First look: DVD-R DL

Earlier this month Verbatim completed the testing of its new 4x DVD-R Dual Layer (DL) media. It was given to DVD burner manufacturers and their software suppliers for read/write and compatibility tests. The finalized specification enables the new DL-compatible burners to write a complete 8.5GB Verbatim Dual Layer DVD-R disc in about 25 minutes.

In this article we are going to take a look at this new media format and test its performance with various DVD-R DL writers and also test the media compatibility with DVD standalone devices and other PC DVD devices.

Introduction:

Verbatim and its parent company, Mitsubishi® Kagaku Media (MKM), were among the first to confirm the technical feasibility of 4x speed recording of Dual Layer DVD-R media.  To ensure high performance without sacrificing reliability or compatibility, Verbatim and MKM developed unique dye materials and coating techniques, as well as manufacturing techniques for stamping the grooves into the media that guide the write and read processes.

By offering two recording layers, Verbatim’s new 4x DVD-R DL discs provide almost double the capacity on a single side compared to the 4.7GB DVD-R media.  With the higher capacity, consumers can store up to nearly 4 hours of DVD-quality video (nearly 8 hours of VHS-quality video) or 8.5GB of data on a single side while maintaining read compatibility with the majority of today’s DVD players and DVD-ROM drives.

Availability
Backed by a limited lifetime warranty, Verbatim 4x DVD-R DL media is expected to be available through leading retailers, Internet resellers and distributors across the country in Q2 2005.

About Verbatim
Verbatim is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Kagaku Media and provides information storage products, computer and imaging consumables and related accessories. Verbatim is currently the only company in the world that designs, develops and manufactures high performance, high quality CD-Recordable, CD-Re-writable, DVD-Recordable and DVD-Re-writable media products, a complete family of 3.5 inch and 5.25 inch MO media. The range also includes tapes, imaging products, digital devices and memory cards.

For more information about Verbatim and their products can be found at their European homepage.

The Media:

In this section we will take a look at the media itself and the retail packing. Let us start with the 5 pack that Verbatim sent us:

Front

Back

Left Side

Right Side

Inside the 5 pack box the media is packed in 5 separate Jewel cases:

Front

Back

Media

As we can see the media is printed with the DVD-R DL logo, which was approved by the DVD-Forum’s 29^th Steering Committee back on the 23 of February 2005. Other variations of the logo can be found below:

Let us find out the media code with DVD Identifier:

————————————————————————-
Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD-R-DL:MKM 01RD30  ]
————————————————————————-
Disc & Book Type :       [DVD-R DL] – [DVD-R]
Manufacturer Name :      [Mitsubishi Kagaku Media]
Manufacturer ID :        [MKM 01RD30  ]
Blank Disc Capacity :    [4,171,712 Sectors = 8,147.9MB = 7.96GB (8.54GB)]
————————————————————————-
** INFO : Drive = _NEC DVD_RW ND-3520AW [FW 3.04]
** INFO : Write Capabilities = DVD+RW DVD+R DVD+R-DL
** INFO : Write Capabilities = DVD-RW DVD-R DVD-R-DL
** INFO : Disc = [DVD-R-DL:MKM 01RD30  ]

** INFO : Write Speeds (Supported By This Drive On This Disc) Listed Below
** INFO : GET PERFORMANCE Write Speed Descriptor(s)
Descriptor #1 =  5540 KBPS ( 4.00x) – [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]
Descriptor #2 =  2770 KBPS ( 2.00x) – [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]
————————————————————————-
** INFO : Hex Dump Of ‘Control Data Zone’-Block Listed Below
** INFO : 4-Byte Header Preceding ‘CDZ’-Block Discarded
** INFO : Format 10h – Format Information Of Control Data Zone
0000 : 26 0f 32 10 00 03 00 00  00 fc c8 ff 00 22 ef 5f   &.2……….”._
** INFO : Hex Dump Of ‘Media Code’-Block Listed Below
** INFO : 4-Byte Header Preceding ‘Media Code’-Block Discarded
** INFO : Format 0Eh – Pre-Recorded Information In Lead-In
0000 : 01 02 91 fd d1 0a 60 00  02 00 00 00 33 70 00 00   ……`…..3p..
0010 : 03 4d 4b 4d 20 30 31 00  04 52 44 33 30 20 20 00   .MKM 01..RD30  .
0020 : 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  06 0e 1e 37 3d 33 21 00   ………..7=3!.
0030 : 07 50 1f 29 13 ab b5 00  08 88 80 00 00 00 00 00   .P.)…………
0040 : 09 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  0a 0c 26 2b 33 37 1a 0e   ……….&+37..
0050 : 0b 50 1f 27 05 8b b5 00  0c 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   .P.’…………
0060 : 0d 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  0e 0e 32 41 45 37 2b 00   ……….2AE7+.
0070 : 0f 50 27 31 19 aa b5 00  10 88 80 00 00 00 00 00   .P’1…………
0080 : 11 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  12 0e 3d 39 3f 33 24 0e   ……….=9?3$.
0090 : 13 50 25 2d 0d ba b5 00  14 00 04 00 04 00 04 00   .P%-…………
00a0 : 15 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00                     ……….     
————————————————————————-
[ DVD Identifier - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com ]
————————————————————————-

And with the Disc Info option in Nero CD-DVD Speed:

As we can see the media code is MKM 01RD30, type DVD-R DL with the Book Type DVD-R.

On the next page we will take a look at the write strategies…..