Blu-ray drives: BenQ versus LG

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Blu-ray: BenQ versus LG

Some time ago we recieved the first Blu-Ray DVD writer from BenQ, the BW1000. LG has recently sent us their Blu-Ray writer, the LG GBW-H10N. Having the two in our test lab was to good an opportunity to not put these two through a head to head test.

The specifications of the BenQ drive promise us that the drive is able to write both a BD-R (Writable) and a BD-RE (Rewritable) at 2x speed. These speeds are not to be compared to the speed indications on a DVD writer; 1x speed on a Blu-Ray drive is an actual speed of 36 Mbit/sec (Megabit per second), as where 1x speed on a DVD drive stands for a speed of 11Mbit/sec. Completely writing a 25GB BD-R therefore takes around 46 minutes with the BenQ drive. On the box BenQ boasts on the ability to handle the upcoming 50GB discs, however these will not be available until the end of this year. On the DVD-writing side the BenQ is not as fast as regular DVD rewriters, DVD+/-R is written at a maximum of 12x, double layer DVD's at 4x speed and rewritables at 8x speed. The drive is based on Philip's PNX7866EL chip, and has the unique feature that it only has one lens that is used for all media. The drive can not be found in any pricelist at this point in time, but BenQ has mentioned a recommended retail price of € 699.

The second drive we are testing is the LG GBW-H10N. This drives seems to be a bit more advanced than the BenQ model; for instance this drive is capable of writing BD-R's at a 4x speed, twice as fast as the BenQ. This seemingly small increase in speed does have a big effect on the time it takes to write a disc. DB-RE's are written at the same speed as the BenQ, at 2x speed, and writing speed of DVD media is exactly the same as the BenQ, 12x, 4x and 8x for DVD+/-R, DVD-R DL and DVD-RW respectively. The chip used in this drive is one of Renesas, an sub company of Hitachi. We found the drive for sale in one store for the fairly high price of € 899.

Algemeen
Merk	BenQ	LG
Productnaam	BW1000	GBW-H10N
Productcode
Getest door	Koen Crijns	Koen Crijns
Datum test	16-08-2006	16-08-2006
Details	Details	Details
Specificaties
In- / extern	Intern	Intern
Interface	Serial ATA	Atapi IDE
Buffer	2 MB	2 MB
Buffer underrun protectie
Mount Rainier
Lightscribe
LabelFlash
Chipset	Philips PNX7866EL	Renesas R8J32700FPV
Diepte		20.0 cm
Firmware tijdens test	001A	GL02
Opgegeven lees- / schrijfsnelheden
CD-ROM	32 x	40 x
CD-R	32 x	8 x
CD-RW	24 x	10 x
DVD-ROM	12 x	16 x
DVD+R	12 x	12 x
DVD+R DL	4 x	4 x
DVD+RW	8 x	8 x
DVD-R	12 x	12 x
DVD-R DL	4 x	4 x
DVD-RW	8 x	6 x
DVD-RAM	0	5 x
BD-ROM	2 x	4.8 x
BD-R	2 x	4 x
BD-R DL	1 x	0
BD-RE	2 x	2 x
BD-RE DL	1 x	0
Extra's
Software		Nero Suite
Wit en zwart frontje in retail verpakking
Media compatibiliteit BD-R
Imation 2X BD-R (PHILIPSR02) - Brand snelheid	1.94 x	4.00 x
Imation 2X BD-R (PHILIPSR02) - Brand procedure	CLV	CLV
Media compatibiliteit DVD+R
Maxell 16X DVD+R (MAXELL 003) - Brand snelheid	8.91 x	10.90 x
Maxell 16X DVD+R (MAXELL 003) - Brand procedure	P-CAV	P-CAV
Maxell 16X DVD+R (MAXELL 003) - Kwaliteit	90	97
Samsung Pleomax 16X DVD+R (RICOHJPN R03) - Brand snelheid	8.93 x	10.74 x
Samsung Pleomax 16X DVD+R (RICOHJPN R03) - Brand procedure	P-CAV	P-CAV
Samsung Pleomax 16X DVD+R (RICOHJPN R03) - Kwaliteit	88	85
BenQ 16X DVD+R (DAXON AZ3) - Brand snelheid	8.94 x	10.87 x
BenQ 16X DVD+R (DAXON AZ3) - Brand procedure	P-CAV	P-CAV
BenQ 16X DVD+R (DAXON AZ3) - Kwaliteit	97	96
Traxdata 16X DVD+R (RITEK R05) - Brand snelheid	8.96 x	10.88 x
Traxdata 16X DVD+R (RITEK R05) - Brand procedure	P-CAV	P-CAV
Traxdata 16X DVD+R (RITEK R05) - Kwaliteit	99	93
Plextor 16X DVD+R (YUDEN000 T03) - Brand snelheid	8.95 x	10.88 x
Plextor 16X DVD+R (YUDEN000 T03) - Brand procedure	P-CAV	P-CAV
Plextor 16X DVD+R (YUDEN000 T03) - Kwaliteit	91	94
Verbatim 16X DVD+R (MCC 004) - Brand snelheid	8.95 x	10.89 x
Verbatim 16X DVD+R (MCC 004) - Brand procedure	P-CAV	P-CAV
Verbatim 16X DVD+R (MCC 004) - Kwaliteit	95	98
Philips 16X DVD+R (INFOME R30) - Brand snelheid	8.91 x	10.89 x
Philips 16X DVD+R (INFOME R30) - Brand procedure	P-CAV	P-CAV
Philips 16X DVD+R (INFOME R30) - Kwaliteit	0	95
Imation 16X DVD+R (MCC 004) - Brand snelheid	8.96 x	10.91 x
Imation 16X DVD+R (MCC 004) - Brand procedure	P-CAV	P-CAV
Imation 16X DVD+R (MCC 004) - Kwaliteit	95	93
Media compatibiliteit DVD-R
Maxell 16X DVD-R (MXL RG04) - Brand snelheid	7.27 x	10.84 x
Maxell 16X DVD-R (MXL RG04) - Brand procedure	P-CAV	P-CAV
Maxell 16X DVD-R (MXL RG04) - Kwaliteit	96	97
Verbatim 16X DVD-R (MCC 03RG20) - Brand snelheid	8.91 x	10.79 x
Verbatim 16X DVD-R (MCC 03RG20) - Brand procedure	P-CAV	P-CAV
Verbatim 16X DVD-R (MCC 03RG20) - Kwaliteit	97	0
Traxdata 16X DVD-R (RITEKF1) - Brand snelheid	7.29 x	10.90 x
Traxdata 16X DVD-R (RITEKF1) - Brand procedure	P-CAV	P-CAV
Traxdata 16X DVD-R (RITEKF1) - Kwaliteit	95	96
BenQ 16X DVD-R (DAXON016S) - Brand snelheid	8.93 x	10.89 x
BenQ 16X DVD-R (DAXON016S) - Brand procedure	P-CAV	P-CAV
BenQ 16X DVD-R (DAXON016S) - Kwaliteit	96	93
Plextor 16X DVD-R (TYG03) - Brand snelheid	7.28 x	10.90 x
Plextor 16X DVD-R (TYG03) - Brand procedure	P-CAV	P-CAV
Plextor 16X DVD-R (TYG03) - Kwaliteit	95	95
Samsung Pleomax 16X DVD-R (OPTODISCR016) - Brand snelheid	7.30 x	10.88 x
Samsung Pleomax 16X DVD-R (OPTODISCR016) - Brand procedure	P-CAV	P-CAV
Samsung Pleomax 16X DVD-R (OPTODISCR016) - Kwaliteit	56	91
Philips 16X DVD-R (CMC MAG AM3) - Brand snelheid	7.92 x	10.90 x
Philips 16X DVD-R (CMC MAG AM3) - Brand procedure	P-CAV	P-CAV
Philips 16X DVD-R (CMC MAG AM3) - Kwaliteit	97	97
Imation 16X DVD-R (MCC 03RG20) - Brand snelheid	8.89 x	10.80 x
Imation 16X DVD-R (MCC 03RG20) - Brand procedure	P-CAV	P-CAV
Imation 16X DVD-R (MCC 03RG20) - Kwaliteit	46	96
Media compatibiliteit DVD+R DL
Maxell 2.4X DVD+R DL (RICOHJPN D00) - Brand snelheid	0	2.38 x
Maxell 2.4X DVD+R DL (RICOHJPN D00) - Brand procedure		CLV
Maxell 2.4X DVD+R DL (RICOHJPN D00) - Kwaliteit	0	94
Traxdata DVD+R DL (RITEK D01) - Brand snelheid	0	2.37 x
Traxdata DVD+R DL (RITEK D01) - Brand procedure		CLV
Traxdata DVD+R DL (RITEK D01) - Kwaliteit	0	0
Verbatim 8X DVD+R DL (MKM 003) - Brand snelheid	0	3.94 x
Verbatim 8X DVD+R DL (MKM 003) - Brand procedure		CLV
Verbatim 8X DVD+R DL (MKM 003) - Kwaliteit	0	88
Samsung Pleomax 2.4X DVD+R DL (RITEK D01) - Brand snelheid	0	2.38 x
Samsung Pleomax 2.4X DVD+R DL (RITEK D01) - Brand procedure		CLV
Samsung Pleomax 2.4X DVD+R DL (RITEK D01) - Kwaliteit	0	0
Philips 2.4X DVD+R DL (-) - Brand snelheid	0	2.38 x
Philips 2.4X DVD+R DL (-) - Brand procedure		CLV
Philips 2.4X DVD+R DL (-) - Kwaliteit	0	0
Imation 2.4X DVD+R DL (RICOHJPN D00) - Brand snelheid	0	2.38 x
Imation 2.4X DVD+R DL (RICOHJPN D00) - Brand procedure		CLV
Imation 2.4X DVD+R DL (RICOHJPN D00) - Kwaliteit	0	0
Media compatibiliteit DVD-R DL
Verbatim 6X DVD-R DL (MKM 01RD30) - Brand snelheid	0	3.92 x
Verbatim 6X DVD-R DL (MKM 01RD30) - Brand procedure		CLV
Verbatim 6X DVD-R DL (MKM 01RD30) - Kwaliteit	0	97
Media compatibiliteit DVD+RW
Verbatim 4X DVD+RW (MKM A02) - Brand snelheid	3.89 x	4.00 x
Verbatim 4X DVD+RW (MKM A02) - Brand procedure	CLV	CLV
Verbatim 4X DVD+RW (MKM A02) - Kwaliteit	95	95
Samsung Pleomax 4X DVD+RW (OPTODISC OP4) - Brand snelheid	3.93 x	4.00 x
Samsung Pleomax 4X DVD+RW (OPTODISC OP4) - Brand procedure	CLV	CLV
Samsung Pleomax 4X DVD+RW (OPTODISC OP4) - Kwaliteit	82	47
Maxell 4X DVD+RW (RITEK 004) - Brand snelheid	3.92 x	4.00 x
Maxell 4X DVD+RW (RITEK 004) - Brand procedure	CLV	CLV
Maxell 4X DVD+RW (RITEK 004) - Kwaliteit	97	0
Traxdata 8X DVD+RW (RITEK 008) - Brand snelheid	7.12 x	7.88 x
Traxdata 8X DVD+RW (RITEK 008) - Brand procedure	Z-CLV	CLV
Traxdata 8X DVD+RW (RITEK 008) - Kwaliteit	68	32
BenQ 4X DVD+RW (DAXON D42) - Brand snelheid	3.94 x	4.00 x
BenQ 4X DVD+RW (DAXON D42) - Brand procedure	CLV	CLV
BenQ 4X DVD+RW (DAXON D42) - Kwaliteit	94	92
Philips 4X DVD+RW (INFODISC A10) - Brand snelheid	3.92 x	4.00 x
Philips 4X DVD+RW (INFODISC A10) - Brand procedure	CLV	CLV
Philips 4X DVD+RW (INFODISC A10) - Kwaliteit	64	94
Imation 8X DVD+RW (PHILIPS RW8) - Brand snelheid	0	7.88 x
Imation 8X DVD+RW (PHILIPS RW8) - Brand procedure		CLV
Imation 8X DVD+RW (PHILIPS RW8) - Kwaliteit	0	94
Media compatibiliteit DVD-RW
Maxell 2X DVD-RW (RITEK W01) - Brand snelheid	3.92 x	2.00 x
Maxell 2X DVD-RW (RITEK W01) - Brand procedure	CLV	CLV
Maxell 2X DVD-RW (RITEK W01) - Kwaliteit	96	95
Samsung Pleomax 4x DVD-RW (OPTODISCW004) - Brand snelheid	3.89 x	4.00 x
Samsung Pleomax 4X DVD-RW (OPTODISCW004) - Brand procedure	CLV	CLV
Samsung Pleomax 4X DVD-RW (OPTODISCW004) - Kwaliteit	79	93
Verbatim 6X DVD-RW (MKM 01RW6X01) - Brand snelheid	5.67 x	6.01 x
Verbatim 6X DVD-RW (MKM 01RW6X01) - Brand procedure	CLV	CLV
Verbatim 6X DVD-RW (MKM 01RW6X01) - Kwaliteit	97	97
Traxdata 6X DVD-RW (RITEKW06) - Brand snelheid	3.90 x	6.01 x
Traxdata 6X DVD-RW (RITEKW06) - Brand procedure	CLV	CLV
Traxdata 6X DVD-RW (RITEKW06) - Kwaliteit	47	52
Philips 2X DVD-RW (CMCW02) - Brand snelheid	0	2.00 x
Philips 2X DVD-RW (CMCW02) - Brand procedure		CLV
Philips 2X DVD-RW (CMCW02) - Kwaliteit	0	90