Can burning at 1X extend the life of the media?

[Carlos Garcia]

I was wondering, can burning a DVD-R at 1X as opposed to 2X actually make the media readable for a longer period of time? I mean, you would imagine that if the laser stays longer on one spot, then the image would be burned deeper, or better. Just thinking out loud, but food for thought. As for me, I actually believe this theory so I'll keep on burning at 1X.

CG

[alexnoe]

No.

Good media will burn at 2x flawlessly and keep data as long as at 1x burning (and what are you aiming at with "if the laser stays longer on one spot, then the image would be burned deeper, or better"? Why should the laser burn deeper at 1x? Did you think that the laser power is not reduced for 1x burning? And the laser does not "stay" anywhere)
Next is, even if it would burn deeper, this would have no influence on how long the disc will be readable. The question is if the recording layer starts to degrade or not.

I know that this burn-slow-live-longer nonsense is told for cds as well, but believe me, it's nothing but nonsense, told by people who don't know anything on how cd/dvd recording works. I think Plextor has released or is going to release an in-depth technical explanation of the burning process.

[Carlos Garcia]

You bring up excellent points alexnoe, but I wonder why it is that I recently bought 50 TDK DVD-Rs, certified at 2x, and the first one I burned at 2x became a coaster, but the others I've burned at 1X and so far they are all perfect. For whatever the reason, I still believe that the technology is too new, and when you burn at 2X, even with name brand certified 2X media, you also raise your coaster chances by 2X. I'll be very happy to burn at 1X forever if it means no coasters. After all, it may take 1 hr to burn a DVD, but once it's burned, you won't have to burn another of the same disc for a long, long time.

CG

[padre]

when you burn at 2X, even with name brand certified 2X media, you also raise your coaster chances by 2X

But Carlos, what's the sense then of spending extra money for a 2x certified media, if you don't trust it to burn at 2x? It's like buying a race car, but only doing 45 on the turnpike! Why??

I'm not sure that burning questionable media at 1x versus 2x is curing anything. I think defective media is defective media, 1x or 2x.

[alexnoe]

Were your discs real TDKs or a cakebox with another name on it? Maybe you have a bad batch! I don't know if TDK sells bad batches under different names, but maybe...

But it's obvious that in your case, not the lifespan decreased due to 2x burning...

Prices for Verbatim 2x media have just dropped to 3,70¤ per piece here, and I had exactly *zero* coasters at 2x speed with them...

padre: 2x burning requires a dye which reacts to other laser intensities. It is of course possible that 2x writing failes due to dye issues, but that 1x writing succeeds perfectly.
You shouldn't think of dvd recording as something like simply "shooting holes into the disc with a laser"

[padre]

I understand your point, alexnoe. But if it's true 2x certified media, and doesn't burn at 2x, doesn't that point to a defect with the media?

And if so, why buy 2x only to burn at 1x? Kind of defeats the purpose for buying 2x (get done in 2x faster?)

[alexnoe]

You're right, the media is "defective" then, but this does not mean that 1x burning can't succeed either.

[Carlos Garcia]

"Were your discs real TDKs or a cakebox with another name on it?"

Yup, the real thing, came in jewel cases, and certified 2X...But as I've stated in other posts, I don't mind burning coasters with name brands like TDK, because all I have to do is mail them the defective media and they will replace it. It wasn't a total coaster, 37 of the 48 chapters on the disc burned alright, but the 38th locks up the setop and PC DVD players. When I looked closely at the disc, you can see a different shade of purple towards the end of the disc, and the good disc I made has the same shade of purple all through the disk. Definite bad media, but I still feel that if it would've been recorded at 1X, it wouldn't have been a coaster. As for why I would buy something certified 2X only to record at 1X? Think of it as an insurance policy. If it's certified 2X, then you know chances will be really good that it'll burn perfectly at 1X. Kind of like why would someone buy a CPU and run it at its certified speed, when they can probably overclock it. Just playing it safe :)

CG

[padre]

I hear ya, Carlos. Nothing wrong in playing things safe.

[atreides93]

Interesting,
so does that mean TDK can be considered generic cheap media????

[alexnoe]

Maybe then indeed sell bad batches under different names :(