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dwallersv
12th February 2006, 16:01
First, to be clear, this is not an abstract, subjective thread about what is the best DVD-R media. It is an objective discussion of measurable quality with a particular product, and my purpose here is to find out if others have the same experiences or not so I can better determine how to solve my problem.

The problem: I purchased a 100-pack of TDK 16x DVD-R printable blanks at COSTCO last weekend. I have a Plextor P716A burner. When I use this blank media and record at any speed over 4x, the resulting disc has a lot of problems on playback on all DVD players in my house, and shows poor quality with the tools provided by Plextor for analyzing discs.

I don't know, however, if it is a problem with my drive, or with the media. I've been able to get a few good burns at 8x, but not reliably so. 16x is a total bust.

Of course, one of the reasons I bought 16x media is to burn at higher speed. Even though this media was relatively inexpensive (they had a 2 for 1, so at $45 the cost per disc comes out to $0.225 -- really good), 4x media is cheaper (when there isn't a deal like this). If I have a drive problem, and just can't burn reliably at higher speeds despite the supposed capability of the drive, then I need to know that.

OTOH, if this TDK media is problematic, I need to know that.

So, anyone else have direct experience with the same media and drive combination that you can share? Or just with this media? Or the drive?

CWR03
12th February 2006, 19:17
Some links to non-subjective info:

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdmedia
http://www.videohelp.com/dvdwriters

Matthew
13th February 2006, 00:03
Is the media code actually TDK? The brand on the packaging means jack.

Video Dude
13th February 2006, 00:34
The TDK in stores in my area is either CMC or RICOH JAPAN.

You can use DVD Identifier to determine the media code.
http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=DVD_Identifier

frank
14th February 2006, 13:39
You can find information on the web... Burning at 16x is not reliable!
However, doubling the recording speed from 8x to 16x is far from being simple, as the pick-up is forced to accelerate much more than simply double the speed. Even slightest deformations on the disc can cause the pick-up, at its high speed, to loose the focus or the track. These so-called Focus Errors (FE) and Tracking Errors (TE) are also known as acceleration defects (ACC defects).Dr. Schenk: Surface Inspection Systems, Measurement Solutions (http://www.drschenk.de/inspection_systems/news.php#28)