What h

[TechLord]

Hello.

• ×32 CD-RW UltraSpeed Plus
• ×6 DVD-RW
• ×8 DVD+RW
• ×12 DVD-RAM
• ×16 DVD-RAM

The highest class speed ReWriteable media is unpopular and can barely be found in these days.
I wonder, why they have mostly been discontinued. A lower burning speed of course offers a higher optical burning quality, which enhances reading speed and readability on older devices, but in some cases, speed matters more than burning quality. And these discs are Re-Writeable anyway.

Today, a few DVD drives such as the iHAS324 reach ×24 of DVD recording speed on ×16 WORM discs such as RITEKF01, without any problems. But the dual layer recording speed is still disappointing ×8.


But some old disc drives such as the TSST TS-H653B (also known as WriterMaster SH-203) reached speeds that even beat modern dries (e.g. LG BE14NU40 with 14×BD-R DL writing but only ×12 reading).

H653B:

• Writing:
• ×20 DVD∓R recording.
• ×12 DVD-RAM recording.
• ×12 DVD-R DL recording.
• ×16 DVD+R DL recording.
• ×32 CD-RW UltraSpeed+ recording.
• Reading:
• ×16 all WORM DVDs, including DVD-R DL reading.
• ×12 all rewriteable DVDs.
• ×48 CD-ROM.
• ×40 CD-R/RW/Audio/Audio R(W).

BE14:

• ×16 DVD∓R recording.
• [n]×5 DVD-RAM[/b] recording (same speed as slim laptop disc drives, operated by 5 volts).
• ×8 DVD-R DL recording.
• ×16 DVD+R recording.
• ×24 CD-RW UltraSpeed recording. (laptop drives use ×16 ZCLV for CD-RW US/ US-RW).
• Reading:
• ×16 all SingleLayer DVD reading.
• ×12 all Dual-Layer DVDs reading.
• ×12 all rewriteable DVDs reading.
• ×48 CD-ROM.
• ×48 CD-R
• ×40 CDDA; CD-RW; CD-RW Audio DAE.
• Unable to deal with damaged audio CDs. Even ancient CD players from the 80s do better.
• Better damage handling at higher than lower rotation speeds!.

The ×40 limitation on CD-RWs and CDDAs is irrational and just based on software/firmware limitations, because a DVD-ROM GDR8162B from 2003 reaches full ×48 DAE on a CD-RW (yes, both at the same time), if it accidentally detects a CD-RW/CDDA-RW as CD-R or CD-ROM (original, stamped CD-Audio). If it is slightly damaged, it will reduce to ×40 again.
Some older disc drives such as GGC-H20N and GDR-H20N reach 52× reading speed on the CD-R (covering CD).

[TechLord]

I also wonder, why many disc drives write faster than they can read.
The WriteMaster™ SH-S182/S183 series (difference: S182 has legacy, S183 has SATA interface) has ×18 writing speed, as the name probably already suggests.
As always, the reading speed is limited to our infamous ×16.

The S182 detects most DVD-R's (+R only once) as empty, even -R DL.
I have no S183 at home.