Samsung SH-S183A DVD Burner Preview

By
Wendy Robertson
-

Preview: Samsung SH-S183A
Previewed by: Dee-27
Provided by: Samsung
Firmware: SB02
Manufactured: September 2006

We at CDFreaks would like to present a preview of one of the latest DVD-ReWriter’s from Samsung – the Samsung SH-S183A. The Samsung SH-S183A supports 18x DVD±R, 8x/6x DVD+RW/DVD-RW, 12x DVD-RAM and 8x DVD+R DL/DVD-R DL writing technology, allowing Double/Dual Layer discs of 8.5Gb to be written.
 

Company Information:

Let us take a look at some of the company information found at the Samsung Global website

 
 
 

SAMSUNG electronics subsidiaries include SAMSUNG Electronics, SAMSUNG Electro-Mechanics, SAMSUNG SDI, SAMSUNG Corning, SAMSUNG SDS, SAMSUNG Networks and SAMSUNG Corning Precision Glass. These affiliates produce, market, and sell a wide variety of electronic parts and components such as next generation memory chips, computer and telecommunications equipment, color TV picture tubes, and glass bulbs. They also develop computer systems and produce general electronics and precision machines.

All these companies share the same goal of becoming world-class, high-tech companies at the beginning of the 21st century and are concentrating their investments into promising future fields to achieve that target. Despite being independent, systematic cooperation takes place between the companies that enable the development of state-of-the-art electronic products
 

Drive Specifications:

What’s inside the box?

In this section we will take a look at what the drive came shipped with and take a look at the drive and its technology.

The drive supplied was the bulk version and arrived without any box or accessories

The bezel is plainly styled.

Top

On the top, we found one label and we can read it was made in the Philippines – September 2006.

Drive bottom

On the back of the drive there are from the left: SATA power connector and SATA data connector.

Now, let us install the drive and check out the features on the next page…

Test machine:

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

Hardware:

  • Motherboard: ASUSTeK P5W DH Deluxe (Intel Glendale DG I975x chipset)
  • Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
  • RAM: 2 GB OCZ Platinum dual channel kit DDR2 800
  • GFX: BFG nVidia 8800GTS (640 Megabytes GDDR3)
  • Sound: Onboard Realtek ALC882 HD audio controller
  • Hard disk: 2X 250GB Seagate Barracuda (SATA 2)

System set-up:

 

The Samsung SH-S183A was connected to one of the SATA controllers on the motherboard of our review PC.

And another screenshot from Nero InfoTool below:

 

From the screenshot from Nero InfoTool above, we can see the Samsung SH-S183A supports Mount Rainier. The installed firmware was SB02. We checked Samsung’s website, but no later firmware versions were available.

Installed Software:

Windows Vista Home Premium (64 bit) was installed on our review PC. We will be using the following software in this preview:

Features and techniques:

BookType (Bitsetting):

The Samsung SH-S183A supports automatic Bitsetting, and will as default write DVD+R DL media with DVD-ROM BookType. The Bitsetting can be changed in i.e. Nero Burning ROM

Here is how you can check if your discs are really written with the DVD-ROM BookType:

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

 

DVD+R media with DVD-ROM BookType

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

 

This should say DVD-ROM

Quality Scans:

The Samsung SH-S183A can be used to measure/scan burned discs for their quality via Nero CD-DVD Speed or KProbe. This can be handy to check and get an impression of which state/condition the burned discs are in.

Quality Scan at 8x

Writing Technology:

48x CD-R writing speed:

The Samsung SH-S183A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write CD-R at 48x. The average speed is 37.27x and total writing time was 2 minutes and 51 seconds.

32x CD-RW writing speed:

The Samsung SH-S183A uses Z-CLV (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity) to write CD-RW at 32x. The average speed is 28.31x and the total writing time was 3 minutes and 31 seconds.

18x DVD±R writing speed:

 

The Samsung SH-S183A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at 18x. The average speed is 13.40x and total writing time was 5 minutes and 23 seconds.

 

The Samsung SH-S183A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at 18x. The average speed is 13.39x and total writing time was 5 minutes and 19 seconds.

8x DVD+RW writing speed:

The Samsung SH-S183A uses Z-CLV (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+RW at 8x. The average speed is 6.98x and the total writing time was 9 minutes and 7 seconds.

6x DVD-RW writing speed:

The Samsung SH-S183A uses Z-CLV (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RW at 6x. The average speed is 5.65x and the total writing time was 10 minutes and 47 seconds.

8x DVD+R DL writing speed:

 

The Samsung SH-S183A uses Z-CLV (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+R DL at 8x. The average speed is 6.34x and the total writing time was 19 minutes and 10 seconds.

8x DVD-R DL writing speed:

The Samsung SH-S183A uses Z-CLV (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+R DL at 8x. The average speed is 6.36x and the total writing time was 18 minutes and 46 seconds.

12x DVD-RAM:

 

The Samsung SH-S183A uses P-CAV (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-RAM media at its maximum speed of 12x (verify off). This resulted in an average write speed of 9.93x and a total write time of 5 minutes and 53 seconds.

On the next page: Reading performance…

Reading performance:

For these tests we will use Nero CD-DVD Speed to read various CD and DVD’s, including audio discs and DVD-media.

Pressed discs:

For this test we used a pressed CD-ROM disc containing Roxio Media Creator 7.5 install CD that is close to 75 minutes long. Below you will see the produced result:

 

CD-Recordable Discs:

For this test, we made a copy of the original Roxio Media Creator 7.5  install CD. The disc we used was a Verbatim 48X certified CD-R disc manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation.

 

 The drive is locked at 40x while reading CD-R discs

CD-Rewriteable Discs:

Again, we made a copy of the original Roxio Media Creator 7.5  install CD; this time we used a Verbatim Ultra Speed+ (32X) CD-RW disc made by Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation.

 

The drive is locked at around 40x while reading CD-RWs.

Audio CD:

We used Nero CD-DVD Speed to measure the transfer rate. The audio disc we used is slightly larger than the disc used for the other tests, to be exact it’s about 79 minutes long (78:53:31).

 

100 minutes CD:

We used Nero CD-DVD Speed to measure the transfer rate. The 100 min disc we used is slightly larger than the disc used for the other tests, to be exact it is 97 minutes and 50 seconds long.

 

 

DVD reading performance:

Again, we will use Nero CD-DVD Speed to measure the reading performance, this time for various types of DVD discs. The drive should read pressed single layer DVD-discs at 16X.

DVD – DVD-Video:

For our DVD reading performance tests we are going to start with a single and dual layered DVD video discs. While only 1X speed is required to watch DVD movies, it’s 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 (OTP)

DVD-Video Double Layer (PTP)

As we can see, it reads DVD-Video Single layer at 16x and DVD-Video Double layer at 8x.

DVD – DVD+R/RW:

For this test, we used one DVD+R and one DVD+RW with about 4.4Gb of data. Below are the results:

 DVD+R:

 

DVD+RW:

DVD – DVD-R/RW:

For this test, we used one DVD-R disc and one DVD-RW disc filled with about 4.4Gb of data. Our test results are found below:  

DVD-R:

 

DVD-RW:

DVD – DVD+R DL:

For this test, we used one DVD+R DL disc and the result can be found below:

 

DVD – DVD-R DL:

For this test, we used one DVD-R DL disc and the result can be found below:

 

DVD – DVD-RAM:

For this test, we used a Maxell DVD-RAM 12x disc and the result can be found below:

 

On the next page: CD-R/RW writing performance…

Writing Data CD-R/RW discs:

The specifications state that the drive should be able to write CD-R’s at 48x and CD-RW’s at 32x.

CD-R:

  

Brand:

Unbranded Printable. Thanks to SVP UK for sending us this media

Manufacturer:

Taiyo Yuden

Code:

97m24s01f

Disc Type:

CD-R

Recording Layer:

Dye Type 1: Long Strategy (Cyanine, AZO)

Capacity:

79:59.72 (703MB)

Certified Speed:

48x

Write Speed:

48x (CAV)

Write Time:

2m:55s

C1 Average/Sec:

0.10

C2 Average/Sec:

0.0

An excellent result.

Brand:

RICOH – Thanks to RICOH Europe (BV) for sending us this media.

Manufacturer:

Moser Baer India Limited

Code:

97m17s06f

Disc Type:

CD-R

Recording Layer:

Dye Type 6: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)

Capacity:

79:59.74 (703MB)

Certified Speed:

1x-52x

Write Speed:

40x (P-CAV)

Write Time:

2m:57s

C1 Average/Sec:

1.19

C2 Average/Sec:

0.0

Another excellent result.

Brand:

Verbatim Super AZO – Thanks to Verbatim UK for sending us this media

Manufacturer:

Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation

Code:

97m34s23f

Disc Type:

CD-R

Recording Layer:

Dye Type 3: Long Strategy (Cyanine, AZO)

Capacity:

79:59.70 (703MB)

Certified Speed:

48x

Write Speed:

48x (CAV)

Write Time:

2m:52s

C1 Average/Sec:

0.45

C2 Average/Sec:

0.0

C1 errors are rising at the end of the disc, but the result is still very good.

Brand:

Infiniti Printable – Thanks to Medea
International (UK) for sending us this media.

Manufacturer:

SKC

Code:

97m26s26f

Disc Type:

CD-R

Recording Layer:

Dye Type 6: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)

Capacity:

79:59.09 (703 MB)

Certified Speed:

52x

Write Speed:

48x (CAV)

Write Time:

2m:51s

C1 Average/Sec:

1.21

C2 Average/Sec:

0.0

To round off our CD-R tests, we have another very good result.

CD-RW:

  

Brand:

Verbatim Ultra speed 32x – Thanks to Verbatim UK for sending us this media.

Manufacturer:

Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation

Code:

97m34s25f

Disc Type:

Ultra Speed CD-RW 32x

Recording Layer:

Phase Change

Capacity:

79:59.74 (703MB)

Certified Speed:

32x

Write Speed:

32x (Z-CLV)

Write Time:

3m:31s

C1 Average/Sec:

12.13

C2 Average/Sec:

0.18

C1 errors are high at the start of the disc where the writing speed is lower than the disc’s rated speed. This is not unusual and the result is ok.

Summary:

CD-R media has burned with excellent/very good quality and CD-RW has burned with good quality.

 On the next page we take a look at DVD+R/RW writing performance....

DVD+R/RW Writing performance:

The specifications of this drive tell us that it should write DVD±R at 18x, DVD+RW/-RW at 8x/6x, and DVD±R DL at 8x. In these tests we will be using a Lite-On LH-20A1P with firmware KL05 along with KProbe to measure the disc quality. We will also be using the Optiarc AD-7173A along with CD-Speed for our read-back tests.

DVD+R: 

Brand:

Plextor – Thanks to Plextor for sending us this media

Manufacturer:

Taiyo Yuden

Code:

YUDEN000T03

Disc Type:

DVD+R

Capacity:

4483MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

18x (CAV)

Write Time:

5m:23s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

0.63

PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:

0.03

Plextor media with Taiyo Yuden media code, the result is excellent.

Brand:

Verbatim – Thanks to Verbatim (UK) for sending us this media.

Manufacturer:

Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation

Code:

MCC 004

Disc Type:

DVD+R

Capacity:

4483MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

18x (CAV)

Write Time:

5m:19s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

0.32

PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:

0.00

The result is excellent.

Brand:

Pleomax – Thanks to Pleomax (NL) for sending us this media

Manufacturer:

OPTODISC

Code:

OPTODISC R16

Disc Type:

DVD+R

Capacity:

4483MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

16x (CAV)

Write Time:

6m:02s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

1.83

PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:

0.02

Once again we have an excellent result.

Brand:

Sony

Manufacturer:

Sony

Code:

SONY D21

Disc Type:

DVD+R

Capacity:

4483MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

16x (CAV)

Write Time:

6m:07s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

5.36

PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:

0.11

The result is good.

DVD+RW:

 

Brand:

Ricoh – Thanks to Ricoh Europe
for sending us this media.

Manufacturer:

RICOH Company Limited

Code:

RICOH JPNW21

Disc Type:

DVD+RW

Capacity:

4483MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x (Z-CLV)

Write Time:

8m:02s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

5.99

PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:

0.03

The result is very good for this DVD+RW media.

Summary:

The Samsung SH-183A produced excellent/very good quality results with the tested DVD+R/RW media.

On the next page we are going to take a look at DVD-R/RW writing performance…

DVD-R/RW Writing performance:

DVD-R:

Brand:

Taiyo Yuden unbranded – Thanks to SVP (UK) for sending us this media.

Manufacturer:

Taiyo Yuden

Code:

TYG03

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4483MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

18x (CAV)

Write Time:

5m:19s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

35.10

PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:

0.02

PI errors are fairly high, PIF errors are incredibly low. The result is good.

Brand:

Ricoh – Thanks to Ricoh Europe for
sending us this media.

Manufacturer:

CMC Magnetics Corporation

Code:

CMC MAG AM3

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4483MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

16x (CAV)

Write Time:

6m:02s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

46.80

PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:

0.03

The result is good.

Brand:

Verbatim – Thanks to Verbatim (Germany)
for sending us this media.

Manufacturer:

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation

Code:

MCC 03R G20

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4483MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

18x (CAV)

Write Time:

5m:22s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

90.56

PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:

0.09

PI errors are out of specification and high throughout the disc. PIF errors are out of specification at the end of the disc. We have a perfect read-back test. The result is ok but could be better.

Brand:

Pleomax – Thanks to Pleomax (NL)
for sending us this media.

Manufacturer:

Opto Disc

Code:

OPTODISCR016

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4483MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

16x (CAV)

Write Time:

6m:01s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

3.58

PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:

0.06

The result is good.

DVD-RW:

Brand:

Verbatim - Thanks to Verbatim
for sending us this media.

Manufacturer:

Mitsubishi Kagaku Media

Code:

MKM 01RW 6X01

Disc Type:

DVD-RW

Capacity:

4483MB

Certified Speed:

6x

Write Speed:

6x (Z-CLV)

Write Time:

10m:47s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

4.16

PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:

0.01

The result is excellent.

Summary:

The Samsung SH-S183A produced very good/excellent quality results with the tested DVD-R/RW media.

On the next page we are going to take a look at DVD±R DL writing performance…

Writing performance DVD±R DL:

DVD+R DL:

Brand:

Verbatim – Thanks to Verbatim (UK)
for providing the media.

Manufacturer:

Mitsubishi Kagaku Media

Code:

MKM 003

Disc Type:

DVD+R DL

Capacity:

8103MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x (Z-CLV)

Write Time:

19m:10s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

2.97

PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:

0.02

The result is excellent.

DVD-R DL:

Brand:

Verbatim – Thanks to Verbatim (UK)
for providing the media.

Manufacturer:

Mitsubishi Kagaku Media

Code:

MKM 01RD30 

Disc Type:

DVD-R DL

Capacity:

8103MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x (Z-CLV)

Write Time:

18m:46s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

24.38

PI-1 failures (PIF) Avg/Sec:

0.02

The result is good.

Summary:

Writing quality on DVD DL media is very good indeed.

On the next page we are going to take a look at the DVD-RAM writing performance…

Writing performance DVD-RAM:

The Samsung SH-S183A supports writing and reading the DVD-RAM format. Lets us 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 as “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.

DVD-RAM has error correction, but also has error replacement to spare sectors as a "defect management" function. This gives higher reliability than other DVD format.

Another advantage with DVD-RAM is that the discs can be formatted/erased/written at over 100.000 times before it will/can cause/report any errors.

Lets us take a look at the media we are going to use in these tests:

Now let’s see how DVD-RAM media is written and read by the Samsung SH-S183A:

Maxell 12x at 12x with “Streaming” option

As we can see, the Samsung SH-S183A wrote our 12x DVD-RAM media at its maximum rated speed of 12x in 5 minutes and 53 seconds.

Let’s try to read back the disc that we wrote:

As we can see, the Samsung SH-S183A used a P-CAV reading method, and reads the disc at its rated write speed, meaning our 12x media was read at 12x.

Next you can read the conclusion from our tests…

Positive:

  • Supports DVD±R/±R DL/RAM writing at 18x/8x/12x
  • Supports DVD+RW/-RW writing at 8x/6x
  • Supports CD/RW writing at 48x/32x
  • Can write DVD±R certified media at higher speed
  • Supports Bitsetting for DVD+R/RW/DL media
  • Supports disc quality scanning
  • Can read 100 minutes CD-Rs
  • Excellent CD-R/DVD+R/DVD+R DL writing quality
  • Supports Mount Rainier

 

Negative:

  • Reads DVD±R/RW at 12x/8x
  • Reads CD-R media at 40x
  • Single LED for read and write

Conclusion:

 

To sum it all up, this is what we would say: "The Samsung SH-S183A is a good writer and performs well. Further it has very good set of features and supports most media formats."

You may discuss or comment on this article below or in this forum thread 

Thanks to:

Plextor SA/NV (B) for providing the Plextor media used in this review.

Ricoh Europe – For providing the media used in this review.

SVP Communication – The United Kingdom for providing the media used in this review.

Verbatim - United Kingdom for providing the media used in this review.

Pleomax for providing the media used in this review.

Medea International – United Kingdom for providing the media used in this review.

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