Measured DVD errors
John Beale, Sept. 22 2005
I measured the error rate of my collection of DVD-R media which was
recorded over the past four years. The DVDs were all recorded
by
me personally, using one of three drives: early discs were
from
the Pioneer DVR-A03, later ones from the Pioneer DVR-A06 and Plextor
PX-712A. As far as error rate goes, I believe there is much more
variability between media than between these three DVD
recorders.
All DVD errors were measured in Sept. 2005 reading with the Plextor
PX-712A and PlexTools software. I have sorted the table on
average error rate (summed over 8 ECC blocks). There is a clear
difference between the error rate on media, ranging from very good to
very poor performance. For example, Taiyo Yuden (TYG01, TYG02)
DVD-R media is clearly different from Ridata (RITEK G04, RITEK G05).
Note that this is "before-correction" error rates, and the DVD format
provides for error correction. All of this media currently plays
back ok in a Pioneer DV-343 set-top DVD player with the exception of
the very worst two discs, which have occasional pixellation.
This data shows only one moment in time, and I
do not have any data showing how error rates changes over time.
However, discs with a high error rate which are marginally
playable now seem like a poor bet for playability in the future. I
believe it is prudent to get a disc that plays back with few errors to start
with, if you want it to last.
PIE (parity inner)
Error rate before correction (ECC sum8)
Readback drive: Plextor PX-712A, firmware 1.07
Software: PlexTools Pro v2.25
DVD spec limit: MAX < 280 PIE
| Date |
Media |
AVG |
MAX |
| Nov-04 |
TYG02 |
0.55 |
8 |
| Jun-05 |
TYG02 |
0.67 |
10 |
| Sep-03 |
TYG01 |
0.69 |
7 |
| May-03 |
TYG01 |
0.91 |
13 |
| Jan-05 |
TYG02 |
0.98 |
16 |
| Jul-04 |
TYG02 |
1.08 |
37 |
| Mar-03 |
TYG01 |
1.1 |
8 |
| May-03 |
TYG01 |
1.11 |
16 |
| Apr-04 |
TYG01 |
1.2 |
9 |
| Jan-05 |
TYG02 |
1.49 |
41 |
| Apr-04 |
TYG01 |
1.59 |
10 |
| Mar-02 |
BeAll G00001 |
1.64 |
11 |
| May-04 |
TYG01 |
1.87 |
17 |
| Apr-04 |
TYG01 |
1.98 |
12 |
| Apr-04 |
TYG01 |
2.03 |
13 |
| Feb-04 |
TYG01 |
2.22 |
14 |
| Mar-02 |
BeAll G00001 |
2.68 |
13 |
| Mar-02 |
MCIG01 |
3.91 |
19 |
| Jul-01 |
MCIG01 |
5.62 |
29 |
| Mar-05 |
RITEKG05 |
7.73 |
20 |
| Aug-01 |
MCC 00RG200 |
8.51 |
38 |
| Sep-03 |
MXL RG01 |
9.48 |
62 |
| May-05 |
RITEKG05 |
9.51 |
21 |
| May-02 |
MCC 00RG200 |
11.31 |
30 |
| Jun-02 |
MCC 00RG200 |
11.53 |
37 |
| Apr-02 |
MCC 00RG200 |
11.94 |
36 |
| Jan-01 |
MCC 00RG200 |
12.02 |
32 |
| May-02 |
MCC 00RG200 |
13.69 |
38 |
| Jun-03 |
MXL RG01 |
14.44 |
38 |
| Aug-01 |
MCC 00RG200 |
14.61 |
57 |
| Mar-02 |
MCC 00RG200 |
17.02 |
42 |
| Mar-05 |
RITEKG05 |
21.14 |
114 |
| Jun-05 |
RITEKG05 |
21.51 |
62 |
| May-03 |
MCC 01RG20 |
23.25 |
44 |
| May-02 |
TDKG02000000 |
24.1 |
48 |
| May-04 |
TYG01 |
28.78 |
111 |
| Sep-01 |
PVC001001 |
35.67 |
416 |
| Mar-03 |
TDKG02000000 |
40.29 |
137 |
| Jan-03 |
MXL RG01 |
41.07 |
114 |
| Jan-03 |
RITEKG04 |
52.13 |
345 |
| Aug-05 |
RITEKG05 |
87.32 |
362 |
| Mar-04 |
RITEKG04 |
240.2 |
888 |
| Apr-05 |
RITEKG05 |
250.01 |
343 |
| May-03 |
RITEKG05 |
386.78 |
603 |
| Mar-03 |
RITEKG05 |
447.32 |
565 |
| May-05 |
RITEKG05 |
500.15 |
729 |
| Mar-05 |
RITEKG05 |
870.77 |
1126 |
| Jun-04 |
RITEKG05 |
1269.2 |
1490 |
back to DVD making