LG GSA-H10A Super Multi DVD Burner Review

July 25, 2006

Review: LG GSA-H10A
Reviewer: crossg
Firmware: JL03.
Manufactured: February 2006

Company information:

Let's take a look at some of the company information found at the LG website.

The Foundation of LG

LG was established in 1947 as Korea's first chemical company, also becoming the nation's first electronics company with its expansion into home appliances in 1958. The new Corporate Identity was launched including the change of the group name from Lucky-Goldstar to LG in 1995.

Business Fields

The wide array of activities that LG conducts is coordinated within three highly focused business sectors: Chemicals & Energy, Electronics and Telecommunications & Services. Each sector has undergone systematic changes, with improved financial compositions, restructured business portfolios and realigned equity investment structures.

The split of two holding companies LG Corp. and GS Holdings Corp.

On March 2003, LG introduced the holding company structure and recently, the demerger of two holding companies - LG Corp. and GS Holdings Corp. took place on July 1 to separate the manufacturing and technology related businesses from the service and retail operations. The separation is meant to maximize profits of LG shareholders by boosting business specialization of key LG companies.

Increasing R&D investment in 2004

With the anticipations and expectations for the new structure, LG has set an ambitious management goal for this year. In 2003, LG's ordinary profit stood at KRW 3.1 trillion on sales of KRW 85 trillion. In 2004, LG plans to raise ordinary profit and sales by 42% and 12% year-on-year respectively. This year's ordinary profit target is KRW 4.4 trillion and the sales target is KRW 95 trillion. LG plans to increase the R&D investments by 31% from last year to KRW 9.4 trillion in 2004.

If you are interested in reading more company information, please visit www.lg.co.kr/english

Drive specifications:

Now let's take a look at the specifications of the LG GSA-H10A, found at LG's website:

What's comes with the OEM drive?

On this page we will take a look at what the drive came with and take a look at the drive and its technology.

Below you will see what came with the OEM LG GSA-H10A:

The internal drive itself
Nero 6 OEM Suite
LG DVD Writer Solution CD:

PowerDVD
PowerProducerGold
Nero ExpressInCD
Acrobat Reader

Super Multi DVD Drive CD:
Quick Setup Guide
Warranty information

Now it's time to take a look at the drive itself:

Front

On the front bezel we see an eject button, an emergency eject hole and a LED (green - for read and write - we prefer a different LED color though for writing). The logos located on the loading tray include the Super Multi logo, a DVD Alliance DVD+R DL logo, the LG logo, a DVD Forum DVD-Multi Recorder logo, a CD-RW Ultra Speed logo.

Top

Label

On top of the drive we found one sticker. In the bottom left corner we can see it was manufactured in China in February 2006.

Bottom

Back

On the back of the drive starting from the left, we can see a reserved connector; analogue audio connector; pins and jumper to set the drive to cable select, slave or master; IDE connector and finally the power connector.

A look inside

RENESAS Chipset

We installed the drive without any problems and here is a screenshot from Nero InfoTool:

From the screenshot of Nero InfoTool we see lack of support for Mount Rainier or CD+G. The drive provided was shipped with firmware JL02 installed.

From the 'Choose Recorder' screen of Nero Burning ROM we also see that the drive supports Bitsetting to DVD-ROM:

Let's continue the review and see how the drive performs.

On the next page we will take a look at the test machine, the software, the drive features…………

Test machine:

For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:

Hardware:

Motherboard: ASUS P4C800 Deluxe
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz with Hyper Threading support
RAM: 1 GB OCZ 4000 Dual Channel Gold
GFX: ATI RADEON X850 XT PE. (AGP)
Sound: SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS
Hard disk: 1X 120GB Maxtor

System set-up:

The LG GSA-H10A was connected as Secondary Master and identified itself as HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H10A. DMA (Direct Memory Access) and autorun is enabled for all devices.

Software:

Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 is installed on the computer. We will be using the following software in this review:

Firmware Update:

We checked LG's website and found a later Version (JL03) and proceeded to update the firmware.

Below we can see the firmware update process in action.

Our review PC was restarted after the firmware update process had completed.

We once again run InfoTool to check that the firmware had updated correctly (see the above screenshot).

Features and techniques:

Features of the Super Multi:

Super Multi is a multiformat burner which supports 7 types of write formats (DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, CD-R and CD-RW).
HLDS is proud to say that our company was the first in the world to develop this universal drive.

Because Super Multi supports both DVD-R/-RW and DVD+R/+RW as well as DVD-RAM, users can select the best type of media for every occasion.
There is no need to compromise anymore.

In addition, it removes users' concern about the future disc format unification.

BookType (Bitsetting):

The LG GSA-H10A supports Bitsetting for DVD+R and DVD+R DL. The drive does not support Bitsetting for DVD+RW media. This feature can be controlled/changed with the Bitsetting option in Nero CD-DVD Speed or in Nero Burning Rom 6 as well as with various other applications. See below:

Now let's take a closer look at the write technology used by the LG GSA-H10A:

CD-Recordable:

The LG GSA-H10A uses Z-CLV (Zone Constant Linear Velocity) to write at its maximum speed of 48X that gave this burn an average speed of 33.61x.

Two other drives are shown for comparison:

The Pioneer DVR-110D uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write at its maximum speed of 40X that gave this burn an average speed of 30.05x.

The Samsung TS-E552U uses P-CAV (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) to write at its maximum speed of 40x that gave this burn an average speed of 34.39x.

The following table shows some comparative stats:

CD-R Disc Writing	Supported Write Speed	Write Strategy	Start Write Speed	End Write Speed	Average Write Speed	Write Time Full 80min
Lite-On SOHW-1653S	48x	CAV	21.90x	49.55x	37.49x	2m:38s
LG GSA-5160D	40x	Z-CLV 4 zones	15.98x	40.41x	31.70	3m:18s
Asus DRW-1604P	32x	Z-CLV 3 zones	16.03x	32.66x	24.92x	3m:58s
Samsung TS-E552U	40x	P-CAV	21.12x	39.59x	34.39x	2m:53s
Philips DVDR16LS	40x	CAV	17.80x	40.01x	29.51x	3m:24s
NU HDW-164	40x	CAV	18.60x	41.28x	31.23x	3m:09s
NEC ND-3540A	48x	CAV	21.44x	48.17x	36.43x	3m:0s
BenQ DW1640	48x	CAV	18.31x	47.99x	35.20x	2m:57s
Pioneer DVR-110D	40x	CAV	17.77x	40.28x	30.05x	3m:19s
LG GSA-4167B	48x	Z-CLV 5 zones	16.01x	48.22x	33:77x	3m:04s
LG GSA-H10A	48x	Z-CLV 5 zones	16.02x	48.12x	33:61x	3m:04s

What we see from the table that the LG GSA-H10A is one of the faster drives when it comes to writing CD-R.

CD-Rewritable:

The LG GSA-H10A uses Z-CLV (Zone Constant Linear Velocity) to write CD-RW media at its maximum speed of 32x that gave this burn an average speed of 28.89x.

Two other drives are shown for comparison:

The NU DHW-164 uses P-CAV (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) to write CD-RW media at its maximum speed of 24X that gave this burn an average speed of 23.16x.

The LaCie d2 DVD±RW Double Layer uses CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) to write CD-RW media at its maximum speed of 16X that gave this burn an average speed of 16.00x.

The following table shows some comparative stats:

CD-RW Disc Writing	Supported Write Speed	Write Strategy	Start Write Speed	End Write Speed	Average Write Speed	Write Time Full 80min
Lite-On SOHW-1653S	24x	Z-CLV 2 Zones	15.98x	23.97x	22.57x	4m:19s
LG GSA-5160D	24x	Z-CLV 2 zones	15.99x	23.99x	23.31x	3m:55s
ASUS DRW-1604P	24x	Z-CLV 3 Zones	15.96x	24.00x	22.46x	4m:07s
Samsung TS-E552U	32x	P-CAV	21.07x	31.87x	30.26x	3m:05s
Philips DVDR16LS	24x	P-CAV	17.77x	24.01x	23.15x	3m:58s
NU HDW-164	24x	P-CAV	15.39x	23.93x	23.16x	3m:49s
NEC ND-3540A	32x	Z-CLV 4 Zones	20.11x	32.03x	29.75x	3m:32s
BenQ DW1640	32x	P-CAV	21.26x	31.96x	30.33x	3m:10s
Pioneer DVR-110D	32x	Z-CLV 3 Zones	15.87x	32.01x	24.88x	3m:47s
LG GSA-4167B	32x	Z-CLV 3 Zones	16.01x	32.03x	29.26x	3m:14s
LG GSA-H10A	32x	Z-CLV 3 Zones	16.02x	32.04x	28.89x	3m:11s

What we see from the table is that the LG GSA-H10A turns in a respectable time when it comes to writing CD-RW.

16X DVD+R/-R Writing speed:

The LG GSA-H10A uses P-CAV (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at the maximum supported speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 12.73x and a writing time of 5 minutes 30 seconds.

The LG GSA- H10A uses P-CAV (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at its maximum speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 12.71x and a writing time of 5 minutes and 20 seconds.

Below are some write graphs from some other drives for comparison:

The NEC 3540A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16x. This gives an average writing speed of 11.81x and a writing time of 5 minutes and 58 seconds.

The Philips DVDR16LS uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16x. The average speed is 11.33x and total writing time is 6 minutes and 8 seconds. The average speed is lower and the writing time is higher than it could have been due to the Walking OPC generation 2 using some time to constantly adjust the writing quality, we could see this as constant dips in the speed curve.

The LG GSA-5160D uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16x. The average speed is 11.60x and total writing time is 6 minutes and 12 seconds. Below, we made a comparison table:

16x DVDR Disc Writing	Supported Write Speed	Write Strategy	Start Write Speed	End Write Speed	Average Write Speed	Write Time Full 4.38Gb
Lite-On SHOW-1653S	16x +R 12x '?R	CAV P-CAV	6.66x 5.40x	16.02x 12.04x	11.97x 9.61x	6m:01s 7m:33s
LG GSA-5160D	16x +R 8x '?R	Z-CLV	6.00x 6.00x	15.88x 8.01x	11.60x 7.80x	6m:12s 8m:02s
ASUS DRW-1604P	16x +R 16x '?R	Z-CLV 4 Zones	6.01x 5.99x	16.04x 15.84x	10.29x 10.32x	6m:48s 6m:53s
Samsung TS-E552U	16x +R 16x '?R	CAV N/A	6.75x N/A	12.09x N/A	11.11x N/A	6m:00s*1 N/A
Philips DVDR16LS	16x +R 8x '?R	CAV P-CAV	5.80x 6.70x	12.18x 8.01x	11.33x 7.80x	6m:08s 8m:12s
NU HDW-164	16x +R 16x '?R	CAV CAV	6.66x N/A	7.97x N/A	9.32x N/A	6m:55s*2 N/A
NEC ND-3540A	16x +R 16x '?R	CAV CAV	6.70x 6.69x	16.06x 16.07x	11.81x 11.80x	5m:58s 5m:52s
BenQ DW1640	16x +R 16x -R	CAV CAV	5.70x 5.32x	15.95x 15.99x	11.53x 11.41x	5m:44s 6m:06s
Pioneer DVR-110D	16x +R 16x -R	CAV CAV	6.27x 6.32x	15.87x 11.80x	11.58x 11.59x	6m:09s 6m:01s
LG GSA-4167B	16x +R 16x -R	P-CAV P-CAV	7.16x 7.18x	16.00x 16.01x	12.69x 12.69x	5m:37s 5m:21s
LG GSA-H10A	16x +R 16x -R	P-CAV P-CAV	7.23x 7.23x	16.02x 16.01x	12.73x 12.71x	5m:30s 5m:20s

*1 - Actual writing speed was max 14x due to USB-Bridge limitations.
*2 '? Actual writing speed was max 13x due to USB-Bridge limitations.

From the table above, we can see that the LG GSA-H10A is the fastest drives when writing DVD+R and DVD-R media at 16x.

8X DVD+R DL writing speed:

The LG GSA- H10A supports 8x writing speed on DVD+R DL media.

The LG GSA- H10A uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+R DL at 8x. The average speed is 6.22x and total writing time is 18:30 minutes.

Reviewers Note: We never achieved a full 8x burn on the tested media; this is the best we could achieve for an 8x write.

4X DVD-R DL writing speed:

The LG GSA- H10A supports 4x writing speed on DVD-R DL media.

The LG GSA-H10A uses CLV, (Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-R DL at 4x. The average speed is 4.00x and total writing time is 27:30 minutes.

8X DVD+RW writing speed:

The LG GSA-H10A uses CLV, (Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+RW at 8x. The average speed is 7.89x and total writing time is 8:01 minutes.

6X DVD-RW writing speed:

The LG GSA-H10A uses CLV, (Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RW at 6x. The average speed is 6.02x and total writing time is 10:01 minutes.

Book type (Bitsetting):

The LG GSA-H10A supports Bitsetting, and can write DVD+R DL and DVD+R media with DVD-ROM book type.

Here is how you can see if your discs were really written with DVD-ROM book type:

Start Nero CD-DVD Speed and click the Disc info button and you should get something like this:

DVD+R DL with book type DVD-ROM

DVD+R with book type DVD-ROM

Another quick test is to start Nero CD-DVD Speed and look at the disc information:

This should say DVD-ROM.

Included software:

Now it's time to look at the included software and to comment if needed. Notice that we may not use the included software in our performance testing part of the review.

LG DVD Writer Solution:

Cyberlink PowerDVD:

Cyberlink PowerProducer Gold:

Nero Express 6:

In CD:

Now that we have finished examining the drive and its writing strategies, it's time to head on to next page, where we do the reading performance tests…

For these tests we will use Nero CD-DVD Speed to read various types of CD and DVD media. As already mentioned in the introduction, this drive supports:

DVD-ROM : 16x
CD-ROM : 48x

Pressed discs:

For this test we used a pressed CD-ROM disc containing a Nero Ultra Edition OEM install CD that is close to 77 minutes long. Below you will see the produced result:

The LG GSA-H10A reached 47.85x on this pressed CD. Let’s compare the result in the table below:

Pressed Discs	Average Read Speed	Start Read Speed	End Read Speed	Seek Times Random	Seek Times 1/3	Seek Times Full
Memorex F16	34.94x	20.05x	46.33x	122ms	130ms	221ms
AOpen DUW1608/ARR	37.34x	21.29x	49.42x	105ms	118ms	196ms
LG GSA-5163D	30.73x	16.88x	40.47x	108ms	105ms	128ms
Lite-On SOHW-1673S	36.44x	21.36x	48.13x	118ms	133ms	207ms
Pioneer DVR-109D	30.77x	18.18x	24.51x	96ms	110ms	182ms
BenQ DW1625	30.74x	15.39x	38.87x	99ms	112ms	161ms
NEC ND-3540A	34.82x	19.88x	46.09x	122ms	132ms	210ms
BenQ DW1640	36.58x	20.82x	47.67x	107ms	123ms	175ms
Pioneer DVR-110D	31.61x	18.09	41.99	99ms	111ms	189ms
LG GSA-4167B	34.79x	20.01x	46.21x	103ms	120ms	178ms
LG GSA-H10A	36.44x	21.00x	47.85x	117ms	130ms	277ms

The LG GSA-H10A performed above average while reading a pressed CD-ROM.

CD-Recordable Discs:

For this test we made a copy of the original Nero Ultra Edition OEM install CD. The disc we used was an Ritek 52X certified CD-R disc manufactured by Ridata.

CD-R Discs	Average Read Speed	Start Read Speed	End Read Speed	Seek Times Random	Seek Times 1/3	Seek Times Full
Lite-On SHOW-1653S	36.63x	21.46x	48.29x	125ms	157ms	234ms
LG GSA-5160D	30.53x	16.83x	40.27x	116ms	118ms	128ms
ASUS DRW-1604P	30.96x	18.26x	40.81x	125ms	143ms	282ms
Samsung TS-E552U	36.65x	21.28x	48.33x	92ms	95ms	163ms
Philips DVDR16LS	30.69x	17.68x	40.44x	126ms	137ms	175ms
NU HDW-164	32.20x	18.48x	42.65	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*
NEC ND-3540A	35.68x	20.76x	47.06x	128ms	130ms	213ms
BenQ DW1640	36.57x	20.92x	48.09x	203ms	233ms	239ms
Pioneer DVR-110D	31.18x	18.37x	40.99	111ms	121ms	204ms
LG GSA-4167B	35.63x	20.79x	47.16x	110ms	130ms	190ms
LG GSA-H10A	36.58x	20.83x	48.17x	114ms	136ms	273ms

Again the LG GSA-H10A performed above average on the CD-R read test.

* Some drives including the NU HDW-164 will simply execute the seek command without actually moving the pickup.

CD-Rewritable discs:

Again, we made a copy of the original Nero Ultra Edition OEM install CD. The disc we used was a Maxell 4x-12x certified CD-RW disc manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation.

As we can see the LG GSA-H10A reads at 40x when reading a CD-RW. Now let’s compare it to some other drives below.

CD-RW Discs	Average Read Speed	Start Read Speed	End Read Speed	Seek Times Random	Seek Times 1/3	Seek Times Full
Lite-On SOHW-1653S	24.25x	14.04x	32.15x	129ms	167ms	233ms
LG GSA-5160D	30.54x	16.59x	40.43x	119ms	116ms	129ms
ASUS DRW-1604P	25.32x	14.63x	33.52x	129ms	149ms	288ms
Samsung TS-E552U	23.99x	14.02x	31.63x	86ms	95ms	162ms
Philips DVDR16LS	30.70x	17.71x	40.55x	131ms	149ms	179ms
NU HDW-164	32.20x	18.17x	42.53x	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*
NEC ND-3540A	30.76x	18.02x	40.08x	132ms	128ms	213ms
BenQ DW1640	31.36x	17.47x	41.46x	105ms	116ms	250ms
Pioneer DVR-110D	24.96x	14.60x	33.01x	105ms	119ms	195ms
LG GSA-4167B	30.53x	17.86x	40.41x	102ms	115ms	169ms
LG GSA-H10A	31.27x	17.78x	41.16x	105ms	128ms	278ms

The LG GSA-H10A performance is about average when reading a CD-RW disc.

* Some drives including the NU HDW-164 will simply execute the seek command without actually moving the pickup.

Audio – Digital Audio Extraction:

We used Nero CD-DVD Speed to measure the transfer rate. The audio disc we used is a bit smaller than the disc used for the other tests, to be more precise, it’s about 74 minutes long.

The LG GSA-H10A is locked at 40x when reading CD-DA. Let’s compare the result with some other drives:

Audio Discs	Average Read Speed	Start Read Speed	End Read Speed	Seek Times Random	Seek Times 1/3	Seek Times Full
Lite-On SHOW-1653S	36.92x	21.36x	48.89x	126ms	157ms	234ms
LG GSA-5160D	31.27x	16.81x	41.20x	118ms	124ms	115ms
ASUS DRW-1604P	31.10x	19.91x	41.38x	125ms	146ms	286ms
Samsung TS-E552U	37.53x	19.73x	49.76x	85ms	97ms	171ms
Philips DVDR16LS	31.44x	17.75x	41.69x	107ms	124ms	176ms
NU HDW-164	32.98x	18.32x	43.70x	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*
NEC ND-3540A	31.43x	18.00x	40.16x	119ms	135ms	217ms
BenQ DW1640	37.15x	20.94x	49.23x	171ms	200ms	184ms
Pioneer DVR-110D	31.52x	17.95x	42.38x	108ms	124ms	201ms
LG GSA-4167B	31.26x	17.78x	41.39x	102ms	123ms	270ms
LG GSA-H10A	30.60x	17.74x	40.42x	107ms	125ms	179ms

The LG GSA-H10A performance is a little below average on the Audio-CD.

* Some drives including the NU HDW-164 will simply execute the seek command without actually moving the pickup.

As a last test we used Exact Audio Copy (EAC) to extract the audio to our hard drive. According to EAC the LG drive does not support Caching, which is considered a plus while ripping digital audio.

Below is the result produced by EAC:

Burst mode

Secure mode

The drive performed OK when in burst mode but was very slow when in secure mode.

Advanced audio – DAE quality test:

Before we move on to testing DVD read speeds, we will make a last digital audio test. This time we used the ‘Advanced DAE Quality Test’ feature in CD-DVD Speed. For this test we used a CD-R DA media from Memorex.

The digital audio extracting quality is excellent and it is reported to support everything except reading data from the Leadout.

DVD reading performance:

Again, we will use Nero CD-DVD Speed to measure the reading performance, this time for various types of DVD discs.

DVD – DVD-Video:

For our DVD reading performance tests we are going to start with a single layer and Double Layered DVD video discs. While only 1X speed is required to watch DVD movies it is useful to be able to read the discs at higher speeds if you’re going to extract (rip) the content of the disc to your hard drive.

DVD-Video Single Layer

DVD-Video Double Layer

The LG GSA-H10A is locked at 4.8x when reading DVD-Video Single Layer and Double/Dual Layer pressed discs.

DVD Video	Average Read Speed (SL)	Start Read Speed (SL)	End Read Speed (SL)	Average Read Speed (DL)	Start Read Speed (DL)	End Read Speed (DL)
Lite-On SHOW-1653S	11.96x	6.77x	15.94x	6.15x	3.46x	8.19x
LG GSA-5160D	7.60x	4.12x	10.13x	6.14x	3.38x	8.16x
ASUS DRW-1604P	3.92x	2.17x	5.25x	3.94x	2.19x	5.25x
Samsung TS-E552U	11.50x	6.78x	13.11x	6.41x	3.57x	8.51x
Philips DVDR16LS	11.97x	6.61x	15.97x	6.02x	3.35x	8.01x
NU HDW-164	6.40x	3.54x	8.53x	5.87x	3.26x	7.81x
NEC ND-3540A	5.94x	3.32x	7.93x	5.45x	3.03x	7.24x
BenQ DW1640	11.86x	6.59x	15.79x	9.01x	5.03x	12.00x
Pioneer DVR-110D	11.98x	6.42x	15.98x	9.34x	5.26x	12.41x
LG GSA-4167B	7.64x	4.28x	10.18x	6.17x	3.45x	8.20x
LG GSA-H10A	3.68x	2.05x	4.92x	3.73x	2.06x	4.95x

The LG GSA-H10A performance was well below average on the DVD-Video Single Layer Double/Dual Layer tests.

DVD – DVD+R(W):

For this test we used a Memorex 16X DVD+R and a Maxell 4X DVD+RW with 4.38Gb of data. Below are the results:

DVD+R

DVD+RW

DVD+R DVD+RW	Average Read Speed (+R)	Start Read Speed (+R)	End Read Speed (+R)	Average Read Speed (+RW)	Start Read Speed (+RW)	End Read Speed (+RW)
Lite-On SHOW-1653S	6.19x	3.42x	8.28x	6.23x	3.46x	8.33x
LG GSA-5160D	7.66x	4.11x	10.23x	6.15x	3.32x	8.21x
ASUS DRW-1604P	9.35x	5.19x	12.52x	6.26x	3.48x	8.36x
Samsung TS-E522U	6.23x	3.44x	8.32x	6.22x	3.43x	8.31x
Philips DVDR16LS	6.24x	3.42x	8.34x	6.24x	3.42x	8.34x
NU DHW-164	6.47x	3.53x	8.63x	6.46x	3.52x	8.65x
NEC ND-3540A	11.99x	6.56x	16.05x	9.87x	5.45x	13.18x
BenQ DW1640	12.10x	6.59x	16.22x	9.37x	5.12x	12.56x
Pioneer DVR-110D	9.35x	5.16x	12.46x	6.24x	3.44x	8.33x
LG GSA-4167B	7.70x	4.23x	10.30x	6.17x	3.42x	8.25x
LG GSA-H10A	7.72x	4.27x	10.32x	6.18x	3.41x	8.28x

The LG GSA-H10A is read locked at 10x on DVD+R and 8x on DVD+RW.

Now let’s see how it will perform on DVD-R/RW.

DVD – DVD-R/RW:

For this test we used a Memorex 16X DVD-R disc and a Maxell 2X DVD-RW disc filled with 4.38Gb of data. Our test results are found below:

DVD-R

DVD-RW

There are only minor differences on DVD-R/RW when compared to reading the DVD+R/RW discs.

DVD-R DVD-RW	Average Read Speed (-R)	Start Read Speed (-R)	End Read Speed (-R)	Average Read Speed (-RW)	Start Read Speed (-RW)	End Read Speed (-RW)
Lite-On SHOW-1653S	6.05x	3.34x	8.09x	6.05x	3.35x	8.09x
LG GSA-5160D	7.67x	4.12x	10.25x	6.14x	3.31x	8.21x
ASUS DRW-1604P	9.37x	5.22x	12.52x	6.25x	3.46x	8.35x
Samsung TS-E522U	6.19x	3.41x	8.27x	6.22x	3.43x	8.32x
Philips DVDR16LS	6.23x	3.40x	8.33x	6.24x	3.41x	8.34x
NU DHW-164	6.46x	3.49x	8.66x	6.46x	3.49x	8.64x
NEC ND-3540A	12.01x	6.58x	16.06x	9.85x	5.42x	13.16x
BenQ DW1640	12.09x	6.59x	16.17x	9.34x	5.11x	12.50x
Pioneer DVR-110D	9.36x	5.18x	12.51x	6.24x	3.46x	8.34x
LG GSA-4167B	7.71x	4.25x	10.31x	6.16x	3.34x	8.23x
LG GSA-H10A	7.73x	4.27x	10.33x	6.17x	3.42x	8.26x

Once again the LG GSA-H10A is read locked at 10x on DVD-R and 8x on DVD-RW.

DVD-RAM

For this test we used a Maxell 5x DVD-RAM disc and below we see the result:

The LG GSA-H10A reads DVD-RAM media at 5x and it reads the test disc without problems.

Overall thoughts:

The LG GSA-H10A is a very good reader. It is read locked to slower speeds on some of the media types, but during our read tests it proved itself as a very reliable reader.

But now it’s time to head on to a more interesting part: Writing CD-R and CD-RW discs…

The specifications of the LG GSA-H10A state that the drive is able to write CD-R discs at 48x and CD-RW at 32x. Let’s find out how the drive really performs in speed and quality.

Writing Data CD-R discs:

For our data writing tests, we simply set up a new compilation of 702Mb using Nero Burning ROM software. The writing method used is DAO (Disc At Once) and the disc is set up as a non-multisession disc with ‘finalize disc’ enabled. The screenshot below shows how long it takes to write a disc at the highest speed. (48x):

The drive took 3 minutes and 05 seconds to write the disc at 48x. Let’s see how this compares to some other drives: Pioneer DVR-110D used 3 minutes and 34 seconds at 40x

NU DHW-164 used 3 minutes and 12 seconds at 40x
Philips DVDR16LS used 3 minutes and 26 seconds at 40x
Samsung TS-E552U used 2 minutes and 52 seconds at 40x
LG GSA-4163B used 3 minutes and 15 seconds at 40x
Philips DVDR1640P used 3 minutes and 17 seconds at 40x
NU DDW-082 used 3 minutes and 2 seconds at 40x
Samsung TS-H552B used exactly 3 minutes at 40x
Plextor PX-708A used 2 minutes and 58 seconds at 40x

Write Quality:

We will test CD-R discs from seven different CD-R manufacturers. To measure the write speed, we used the ‘Create Data Disc’ function in Nero CD-DVD Speed. The discs were written at the maximum speed that the drive supports. For the quality test, we used KProbe 2 which is a tool developed by a Lite-On employee. It runs under Windows and works with drives made by Lite-On. Also note that different drives and different reading speeds may affect the results obtained when scanning the discs. We used a Lite-On LTR-5239S drive with firmware 2S0B and scanned the discs at 48x speed.

A written CD-R disc will always have some C1 errors. C1 errors are easily corrected by the drive’s error correction capabilities. The next level of errors is C2, while C2 errors could also be corrected by most drive’s error correction capabilities, they are not wanted on a good quality disc. A good disc should not contain any C2 errors and preferably have an average C1 error amount of below 2.0 for the best discs, or at least below 10.0 averages for good quality discs. After C2 errors, there are only un-correctable errors that will make a disc unusable.

Below are the obtained results:

Brand:	RiDATA
Manufacturer:	RiTEK Corporation
Code:	97m15s17f
Disc Type:	CD-R (A-)
Recording Layer:	Dye Type 7: Short Strategy (Phthlocyanine)
Capacity:	79:59.29 (702.80 MB)
Certified Speed:	52x
Write Speed:	48x
Write Time:	3m:06s
C1 Average/Sec:	0.63
C2 Average/Sec:	0.0

The GSA-H10A handles this RiTEK CD-R with an excellent result.

Brand:	FujiFilm
Manufacturer:	Taiyo Yuden Company Limited
Code:	97m24s01f
Disc Type:	CD-R (A+)
Recording Layer:	Dye Type 1: Long Strategy (Cyanine, AZO)
Capacity:	79:57.72
Certified Speed:	48x
Write Speed:	48x
Write Time:	3m:05s
C1 Average/Sec:	0.12
C2 Average/Sec:	0.0

An excellent burn with this Taiyo Yuden media. Highly recommended

Brand:	SONY
Manufacturer:	SONY Corporation
Code:	97m24s16f
Disc Type:	CD-R (B-)
Recording Layer:	Dye Type 6: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)
Capacity:	79:59.74 (702.80 MB)
Certified Speed:	1x-48x
Write Speed:	48x
Write Time:	3m:04s
C1 Average/Sec:	1.03
C2 Average/Sec:	0.0

This is a very good result.

Brand:	Memorex – Thanks to Memorex USA for sending us this media.
Manufacturer:	Prodisc Technology Inc.
Code:	97m32s19f
Disc Type:	CD-R (A+)
Recording Layer:	Dye Type 6: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)
Capacity:	79:59.71 (702.80 MB)
Certified Speed:	52x
Write Speed:	48x
Write Time:	3m:04s
C1 Average/Sec:	2.11
C2 Average/Sec:	0.0

An OK result! Several of these discs were tried and all resulted with some C2 errors.

Brand:	Verbatim
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation
Code:	97m34s23f
Disc Type:	CD-R (A+)
Recording Layer:	Dye Type 3: Long Strategy (Cyanine, AZO)
Capacity:	79:59.73 (702.80 MB)
Certified Speed:	52x
Write Speed:	48x
Write Time:	3m:6s
C1 Average/Sec:	0.28
C2 Average/Sec:	0.0

Great result from this Verbatim media. Highly recommended.

Brand:	Maxell- Thanks to Maxell USA for sending us this media.
Manufacturer:	RiTEK Corporation
Code:	97m31s07f
Disc Type:	CD-R (A-)
Recording Layer:	Dye Type 7: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)
Capacity:	74:45.02 (702.80 MB)
Certified Speed:	48x
Write Speed:	48x
Write Time:	2m:59s
C1 Average/Sec:	0.12
C2 Average/Sec:	0.0

Another excellent RiTEK CD-R result.

Writing Quality with Re-Writable discs:

Due to requests from our readers, we will add a few write quality tests with re-writable media. Settings and testing procedures are the same as we used earlier in this review, so you may want to go back and read them if you are unsure. All discs used for these tests have been written to before, but none have been written to more than 5 times and were ‘full formatted’ before writing.

CD-ReWritable media:

Brand:	Verbatim – Thanks to Verbatim US for sending us this media.
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation
Code:	97m34s25f
Disc Type:	Ultra Speed CD-RW 32x
Recording Layer:	Phase Change
Capacity:	74:43:04 (650MB)
Certified Speed:	32x
Write Speed:	32x (Z-CLV)
Write Time:	3m:10s
C1 Average/Sec:	0.88.
C2 Average/Sec:	0.0

Another excellent result with this Verbatim 32x CD-RW.

Brand:	Maxell
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation
Code:	97m34s23f
Disc Type:	High Speed CD-RW 4-12x
Recording Layer:	Phase Change
Capacity:	79:59:74
Certified Speed:	4x-12x
Write Speed:	10x
Write Time:	8m:25s
C1 Average/Sec:	00.9
C2 Average/Sec:	0.0

This 4x-12x rated media was supported by the drive at only 10x. An excellent CD-RW burn.

Summary:
The CD-R writing quality ranges from very good to excellent. The CD-RW writing quality is very good to excellent as well.

So let’s head on to the next page and read about DVD-Writing performance…

The specifications of the drive tell us that it should write DVD±R at 16x and DVD+RW/-RW at 8x/6x. In this part, we will measure the write time for various types of DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW discs. We will also focus on write quality and media compatibility.

In this test we will measure the time for writing to DVD±R discs. We used Nero Burning Rom to burn an ISO compilation containing 4482Mb of data. We used the Disc-At-Once write method.

DVD+R

DVD-R

Look below for the results.

Write DVD data discs	DVD+R	DVD-R
Lite-On SHOW-1653S	6m:03s (16x speed)	7m:28a (12x speed)
LG GSA-5160D	6m:22s (16x speed)	8m:16s (8x speed)
ASUS DRW-1604P	6m:33s (16x speed)	6m:44s (16x speed)
Samsung TS-E552U	6m:40s (16x speed)	N/A (16x speed)
Philips DVDR16LS	6m:08s (16x speed)	8x:21s (8x speed)
NU HDW-164	6m:51s (16x speed)	7m:23s (16x speed)
NEC ND-3540A	6m:17s (16x speed)	6m:05s (16x speed)
BenQ DW1640	6m:01s (16x speed)	6m:11s (16x speed)
Pioneer DVR-110D	6m:25s (16x speed)	6m:11s (16x speed)
LG GSA-4167B	5m:40s (16x speed)	5m:30s (16x speed)
LG GSA-H10A	5m:36s (16x speed)	5m:34s (16x speed)

The results are impressive as the LG GSA-H10A is one of the fastest drives on the above list. Let’s see how the writing quality is.

Write quality:

You should first notice that this is not a scientific and professional way to test the discs. But according to our testing done in recent months, we would conclude that there is a clear link between the quality reported when scanning the disc and the playability of the disc in different devices. Also notice that different drives report different amounts of errors. K-Probe was designed to work with Lite-On DVD-Writers, so we recommend using a DVD-Writer from Lite-On. In this test we use a Lite-On SOHW-1653S DVD-Writer, as already said; remember that scans done with a Lite-On DVD-ROM or Lite-On combo drive can’t be compared with the results obtained with a Lite-On DVD-Writer. Also remember that different PI/PO ECC sum settings along with different reading speeds in K-Probe will affect the result, we use these settings; PI (Parity Inner) set to summarize 8 ECC blocks, PIF (Parity Inner Failures) set to summarize 1 ECC block, reading speed: 4X CLV (Constant Linear Velocity). Setting the PI sum to 8 and the PIF sum to 1 will give a result that we may compare to the standards for DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW.

But what is a good scan? That is a discussion that we don’t think will end soon, as different drives report different amount of errors, some players are more picky about media than others, and so on. But as a comparison we present you with a scan from two pressed DVD discs:

This scan shows the results from a pressed DVD-Video disc (GoldenEye).

This scan shows the result from a pressed DVD-Video disk (The Green Mile). Notice the error jump when shifting to the second layer (the error level actually drops from the end of the first layer to the beginning of the second layer).

If you read below, you will see that both the pressed DVD-discs are well within the standards.

Download the ECMA 267 Standard for DVD-ROM, the ECMA 337 Standard for DVD+R/RW and the ECMA 338 Standard for DVD-R/RW at http://www.ecma-international.org if you want to look at the standards for yourself. Here is some data from the ECMA standards (same for DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW):

Random errors:

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.

Here we see that a PI error is defined as a row in an ECC block having 1 byte or more containing errors and that the sum of PI errors in 8 ECC blocks after each other should not exceed 280 PI errors.

But what is a row and what is an ECC block? Again we refer to the ECMA standards. We do not copy and paste everything, but if you’re interested, look in the ECMA standards. 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-8 errors. In practical use, a disc with 1664 PI-8 errors is unreadable.

According to our tests the specified max PI-8 sum of 280 for good discs seems to be a good guideline, as some readers have problems reading discs when the PI-8 errors is over 300 and most players starts to have problems when the PI-8 error level reaches 600 or more.

But what are the PIF errors that K-Probe reports? They are Parity Inner Failures, meaning errors left after PI correction. Only the ECMA 337 standard describes the Parity Inner Failures. So how is a Parity Inner Failure defined? Here is what the ECMA 337 states:

“If a row of an ECC Block as defined in 13.3 contains more than 5 erroneous bytes, the row is said to be “PI-uncorrectable”.”

In theory, an ECC block may in the worst case have 208 PIF since every ECC block is 208 rows long. But the ECMA 337 standard goes further and specifies the max amount of accepted PI Failures (uncorrectable errors) allowed on a good disc:

“In any ECC Block the number of PI-uncorrectable rows should not exceed 4.”

This means that when the PIF sum is set to 1, the maximum error value should not exceed 4. The theoretical maximum value for PIF is 208 errors.

But what makes a disc unreadable? A POF (Parity Outer Failure) error will make the disc unreadable, but K-Probe does not display the POF’s.

Notice that there are other aspects such as disc reflectivity, jitter, tracking errors and so on that also will affect the readability of a DVD disc – but for this we do not have measuring equipment available.

Also, another note is that we have scanned the discs at 4X CLV speed, by lowering the speed to 2X(DVD-R/RW)/2.4X(DVD+R/RW) or 1X the amount of reported errors may drop on some discs. We scanned at 4X CLV due to lower speeds taking too much time.

To see if there is a connection between the reported amount of errors and readability of the discs we used the BenQ LS DW 1655 DVD-Writer to read back the discs at 16x. The reason why we have changed the reader is that some companies disliked that we used a modified firmware to obtain 16x reading speed. So to please them, we are now using a drive that reads DVD+R/-R media at 16x as default. A small speed reduction near the end is still accepted on good discs, but serious reading problems or reading failures is a bad sign.

Easier explanation on how to read the test results:

Maybe this became too technical, and you are wondering what to look for in KProbe reports?

Use this as a guideline for good discs:

· PI (Parity Inner): No larger areas on the disc should exceed 280 PI-8 errors, do not worry too much about high single spikes that exceed 280.

· PIF (Parity Inner Failures): No larger areas on the disc should exceed 4 PIF-1 errors, do not worry too much about high single spikes that exceed 4.

And as always, lower is better

And look at the reading curve, if it looks clean with no dips it should be good, a small slowdown near the end is accepted.

DVD+R media compatibility and write quality:

In these tests we will be using a Lite-On SOHW-1693S drive with firmware KS0B along with KProbe to measure the disc quality. We used the the BenQ DW1655 with firmware BCGB for the DVD+R /-R read-back tests.

Brand:	Verbatim – Thanks to Verbatim USA for sending us this media.
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
Code:	MCC 004
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	16x
Write Speed:	16x
Write Time:	5m:29s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	0.93
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.01

What a great result! This is some super fine media for this drive. Highly recommended.

Brand:	Ridata
Manufacturer:	Ritek
Code:	RitekR04
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	16x
Write Speed:	12x. Did not write at 16x
Write Time:	6m:11s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	17.92
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.08

This burn shows some high PIE spikes but the transfer curve shows no problem on read back.

Brand:	Memorex – Thanks to Memorex USA for sending us this media.
Manufacturer:	CMC Magnetics Corporation
Code:	CMC MAG M01
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	16x
Write Speed:	16x
Write Time:	5m:30s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	2.00
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.07

This is an excellent burn. CMC MAG M01 is highly recommended for this drive. The transfer curve is perfect.

Brand:	Fujifilm.
Manufacturer:	Philips Electronics
Code:	PhilipsC16
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	16x
Write Speed:	16x
Write Time:	5m:38s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	2.91
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.08

A slight jump in PIE but the read back shows no problems.

Brand:	Memorex – Thanks to Memorex for sending us this media.
Manufacturer:	Ricoh Company Limited
Code:	RICOHJPN R03
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	16x
Write Speed:	12x. Did not write at 16x.
Write Time:	5m:53s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	1.90
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.03

This RICOHJPN R03 shows an excellent result but did not write at 16x. The transfer curve is again perfect.

Brand:	FujiFilm
Manufacturer:	Taiyo Yuden Company Limited
Code:	YUDEN 000 T02
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	12x
Write Time:	6m:36s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	0.79
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.01

An excellent burn and a perfect read back curve. Highly Recommended.

Brand:	Verbatim
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
Code:	MCC003
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	8x
Write Time:	8m:06s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	1.34
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.05

An excellent burn with MCC003. Recommended.

Brand:	Maxell- Thanks to Maxell USA for sending us this media.
Manufacturer:	Maxell
Code:	Maxell002
Disc Type:	DVD+R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	8x.
Write Time:	8m:17s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	2.92
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.09

A very good burn for this Media.

DVD+ReWritable media:

Brand:	Memorex – Thanks to Memorex USA for sending us this media.
Manufacturer:	Ritek Corporation
Code:	Ritek008
Disc Type:	DVD+RW
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	8x
Write Time:	8m:01s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	7.28
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.09

This 8x DVD+RW produces a very good result with a perfect read back.

Brand:	Memorex
Manufacturer:	Phillips Electronics
Code:	Philips041
Disc Type:	DVD+RW
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	4x
Write Speed:	4x
Write Time:	14m:18s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	15.06
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	4.19

The LG GSA-H10A wrote this disc out of specifications but the read back shows no problems with this DVD+RW media.

Note: Because this disc was out of spec we used the higher read speed of the BenQ 1655 and there were no problems with the read back.

Brand:	Maxell – Thanks to Maxell USA for sending us this media.
Manufacturer:	Ricoh Company Limited
Code:	RICOHJPN W11 (001)
Disc Type:	DVD+RW
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	4x
Write Speed:	4x
Write Time:	15m:00s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	3.34
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.19

An excellent DVD+RW burn resulting in a perfect transfer curve.

To sum it up: Overall, on the selected review media the write quality is good to excellent on DVD+R/RW media

Let’s find out what this drive can do with DVD-R/RW media.

On the next page you will find the DVD-R/RW writing results...

In these tests, again we will be using the Lite-On SOHW-1693S drive with firmware KS0B along with KProbe to measure the disc quality. We will also again be using the LG GSA-H10A with firmware JL03 along with CD-DVD Speed for the DVD-RW and the BenQ DW1655 with firmware BCGB for the DVD-R read-back tests.

Brand:	Verbatim – Thanks to Verbatim USA for sending us this media.
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
Code:	MCC 03RG20
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	16x
Write Speed:	16x
Write Time:	5m:30s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	5.91
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.20

A good result!

Brand:	Memorex – Thanks to Memorex for sending us this media.
Manufacturer:	CMC Magnetics
Code:	CMC MAG AM3
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	16x
Write Speed:	16x
Write Time:	5m:20s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	2.43
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.08

A very nice burn with a good transfer test. Recommended

Brand:	Unbranded Taiyo Yuden.
Manufacturer:	Taiyo Yuden
Code:	TYG03
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	16x
Write Speed:	16x
Write Time:	5m:32s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	2.01
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.02

This is an example of an excellent 16x burn, all the way to the edge. Highly recommended.

Brand:	Memorex - Thanks to Memorex for sending us this media.
Manufacturer:	Ritek
Code:	RitekF1
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	16x
Write Speed:	16x
Write Time:	5m:30s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	9.91
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.03

Again a good result from this Ritek media

Brand:	Unbranded Taiyo Tuden
Manufacturer:	Taiyo Yuden
Code:	TYG02
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	8x
Write Time:	7m:55s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	2.69
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.01

This is an excellent burn and highly recommended media.

Brand:	Memorex.
Manufacturer:	CMC Magnetics Corporation
Code:	CMC MAG AE1
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	8x
Write Time:	7m:51s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	9.70
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.04

Very good result and shows no read back problems.

Brand:	Maxell
Manufacturer:	RiTEK Corporation
Code:	RITEK G05
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	8x
Write Time:	7m:53s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	75.25
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.10

Not really a surprise that this Media did not write very well. Transfer test shows problems at the end of the disc.

Brand:	Verbatim – Thanks to Verbatim for sending us this media.
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
Code:	MCC 02RG20
Disc Type:	DVD-R
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	6x
Write Time:	9m:01s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	0.93
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.00

Although this disc wrote at 6x instead of 8x the result is a high quality burn.

DVD-ReWritable media:

Brand:	Verbatim - Thanks to Verbatim USA for sending us this media.
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation
Code:	MKM 01RW6X01
Disc Type:	DVD-RW
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	6x
Write Speed:	6x
Write Time:	10m:01s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	1.95
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.01

An excellent result with this media from Verbatim.

Brand:	Maxell - Thanks to Maxell America for sending us this media.
Manufacturer:	TDK Corporation
Code:	TDK502sakuM3
Disc Type:	DVD-RW
Capacity:	4483MB
Certified Speed:	2x
Write Speed:	2x
Write Time:	29m:08s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	1.21
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.10

Again an excellent DVD-RW burn.

To sum it up: Overall, on the selected review media the write quality is very good to excellent on DVD-R and just plain excellent on DVD-RW media.

Head on to the next page and read about DVD+R DL compatibility and write quality...

The LG GSA-H10A supports DVD+R Double Layer at 8x and DVD-R Dual Layer at 4x for writing discs with a size of around 8.5 GB.

First up is Verbatim DVD+R Double Layer 8x

This Verbatim media is made by Mitsubishi Kagaku Media and is supported at 8x write speed. Thanks to Verbatim USA for sending us this media.

Brand:	Verbatim – Thanks to Verbatim USA for providing the samples.
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
Code:	MKM 003
Disc Type:	DVD+R DL
Capacity:	8145MB
Certified Speed:	8x
Write Speed:	8x
Write Time:	18m:30s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	6.09
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	1.21

The LG GSA-H10A had trouble creating a smooth burn graph. However the result is good and the transfer curve shows no problems reading this one back.

This Maxell media is manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation and is supported at 6x write speed. Thanks to Maxell America for sending us this media.

Brand:	Maxell – Thanks to Maxell America for providing the samples.
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
Code:	MKM 001
Disc Type:	DVD+R DL
Capacity:	8145MB
Certified Speed:	2.4x
Write Speed:	6x
Write Time:	18m:42s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	6.63
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.19

This is a very good result. The transfer curve shows no problems reading this disc.

This media is made by RiTEK Corporation and is supported at 2.4x write speed. Thanks to Memorex for sending us this media.

Brand:	Memorex – Thanks to Memorex for providing the samples.
Manufacturer:	RiTEK Corporation
Code:	RITEK D01
Disc Type:	DVD+R DL
Capacity:	8145MB
Certified Speed:	4x
Write Speed:	4x
Write Time:	44m:37s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	50.64
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	1.12

This is not a good result producing a very large PIF count on the second layer. However the transfer curve shows no read back problems.

DVD-R DL

As mentioned earlier, the LG GSA-H10A supports the DVD-R DL standard at 4x.

Let’s find the manufacturer and media information too, for this we will use CD-DVD Speed:

This Verbatim media is manufactured by Mitsubishi Kagaku Media and is supported at 4x write speed. Thanks to Verbatim USA for sending us this media.

Brand:	Verbatim – Thanks to Verbatim USA for providing the samples.
Manufacturer:	Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
Code:	MKM 01RD30
Disc Type:	DVD-R DL
Capacity:	8145MB
Certified Speed:	4x
Write Speed:	4x
Write Time:	27m:30s
PI-8 errors Average/Sec:	4.16
PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:	0.11

Another great result with Verbatim media. The read back shows no problems.

Summary: The LG GSA-H10A produces good quality burns on the Mitsubishi based DVD±R DL media.

Standalone DVD-Player compatibility:

We have 3 standalone DVD-Players available to test the DVD+R DL medias (Book Type: DVD-ROM) and the DVD-R DL media (Book Type: DVD-R):

Panasonic DVD-F87
Toshiba SD-3750
Samsung DVD-P4

Compatibility results:

Drive	Ridata DVD+R DL	Verbatim DVD+R DL 2.4x	Verbatim DVD+R DL 8x	Verbatim DVD-R DL	Comments
Panasonic DVD-F87	OK	OK	OK	FAILED	DVD-R DL Failed at layer break.
Toshiba SD-3750	OK	OK	OK	OK	No Problems
Samsung DVD-P421	OK	OK	OK	FAILED	DVD-R DL Failed at layer break.

All DVD Standalone devices played the LG GSA-H10A burned DVD+R DL media. But only one DVD Standalone device would play the LG GSA-H10A burned DVD-R DL media without any problems.

We would like to mention, that the compatibility issue with standalone DVD Players/Recorders and the DVD-R DL media format is caused by incompatibilities with the standalone devices used in this review, and not the LG GSA-H10A or media format used.

Summary: Although all the discs were readable in our scanning and read-back test drives. We would like to see some improvement in write quality.

Before we round off this review, let us run the drive through some advanced tests at next page.

To round off this review, we will run some advanced tests on the LG GSA-H10A. These tests are: “Sheep Test” and some special disc tests.

The “Sheep Test”:

For this test, we will use the Sheep tests made by Alexander Noé. Why is it called sheep test? That’s because the logo of the first 1 to 1 copy program called CloneCD is a sheep. When looking at supported writers, you will notice that the feature list has sheep to indicate if a feature is supported or not. In this case we are interested in the writer’s ability to backup/write weak sectors. Also called: “Correct EFM encoding of regular bit-patterns”.

No sheep: Can’t backup any Safedisc 2 versions without the help of software tricks
1 Sheep: Can backup Safedisc 2 up to version 2.4x without software tricks
2 Sheep: Can backup Safedisc 2, including version 2.5x
3 Sheep: Can write all possible weak sectors, few if any writers could do this.

One of our forum moderators Womble, has written a guide concerning the “Sheep Test” that can be found here.

In the screenshot below taken from CloneCD, we see the LG GSA-H10A supports everything.

The LG GSA-H10A supports DAO-RAW recording mode, which basically means, it can write uncorrected data and sub-channel data.

Sheep Tests	Reader: LG GSA-H10A
One Sheep Burner SD2OLD	Yes
Two Sheep Burner SD251	Yes
Safedisc v2.90 SD290	No
Three Sheep Burner SHEEP3	No

As we can see from the table the LG GSA-H10A is a ‘Two Sheep Burner’, but failed to copy the Safedisc V2.90 and Sheep3 test.

DVD-RAM:

The LG GSA-H10A is a Super Multi drive, meaning is also supports the DVD-RAM format.

Let’s look at the recording side of the disc, and as you can see it has differences from the other DVD+R/W/R9 DL and DVD-R/W discs.

We can see a very fascinating pattern of darker spots. These tick marks are "address information" ("Pre-mastered Pit Header Field") which are embedded onto the disc. This is header information in front of data sector area, and is the same format as HDD and MO.

A DVD-RAM’s disc can be formatted in the following formats:

FAT32
UDF 1.02
UDF 1.50
UDF 2.00
UDF 2.01
UDF 2.50

By formatting a DVD-RAM disc with FAT32 it will act like a removable hard drive and all writing will be done in the “background processes”. Meaning you do not have to wait for it to finish – you can start or work with other applications while the DVD-RAM is working without noticing any “hangs” or CPU slowdowns.

Let’s take a look at the media we are going to use in these tests:

Maxell branded DVD-RAM media certified at 2-5x

Maxell branded 5x media manufactured by Maxell.
Thanks to Maxell USA for providing this media.

On to the interesting part, writing and reading DVD-RAM media.

Maxell DVD-RAM 5x without verification

Maxell DVD-RAM 5x with verification

For those who are not familiar with DVD-RAM would probably think that something went wrong during the write process with the verifications turned on - since the 5x media was written at 2.13x. But not to worry - that is pretty normal for DVD-RAM discs, the reason for the “low” speed is – the drive constantly reads back the data after writing it to verify that it’s written correctly. We can also call it a “bullet proof” writing/verify technique – with no data loss/errors.

Another advantage with DVD-RAM is that the discs can be formatted/erased/written over 100,000 times before it will/can cause/report any errors. Let’s try to read back the disc that we wrote.

Maxell DVD-RAM 5x

As we see from the picture above, the 5x media was read back at 5x using the P-CAV technique.

Since we have no equipment at the present time to perform any quality measuring tests with the DVD-RAM format it will be skipped, but let it be noted, it should not be necessary since the RAM writer verifies the written data by default itself.

Overburning:

To test the overburning capabilities of the LG GSA-H10A, we used the over-burning test in Nero CD-DVD Speed.

The LG GSA-H10A reports an over-burning capacity of 84:17:60 a plus factor of 4:17:64.

To test if the LG GSA-H10A is actually capable of overburning, we attempted to write a CD-R to the reported overburn capacity.

We can see the LG GSA-H10A failed to achieve the CD-R overburn. We tried with several different media but the drive failed each time.

As we can see from the above DVD overburning test the LG GSA-H10A does not support overburning for DVD media.

This concludes our LG GSA-H10A review, lets head on to the last page to read our conclusion and final thoughts.

Positive:

Very good to excellent writing quality on most tested media
Supports DVD±R 16x writing with sub 5:40 write times on most tested media
Supports CD-R/RW writing at 48x/32x
Supports DVD+RW/DVD-RW writing at 8x/6x
Can write some DVD+R DL media at higher than certified speed
Supports Bitsetting for DVD+R/+R DL (sets auto. BookType to DVD-ROM)
'Two sheep" writer
Supports DAO-RAW writing
Supports DVD-RAM at 5x
Excellent documentation/Owner's Manual on CD
Full featured software bundle

Negative:

Reads CD-DA/RW only at 40x
Firmware locked read speeds on all but DVD±R and CD-R media
No support for Bitsetting on DVD+RW media
Green LED for both reading and writing
Overburn for DVD or CD-R not well supported
Very slow read speeds on pressed DVD-Video SL and DL discs

Conclusion:

Let's summarize the most important positive and negative points below:

The main positive points:

LG's offering with the GSA-H10A performs with good to excellent write quality on just about every media type tested with a few exceptions. The drives support for DVD-RAM truly makes this drive a 'Super Multi Drive'.

Bitsetting on DVD+R/+R DL is supported by default and ensures good compatibility with set top DVD players.

LG has included a software bundle with this drive that will have nearly every 'DVD' need covered for a beginning user as well as some of the more sophisticated needs of the more advanced user.

The main negative points:

There are few negatives to mention. The LG GSA-H10A does not offer over speed support with the exception of some DVD+R DL MIDs. Overburning support on CD-R and DVD is lacking, it also lacks bitsetting support on DVD+RW media. Pressed disc read speeds are locked at 4.8x making it one of the slowest reader/rippers. Some firmware improvements are required for a few select CD-R and DVD media.

To sum it all up, this is what we would say: 'The LG GSA-H10A makes an excellent choice if you are looking for a drive that supports all available DVD/RAM/CD media. The drive is a good to excellent writer and with removal of read speed locks on some media types, support for bitsetting on +RW media and some firmware improvements the LG GSA-H10A would truly be a well rounded drive."

We could not find a price using price grabber feature cdfreaks.pricegrabber. We did find this website showing an average price of $45.00 Canadian for the OEM version. (April, 2006).

You may comment on this review below or in this forum thread .

Thanks to:

For providing the Verbatim media used in this review. Verbatim provides high quality media all over the world and strives to be the standard for DVD hardware reviewing.