3.43x 8.30x |
9.22x 5.11x 12.33x |
9.81x 5.40x 13.12x |
6.18x 3.42x 8.26x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
92ms 105ms 179ms |
106ms 122ms 195ms |
128ms 160ms 258ms |
119ms 146ms 212ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
6% 13% 26% 46% |
8% 10% 29% n/a |
11% 21% 34% 64% |
7% 13% 25% 46% |
The SH-S162L's performance with DVD+R and DVD+RW media was very similar to what we saw with DVD-R and DVD-RW media.The drive read DVD+R discs at 12x and DVD+RW media at 8x.
Verbatim DVD+R DL
| Samsung SH-S162L |
Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.22x 3.46x 8.31x |
6.05x 3.37x 8.07x |
5.47x 3.04x 7.30x |
6.20x 3.44x 8.27x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
98ms 103ms 176ms |
111ms 124ms 187ms |
148ms 185ms 294ms |
123ms 148ms 219ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: |
10% 12% |
6% 8% |
7% 12% |
7% 12% |
Reading Verbatim's double layer DVD+R media wasn't a problem for the SH-S162L either. The drive started reading at 3.46x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 8.31x.
Nero CD Speed v4.50 - 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.
| Samsung SH-S162L |
Lite-On SHM-165H6S |
NEC ND-4550A |
LG GSA-4167B |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
12.02x 6.60x 16.08x |
11.99x 6.62x 16.04x |
11.83x 6.49x 15.82x |
3.64x 2.01x 4.87x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
83ms 100ms 171ms |
114ms 122ms 197ms |
135ms 147ms 228ms |
117ms 148ms 217ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
12% 12% 21% 41% |
7% 10% 20% 97% |
15% 15% 28% 51% |
6% 11% 21% n/a |
The SH-S162L didn't slow down very much when reading single layer DVD videos. It started out at about 6.60x and reached a maximum read speed of 16.08x. Samsung's new drive was also fairly quick when reading dual layer discs. By looking at the screenshot below, you can see that the drive's transfer speeds peaked at about 8.55x.
To see how well the SHM-165H6S worked as a DVD player, I watched a few scenes from Transformers: The Movie and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace using WinDVD 4 and PowerDVD 5. The drive had no problems playing back these movies with either program and was fairly quiet.
