Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/1837



Introduction

Sony has a track record for switching chipsets as they move along from model to model. The DRU-540A used the same Sanyo chipset that is used in the PX-712A. Upon entering the 16x game, Sony switched to MediaTek as its supplier for the servo controller and analog signal processor for the DRU-710A/720A units. Now, Sony has changed their chipset to that used in BenQ’s DW1640 as well as Plextor’s PX-740A.

This may turn out to be a good thing, since the DW1640 and PX-740A drives performed very well in all areas. But we all know that the performance of a drive depends on not only its hardware, but also its firmware. The DRU-810A comes with the 1.0a firmware, which is also the latest and the one that we used in our testing.


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Past Sony drives have not done so well with our line of test media. The DRU-710A had been burning DVD+R double layer coasters during our Fall 2004 16x DVD roundup, and in our Summer 16x DVD roundup, the DRU-720A performed better than the DRU-710A, but not well enough to earn it a Top 3 spot on our list.

With this new chipset, we see good things for the DRU-810A. Enough of this jabber - on to the benchmarks…

Special thanks to Marken Communications for supplying us with Verbatim brand test media.
Special thanks to Antarra Communications for supplying us with Ridata brand test media.




Sony’s DRU-810A

Sony has a trademark bezel that many may or may not like. The eggshell front with the transparent tray bezel gives the drive that “Sony” look, but for those who prefer the simple look, Sony has included an interchangeable bezel in the retail package.


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Here’s a view of the back of the drive.


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Inside the box, we also get the standard manual as well as a software CD . Sony also includes the Nero Burning ROM Suite, which includes all of the components that we all know and love.


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Chipset Information

Sony has switched chipset manufacturers, yet again; this time, using not only the Philips Nexperia chipset with the PNX7860E recording engine and TZA1047HL analog pre-processor, which we found in the BenQ DW1640A as well as the Plextor PX-740A, but also the exact same circuit layout. The only difference between the Sony and the other two is the buffer memory. Sony uses ESMT (Elite Semiconductor Memory Technology) chips in the DRU-810A.


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Take a look at what we should expect from the DRU-810A.

Sony DRU-810A Feature List
DVD Write Performance DVD+R 16x: 22.16MB/s (CAV), 12x: 16.62MB/s (P-CAV), 8x: 11.08MB/s, 4x: 5.54MB/s (ZCAV), 2.4x: 3.324MB/s
DVD+RW 8x: 11.08MB/s (ZCAV), 4x: 5.54MB/s (ZCAV), 2.4x: 3.324MB/s
DVD+R DL 8x: 11.08MB/s (PCAV), 4x: 5.54MB/s (ZCAV), 2.4x: 3.324MB/s
DVD-R 16x: 22.16MB/s (CAV), 12x: 16.62MB/s, 8x: 11.08MB/s (P-CAV), 6x: 4x: 5.54MB/s, 2.4x: 3.324MB/s, 1x: 1.385 (CLV)
DVD-RW 6x: 8.31MB/s (ZCAV), 4x: 5.54MB/s (ZCAV), 2.4x: 3.324MB/s
DVD-R DL 8x: 11.08MB/s, 4x: 5.54MB/s, 2.4x: 3.324MB/s
CD Write Performance CD-R 48x: 7.2MB/s (CAV), 40x: 6.0MB/s (CAV), 32x: 4.8MB/s (PCAV), 24x: 3.6MB/s (PCAV), 16x: 2.4MB/s (ZCAV), 12x: 1.8MB/s (ZCAV)
CD-RW 32x: 4.8MB/s (PCAV), 24x: 3.6MB/s (PCAV), 16x: 2.4MB/s, 10x: 1.5MB/s, 4x: 600KB/s (ZCAV)
Media Read Performance DVD-ROM 16x CAV, 12x CAV, 8x CAV, 6x CAV, 4x CAV
CD-ROM 48x CAV, 40x CAV, 32x CAV, 24x CAV, 16x CAV, 10x CAV
Supported DVD Modes and Formats -DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, Multi-border, Multi-session, DVD+VR, DVD-VR
DVD+R: Disc at Once, Multi-session, Incremental Recording
DVD+R DL: Disc at Once
DVD+RW: Sequential Write, Random Access Write, DVD-R: Disc at Once, Multi-border recording, Incremental recording
DVD-RW: Disc at Once, Multi-border recording, Incremental recording, Restricted Overwriting, DRT-DM
Supported CD Modes and Formats - CD-DA, CD-Extra, CD-ROM Mode-1, CD-ROM Mode-2, CD-ROM XA, Photo-CD, Video-CD, Multi-session, CD TEXT, CD-I, CD+G, Mixed CD
- Track at Once, Disc at Once, Packet Write (variable and fixed), Session at Once
Access Time <150ms (CD/DVD)
Buffer 2MB
Interface EIDE/ATAPI

To further confirm these specifications, we grabbed a screenshot from Nero’s InfoTool v.3.06.

We have also taken a screenshot from DVD Info Pro’s scan of the DRU-810A.


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The Test

Our benchmarks include a few tests to show the performance of each of our test drives. We first use Nero CD-DVD Speed to create a data disc that tests the write capabilities/performance of the drive. We then run a transfer rate test to benchmark the read capabilities as well as verify the data on the disc.

Finally, we use our Plextor PX-712A drive to read the media for PI/PO errors. According to the ECMA standard:
A row of an ECC Block that has at least 1 byte in error constitutes a PI error. In any 8 consecutive ECC Blocks, the total number of PI errors before correction shall not exceed 280.

A row is 182 bytes long where the last 10 bytes contain PI (Parity Inner) information. An ECC block is 208 rows long where the last 16 rows contain the PO (Parity Outer) information. This gives us a maximum possible PI error amount of 208 errors per block, and for 8 blocks after each other, this sum is of course 8 times higher giving a maximum possible amount of 1664 PI errors.

If a row of an ECC Block contains more than 5 erroneous bytes, the row is said to be “PI-uncorrectable” or PIF (Parity Inner Failures).

In any ECC Block, the number of PI-uncorrectable rows should not exceed 4.
Now, some writers may create discs with more than 208 PI errors and they are not necessarily unreadable, but they are not the best quality discs around.

Our test bed:

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (2.2Ghz )
Giga-byte GA-K8NXP-SLI
NVIDIA 6600GT SLI Edition (single 128MB card)
1GB (512MBx2) Corsair XMS4400
Plextor PX-712A, Firmware v1.07
Microsoft Windows XP SP2
Nero CD-DVD Speed 4.07
PlexTools Professional XL 3.03

Again, we have taken all of your feedback into consideration and have decided to go back to focusing more on the write quality of each media instead of just the write speeds. Our results are displayed on the following pages. The screenshots are again ZIPed into packages corresponding to the type of media.



DVD+R Media

We have 2 types of DVD+R media tested with the DRU-810A:

MCC 004

Sony’s initial firmware release gives us average write speeds, completing the entire disc at 355 seconds. The write, however, goes very well without any speed drops and finishes off the disc write process at 15.96x speed.

16x +R - MCC 004 Write

16x +R - MCC 004 Read

16x +R - MCC 004

As you can see, the DRU-810A reads back the disc at 297 seconds, equal to the read performance of the identically designed PX-740A and DW1640. PlexTools also confirms a good write by reporting only 12310 PI errors spread out across the disc.

Ritek R04

The 16x RiData media did not perform as well as the DRU-810A wrote to it at a top speed of 12.06x and an average rate of 10.27x. The drive completed the write process in 389 seconds, 40 seconds slower than the DW1640 and just barely trailing Plextor’s 381-second finish.

16x +R - Ritek R04 Write

16x +R - Ritek R04 Read

16x +R - Ritek R04

Again, the DRU-810A matches the read speed of the DW1640 and PX-740A at around 298 seconds. There are a lot more PI errors read off this media by our PX-712A, about 1.038 million PI errors with a large amount after the 4GB mark.

The screenshots of Nero’s CD-DVD Speed and Plextor’s Plextools can be downloaded here.



DVD-R Media

And now some DVD-R media:

MCC 03RG20

The DRU-810A takes the lead here over the DW1640, but not by much at a 371-second write compared to BenQ’s 379.

16x -R - MCC 03RG20 Write

16x -R - MCC 03RG20 Read

16x -R - MCC 03RG20

And of course, reading back the disc was completely successful. The DW1640 performed exactly the same with very few read failures and none on the write side, probably because this is the same drive.

The screenshots of Nero’s CD-DVD Speed and Plextor’s Plextools can be downloaded here.



DVD+/-RW Media

Here are samples of the rewritable DVD media.

Ritek 008 (DVD+RW)

Sony is on a roll here with their DRU-810A as they top the charts once again along with the BenQ and Plextor twins. The DRU-810A writes to the RiData DVD+RW media in 475 seconds, four seconds quicker than the PX-740A, but just one second slower than the DW1640.

8x +RW - Ritek 008 Write

8x +RW - Ritek 008 Read

8x +RW - Ritek 008

It is becoming more obvious that these drives are identical, if one had not opened them up to confirm the matching chipsets. The full disc read took 385 seconds to complete and the PlexTools scan reported 141,312 PI errors, which are spread out over the disc. The Ritek 008 media written by the PX-740A could not be read by our PX-712A drive, which explains why no PI error results are listed.

MKM A03 (DVD+RW)

The DRU-810A writes to the Verbatim brand 8x DVD+RW media the fastest out of those on the list at 476 seconds while LG’s GSA-4163B follows behind by 4 seconds slower. Neither the DW1640 nor the PX-740A could write to this media successfully.

8x +RW - MKM A03 Write

8x +RW - MKM A03 Read

8x +RW - MKM A03

Sony’s write was close to flawless as the drive read back the disc successfully and PlexTools reported a low 55,995 PI errors compared to the 250,000+ errors produced by the other three drives on the list.

Ritek W06 & MKM 01RW6X0 (DVD-RW)

The DRU-810A doesn’t do as well on the DVD-RW media as it did on the write-once and DVD+RW media as it finishes a write process of the W06 media in 628 seconds and the MKM 01RW6x01 in 634 seconds; and only faster than the ND-3540A and also the PX-740A, the latter by a few seconds.

6x -RW - Ritek W06 Write

6x -RW - MKM 01RW6X01 Write

Both the DRU-810A and the PX-740A can read back the MKM 01RW6X01 disc in about 384 seconds, but the ND-3540A comes out ahead in this test. And the compared results for the W06 are relatively identical with a one-second difference overall. Neither disc could be read back by any of the drives on which we tested this media, including this DRU-810A, Pioneer’s DVR-110D, the PX-740A, and BenQ’s DW1640 being the most recent.

6x -RW - Ritek W06 Read

6x -RW - MKM 01RW6X01 Read

The screenshots of Nero’s CD-DVD Speed and Plextor’s Plextools can be downloaded here.



DVD+/-R Double/Dual Layer Media

MKM 001 (DVD+R Double Layer)

Performance of the DRU-810A with MKM 001 double layer media is also exceptional, writing a full disc in 1048 seconds and pushing the disc to 8x speeds on the first layer and up to 6x speeds on the second layer of the disc. NEC's ND-3540A had also accomplished this, as we saw over the summer in our second 16x DVDR roundup, but it utilized the Z-CLV method whereas the DRU-810A uses the P-CAV method.

2.4x +R DL - MKM 001 Write

2.4x +R DL - MKM 001 Read

The read back performance is identical to the DW1640 as well as the PX-740A.

MKM 01RD30 (DVD-R Dual Layer)

The DRU-810A did what it was supposed to do on the 4x DVD-R dual layer media, burning it at just that - 4x speeds.

4x -R DL - MKM 01RD30 Write

4x -R DL - MKM 01RD30 Read

4x -R DL - MKM 01RD30

The screenshots of Nero's CD-DVD Speed and Plextor's Plextools can be downloaded here.



CD-R Media

FujiFilm CD-R

Yes - many still do burn to CD-R media, which is why we included this test. Unfortunately, the DRU-810A does not hold a quick CD-R media burn speed and only comes second to last to the ND-3540A. The time was 240 seconds to write to a 48x 80-minute FujiFilm CD-R.


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48x - CDR - Fujifilm Write

48x - CDR - Fujifilm Read

48x - CDR - Fujifilm

48x - CDR - Fujifilm

A scan in the PX-712A using PlexTools showed 25,600 C1 errors and about 1095 C2 errors, which is not the best that it can be.

The screenshots of Nero’s CD-DVD Speed and Plextor’s Plextools can be downloaded here.



Final Thoughts

Well, there you have it folks. Sony’s use of the Philips’ Nexperia chipset has brought the company’s optical division up to speed in performance and quality of its writes to various types of media. The DRU-810A took each type of media readily and never choked at any of its tasks.

We’re always left with a sour taste when a drive does not burn the first disc in our line of media well, but Sony has not done this today. The DRU-810A took in the MCC 004 DVD+R media and spit out a finished readable disc very close to perfect, resulting in a little over 12,300 PI errors spread out over the disc - quite harmless.

The DRU-810A also performed well on the double layer (DVD+R) and dual layer (DVD-R) media, writing to the Mitsubishi DVD-R dual layer media at the standard, disc-rated 4x speed, but taking the Mitsubishi 2.4x media and pushing it to 8x speeds on the first layer and stepping down to just over 6x during the second layer. This is a great improvement over the DRU-7xxA series drives.

Compared to the DW1640 and Plextor’s PX-740A, the DRU-810A performs well in some areas, but shifts down the list in others. However, that is not really saying much, since the BenQ and Plextor performed very well to begin with.

The current pricing for the DRU-810A is about $99 direct from Sony, which looks like the minimum price that it can be purchased, but we have also seen some online retailers charge $20-$30 over this suggested retail price at places like Dell.com and may even be sold for more at those beloved brick and mortar stores. Plextor’s PX-740A is listed at about three quarters the cost, around $75, but for almost half that price, BenQ’s DW1640 unit (which can be found as low as the mid $40 range at some online retailers) is a much better deal, especially for the same performance output.


Special thanks to Marken Communications for supplying us with Verbatim brand test media.
Special thanks to Antarra Communications for supplying us with Ridata brand test media.


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