Wildly inconsistent Quality test results [3540a]

[streaky]

OK, I'm not really expert in the whole recording quality area - to date I've been happy if Nero did a successful data verification.

But I'm burning some important data now and want to make sure I get the best burn possible. I'm using TY T02 media, which is rated 8x and can be burned at up to 16x by the NEC 3540a. I burned the same data at 12xand 16x. I then used Nero CD-DVD speed to scan and fund that the 16x burns were better with lower Pi failures (3 vs. 12) and higher quality ratings (94 vs. 67). So I've been burning at 16x since.

Today I decided to test a disk done at 16x and found the quality to be terrible. 280 Pi failures and a zero quality index, despite the fact the disk was quite readable.

Then I tested again but this time reduced scanning speed to 8x and now I got awful results again but not that bad, around 27 Pi failures and Quality=67.

Then I read that with NEC drives you need to change the ECC sampling from 8 to 1, which I did and tested my media again at 16x scan speed. This time the result was completely different. I had 3 Pi failures and a quality rating of 94.

The whole thing is driving me crazy. How can the same media have such wildly different results?

Can anyone please help me understand what's going on?

[kdshapiro]

The forum consensus has standardized on the following: First update to the latest version of Nero 6.6.0.16. Then set the ECC to 8. Scan at 5X and then post the scans. Post back if you need help with any of the steps. You will get different results with different ECCs and different scan rates.

If your burning a movie the acid test is if the DVD can be read without issues in the stand-alone player. There are some general guidelines for DVD quality, you can scan some of the threads to read the comments.

[streaky]

OK, I did as instructed and here is the result I got (attached) - pretty poor I guess though I can access the data on the disk with no problems (its all compressed files, not video by the way).

Can anyone advice me on (1) is this a bad recording? (2) Should I try burning at a lower speed?

[streaky]

This is the same disk as above (burned at 16x) scanned at maximum speed (about 15x). The result looks much better. Can anyone explain why this looks so much better? Is it that when you scan at high speed you miss some errors? Why would the Pi failures be lower?

[ScorpioSoft]

@streaky,

In the future try to resize the pictures, please.
Edit: Last picture is better, thanks!

[streaky]

And just to give you a better idea, here is the same data but this time burned at 12x (Taio Yuden 8x disks should have no problem at 12x).

This is a scan done at 5x:

[streaky]

And finally this is a scan done at 15x:

[streaky]

So the graphs show that scanning at 5x finds a lot more errors. I'd like to know why. I'd also really like some advice on if these recordings can be trusted or not. Should I try to re-record at the rated speed of 8x? I don't understand why quality media with a quality drive should give poor results.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[chas0039]

Since TY +R is superb media, I would say you are finding that the NEC drives are just not reliable scanners. The 3540 is still without a good firmware from NEC so it is possible that you are running into a burn problem. I would stick to 8X or 12x if you really need the speed, but 8X is a much better burn. The only real way to confirm the source of the problem is to get some of your media to a Liteon on BenQ and see what the scans say there.

[phil1]

maybe those ty medias are fake , whats the inner ring serial?

[streaky]

Inner Ring serial is TG001162. There is also a 0301 but I guess that's not the serial. I'd be mildly surprised if they're fake but anything's possible.

[kdshapiro]

The faster the scan the less accurate the scan.

A few things:

1. have you tried other media? I have burned T02s in the 3540 using stock firmware and they do burn nicely.
   2 What is the spike around .5 gig? Does the media have any obvious imperfections?
2. What is your hardware/software configuration? Are the drives running in UDMA mode? Native drivers?
3. Can you do a benchmark test and post the results?

[streaky]

1. I will try some other media now. However I have a lot of TY 8x disks and don't want to throw them away if I can help it. Especially since they're quite good.

2. No idea about the error spike. Nothing obvious on the media. Maybe the data itself causes it? Sorry that might sound stupid:)

3. Hardware/Software:
   Intel P-IV 2.8GHz
   Asus P4P-800-Deluxe
   1GB DDR400 Corsair LL RAM
   SATA HDD's (74GB Raptor & 250GB MaxlineII)
   Saphire Radeon X700 AGP VGA card.
   Pioneer DVD106 DVD-Rom
   NEC ND3540A DVD-RW with 1.01 modified firmware

Running WinXP Pro SP2, Nero 6.3.1.25. My drives are all running in DMA mode, Most of my drivers are up to date and I hane not installed any 3rd party drivers like Intel Accelerator etc.

1. By benchmark test I assume youm mean on CD-DVD speed. Yes I'll do that later today.

Thanks to all of you for your help.

[phil1]

the serial is good their real , your nero is very old get latest 6.6.0.16 burn & scan and take screenshot , maybe its the version at fault there have been tons of improvments/bugfixes since then

[streaky]

I have the latest Nero but haven't installed it. Something about it that bugs me is that when you load a saved compilation, it doesnt refresh the compilation and identify missing files any more. This was a feature I found very useful. Anyone know of a workaround?

[phil1]

tested it , it did check and marked missing with x

[streaky]

Sorry, you're right it does that. What I meant is that it doesn't give you the pop-up message that says 'file x not found, remove it from compilation'? I find this useful because my compilations have many files in many folders (mostly data) so I got used to this facility to find any missing files. I may have to learn to do without.

[streaky]

Here is the benchmark of the 12x burned disk from above. I'm not sure how to interpret it in terms of quality. Scanned using the drive that recorded it (3540A).

[kdshapiro]

Can you run new test by clicking run test-> create data disc?

[streaky]

OK, I updated to the latest Nero, and the latest firmware fro my NEC3540A from Liggy & Dee.

I then created a disk using CD-DVD speed. Though I'm no expert, based on things I've read, the results look pretty dire.

I don't understand why since I use quality media (tried another batch of TY02's) and the NEC3540A is considered a very good drive. All the reviews show it burning TY media with excellent results. These scans were done with ECC=8. I don't know if ECC=1 would have made a difference in real terms. I also don't know how much should I worry about my disks.

I'm grateful for any tips.