1st
look:
Verbatim 4x DVD-R
DL
Author:
OC-Freak & Jan70
Provided by:
Verbatim Europe-UK
Manufactured: Singapore
2005
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
29th 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…..
