DVD-Software.info

[Tony]

Can anyone throw light on why a 16X DVD+/-R dual layer drive (NEC) using
good quality 8X DVD+R media will only write at 3-4X? I am using Roxio CD
Creator 6 Platinum. Experienced this both with DVD movies and with file
backups.

Tony

[Smarty]

I'm not familiar with the NEC drive in particular, but the strategy which
virtually all DVD drives use to burn a specific disk is derived from the
drive's programming (the firmware). This program is normally written by the
drive's manufacturer to recognize certain media which has been "certified"
and tested in such a way as to ensure that the burn will not only produce
the correct changes to the burned surface, but that the resulting disk will
play properly.

Encoded in the raw, unburned disk is a manufacturer's code and other data
which the drive reads when the disk in inserted. Based on the drive's
firmware, it can reject the "good quality 8X media" you refer to, even if it
could potentially burn it correctly. It will revert to lower speeds to burn
media it does not explicitly recognize in an attempt to maximize its' chance
of making a good disk.

Firmware hacks which are usually done by 3rd parties overcome this
limitation, sometimes at the expense of compatibility of the burned disks,
and sometimes with no penalty. The risk of voiding warranties with hacked
firmware makes this approach risky, in addition to the creation of disks
which may be dodgy in some players.

Therefore, the "safe" solution is to use the recommended media which the
manufacturers provide. This is especially true for high speed drives,
although those of us who lived with the original 1X drives had the very same
issue arise when trying to get up to @x and beyond.

Hope this helps clarify.

Smarty


"Tony" <gilbos @ bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
news:HRvpd.48497$K7.9653@news-server.bigpond.net.au...

[Octavian]

[Tony]

Thanks 8,

I downloaded the flash and will see what benefits it brings.

Tony

"Octavian" <lmone@paris.com> wrote in message
news:dwxpd.111071$Tq1.44981@bignews1.bellsouth.net...

[Octavian]

I originally got it from NEC's European web site. But I did not save the
link. So I Google'd and found the www.micheldeboer.nl site instead.

I downloaded the zip from there, and it EXACTLY matched what I got from NEC.
(You can't be too careful about third-party downloads.)

"Tony" <gilbos @ bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
news:gTApd.48742$K7.36154@news-server.bigpond.net.au...