WRITE SPEED WOUNDERS!

[F-ING HOSTILE]

Hi- Just wandering if write speed really affects the quality of backups. I have a 4X Pioneer drive, and use Maxell's 2X DVD-R's. I have always burned at 1X. They way I figured, if I was spending several hours putting togather a DVD, what's an extra 20-30 mins to retain the highest quality video. I have heard rumors arguing both for and against 2X write speeds, and loss of quality. I would be interested to hear what everyone thinks! THANKS!

[Bob W]

I have always thought that digital data was either there or not there or it works or doesn't work. I burn mostly at 4x and it works for me.

[F-ING HOSTILE]

That's kind of what I figured, but I thought that a faster write speed might jeapordise (I obviously can't spell) the accurate transfer of that data, and subsiquently the quality of the write! I think you're right, though!

[Bob W]

Well faster writes may increase the possibility of write errors but that would result in corrupt data and the disc just wouldn't work. All my 4x burns work fine so far.

[orbital517]

The speed doesn't really matter. Kinda like CDr's, you've got 48X speed burners now, and they give you the same quality as burning them at 2X. Am I right?

[SaSi]

The speed doesn't really matter. Kinda like CDr's, you've got 48X speed burners now, and they give you the same quality as burning them at 2X. Am I right?

Well, you should be right, but unfortunatelly you are not.

It's true that digital data are either there or not, however CD-ROM readers read data using the reflection of the laser beam on the disk surface. This reflection is an analog signal converted to digital. The problem is there.

If you write at a very high speed, then the recorder must create a data bit within a very limited amount of time. To make the recording surface record, the write beam must compensate for the little time it has over a dot and be stronger. The reality is that the beam "lights" each data bit for a shorter period of time and the electrochemical reaction occuring has less time to complete. The result is that to a certain extent, recording at a higher speed creates "weak" spots in the recording surface. Not that the CD will not be readable, but it MAY or WILL be unreadable in some older generation CD players or even on some CD Roms.

This is important if you are burning distribution media or if you are doing important back-ups.

The problem is more theoretical (with several practical examples to prove it - especially with cheap-low quality media) so in general one should not be scared to record at high speeds. On he other hand, I am happy recording at 24x a CD and wouldn't bother replacing the CD Recorder with a faster 52x model. Don't mind even getting 48x CD media and record them at 24x. It's even safer.

[F-ING HOSTILE]

So in reguards to DVD burning, I shouldn't notice a difference burning at 2X?

[Bob W]

I have made backups at 4x for myself and then made the same movie at 1x (for my mother) and I sure didn't notice any difference when played back.

[F-ING HOSTILE]

That's kind of what I figured (and hoped for)!! Thanks alot guys