H10, H20, H30 - what's the difference?

CD, DVD and (Ultra HD) Blu-ray Writers LG burner
#1

Hmm, I’m getting confused, after reading around, about the difference between these 3 models.

They all seem to be supermulti DVD rewriters, with a SATA interface. They all seem to be pretty goof. What’s the difference, why choose one over another? Interestingly, I can’t seem to find ANY store selling an H10L in this country (UK), but there is one selling an H20L. You’d think the H10 would be older and so more stores would be selling the H10L. As for the H30, there are no H30Ls sold here either (doh, i really want one), but a few H30Ns.

#2

OK, after a bit more investigation I just realised the H20 is an IDE drive. LG’s naming is bloody awful, isn’t it? You can’t easily tell the interface just by looking at the name. I think the H10 and H30 are SATA though, so I ask again: what’s the difference between them, why use one over the other?

#3

H10x: Internal (H) Series 10 (Renesas chipset, 16x, PATA) burner.
H20x: Internal (H) Series 20 (Panasonic chipset, 16x, PATA) burner.
H30x: Internal (H) Series 30 (Renesas chipset, 16x, SATA) burner.

LG use different chipsets for their burners. :slight_smile:
None of these burners are really current though.

The successor of
H10x is H42x/H44x: Internal Series 42 (Renesas chipset, 18x, PATA)
H20x is H50x/H55x: Internal Series 55 (Panasonic chipset, 18x/20x, PATA)
H30x is H62x: Internal Series 62 (Renesas chipset, 18x, SATA)

#4

Eh, just to correct something…

H30x: Internal (H) Series 30 ([U]Panasonic[/U] chipset, 16x, SATA) burner.

H62x is not a successor of H30x, but a SATA version of H42x/H44x, since it uses a Renesas chipset. :slight_smile:

#5

Argh. Blonde moment. :doh:

#6

Sooo… my not being an expert and all, which is better, Renesas or Panasonic? Am I better off going with an H30 or an H62?

#7

I think the panasonic ones don’t write -R @ 12x? Only 8x and 16x? correct?

I have a H22N and it does not write @ 12x for -R media. It’s 12x and 16x writing aren’t that great IMO. I get big PIF spikes here and there (they are singular, but still…) and I also get jitter that goes up and down from 9% to over 11% in some spots. 18x actually writes better, it scans with 1-2 PIF and the jitter is also below 9% average most of the time without large fluctuations.

The best results I get with my H22N are either with 18x writing on 16x media or 4x writing on older media. It’s a strange drive. I think it’s a panasonic chipset but I’m probably wrong. Whatever mine is, I would not get that chipset again. I would go for whatever is the opposite lol

#8

So, the H62 should be better than the H30?

#9

Yes, the H62 is newer.

Actually Panasonic chipset ones should support DVD-R @ 12x while Renesas don’t… but this is just some kind of firmware bug IMO, as the drives do have 12x DVD-R strategies!

#10

Lol I knew I had it the wrong way around. So that means I got a renesas H22N.

#11

Weird.
Are you sure that you have a H12N instead of H22N? Does 8x Z-CLV start with a 6x zone? Or does it start with a 4x zone?

#12

My H42L doesn’t do 12x with -R media, the only available speeds are 4x/8x/16x/18x with TDK -R media, and i’m sure its based on the Renesas chip.

#13

I made a small spreadsheet with recent LG models and their basic characteristics, so here it is…

LG DVD burner models.png475×562 10.6 KB

#14

It shows up as a H22N. 8x starts @ 4x also. I’ll double check tonight if DVD-R lets me write at 12x or not. I know that I can select it, but often it will go to 16x instead when I select 12x.

#15

If you can select it, it’s Panasonic-based. Going to 16x when 12x is selected is probably a software bug (I know several versions of CD-DVD Speed had that problem).

#16

igorba: Really useful chart, thanks. :slight_smile:

Now if only I could find ANYONE to flog me the GSA-H62L. Heck, I’d pay £50 for it, but it looks like pretty much NOBODY sells it.

#17

Yes I can select it. So I guess I do have a panasonic, it does indeed burn @ 12x. I just wrote a verbatim 16x -R @ 12x. My 4167B on the other hand absolutely does not burn @ 12x with -R media. Seems I got them mixed up for a bit there :stuck_out_tongue:

#18

Somewhat off topic.

IIRC BenQ DW1670 (panasonic chip) also had the same problems with DVD-R media until ala42 (MCSE) fixed it. :wink:

#19

Anyone have a idea waht chipset the E40 use?

http://geizhals.at/deutschland/a239902.html