Does the speed at which you burn DVDs have an effect on the quality?

[inf1nity]

Does the speed at which you burn a DVD or a CD have an effect on the quality, longevity of the recording. Is there any proof or experience that slower burn speeds produce better results?

I never paid a lot of attention to burn speeds. I burn at the max speed available. However recently someone told me that DVDs burned at slow speed last longer(the data stays useable for longer amount of time)

I'm curious to hear your opinions on this.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I never paid a lot of attention to burn speeds. I burn at the max speed available. However recently someone told me that DVDs burned at slow speed last longer(the data stays useable for longer amount of time)

That is true to a certain extent. Faster writing speed equals less time for the laser to affect the die layer. What's more important is what recording strategy is used. Normally high-speed writing uses CAV (constant angular velocity). What this means is that the drive is spinning the disc at a fixed RPM. This can result in the end of the disc getting less exposure then the beginning. In theory making it more susceptible to read errors. Z-CAV and Z-CLV are also very dubious, here the writer changes write speed at various intervals, which can result in badly recorded spots.

For archival purposes, I recommend CLV (constant linear velocity), as it has equal exposure over the entire disc. Theoretically resulting in better recording quality. Also don't skimp on what discs you use for burning, use either verbatim (the "good" kind) or taiyo-yuden media.

You can often download specifications from the drive manufacturer to tell you at what speed the drive uses various writing strategies.

 

[bruceb]

Can't say for certain, but I burn at either 4X or 8X speed at most.
You might find more info here: http://www.burnworld.com/
or perhaps here: http://club.myce.com/

 

[BrightCandle]

A very long time ago I saw a review that looked at the number of ECC correctable errors across a range of DVD burners right after the DVDR had been written. The conclusion they came to was that there is a big difference between makes and models and that the speed at which you wrote the disks had a substantial effect on the number of errors introduced during the burn process. Thus their advice at the time I think was a Sony DVD writer and low speeds. I haven't seen any of the big review sites look into this in nearly a decade, it could be fixed, it could be worse or exactly as it was 10 odd years ago.

 

[Throckmorton]

That is true to a certain extent. Faster writing speed equals less time for the laser to affect the die layer. What's more important is what recording strategy is used. Normally high-speed writing uses CAV (constant angular velocity). What this means is that the drive is spinning the disc at a fixed RPM. This can result in the end of the disc getting less exposure then the beginning. In theory making it more susceptible to read errors. Z-CAV and Z-CLV are also very dubious, here the writer changes write speed at various intervals, which can result in badly recorded spots.

For archival purposes, I recommend CLV (constant linear velocity), as it has equal exposure over the entire disc. Theoretically resulting in better recording quality. Also don't skimp on what discs you use for burning, use either verbatim (the "good" kind) or taiyo-yuden media.

You can often download specifications from the drive manufacturer to tell you at what speed the drive uses various writing strategies.

I've never seen options for these things in any software. How do you set your DVD burner to do CLV?

 

[inf1nity]

That is true to a certain extent. Faster writing speed equals less time for the laser to affect the die layer. What's more important is what recording strategy is used. Normally high-speed writing uses CAV (constant angular velocity). What this means is that the drive is spinning the disc at a fixed RPM. This can result in the end of the disc getting less exposure then the beginning. In theory making it more susceptible to read errors. Z-CAV and Z-CLV are also very dubious, here the writer changes write speed at various intervals, which can result in badly recorded spots.

For archival purposes, I recommend CLV (constant linear velocity), as it has equal exposure over the entire disc. Theoretically resulting in better recording quality. Also don't skimp on what discs you use for burning, use either verbatim (the "good" kind) or taiyo-yuden media.

You can often download specifications from the drive manufacturer to tell you at what speed the drive uses various writing strategies.

Is it possible to set your writer to use a certain mode, CAV/CLV?

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Is it possible to set your writer to use a certain mode, CAV/CLV?

Unfortunately no. You have to select a speed where the writer uses it. Usually 2(.4)x or 4x for DVD's, I have seen a few newer writers that can do 6x CLV (they do a very good turbine impersonation... ). Anything over that is likely to be either Z-CLV, Z-CAV or CAV.

If you use Nero for burning, there is an option to show the "real" write speed. Its buried under advanced settings. This allows you to quickly figure out what is being used at a given speed. If its steady throughout the disc, its CLV. If it starts slow, and ends fast its CAV. If there are sudden jumps in recording speed, its either Z-CLV or Z-CAV.

 

[inf1nity]

I just converted an AVI file into DVD format, and burned it to a DVD at 4x. Lets see how long it lasts.

 

[Anubis]

i have 10 year old CDs that still work and DVDs that are at least 6 or so years old (dont remember when i got first DVD burner) they still work fine

how long is "long time"

ive always burnt at max unless burning a blu ray, only because BR costs to much to make a coaster

 

[Lorne]

I have CDs that are 20 years old and still good, I have disc that were burned 2 weeks ago that have faded out to non usable.

Does burn speed affect quality, YES, The quality of device and material make a big difference but theres is no getting around fade or failure even with the best.
I have noticed this since I got my 4x (circ 98) burner to replace my 1x (circ 96).
Noticable audio problems to this day I have come across using high speeds over lower speeds, Disc wont work in another drive, Audio quality is horrid to the point of being flat, Bias to one extreme treble or bass, Skip or scratching (squeels and pops) and just wont work days later.
Even with the introduction and video disc (DVD and BR) the same quality problem has carried over from CD with the inclusion of visual artifacts.

Even burn software are different at the same speeds.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

with the introduction and video disc (DVD and BR) the same quality problem has carried over from CD with the inclusion of visual artifacts.

But at least DVD's and blurays have pretty robust error correction. CD's have almost nothing. If you're really paranoid (like me) you rar the files with recovery records before you burn them. This won't work for audio CD's of course.

If you're getting visual artefacts with either DVD or bluray, I think there is another problem somewhere in your setup. It could also be because you're using a stand-alone DVD/bluray player, they usually just keep reading if there is a disc error. Computer drives don't...

 

[BrightCandle]

I can't find a source for it now but IIRC a CD contains about 2GB in total (a normal 650MB one that is). Most of that is obviously data correction for the most part. They have an awful lot of correction on them, but they are also exposed to the air and hands and spinning in a drive so they get pretty beat up.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I can't find a source for it now but IIRC a CD contains about 2GB in total (a normal 650MB one that is). Most of that is obviously data correction for the most part. They have an awful lot of correction on them, but they are also exposed to the air and hands and spinning in a drive so they get pretty beat up.

A standard 650MB CD-ROM actually only contains ~784MB data with error correction. A CD sector is 2.532 bytes, 2048 bytes of which are actually available for user data. 288 bytes are used for ECC, and the last 16 bytes are header information. Now, if you're using Mode 2, all 2.336 bytes are available for user data, but you completely sacrifice ECC. This might be acceptable for audio/video, but certainly not for data.

A DVD has two layers of ECC, at the sector and at the block level. This makes DVD a lot more resilient, but by no means foolproof...

 

[bononos]

Does the speed at which you burn a DVD or a CD have an effect on the quality, longevity of the recording. Is there any proof or experience that slower burn speeds produce better results?

I never paid a lot of attention to burn speeds. I burn at the max speed available. However recently someone told me that DVDs burned at slow speed last longer(the data stays useable for longer amount of time)

I'm curious to hear your opinions on this.

I think that was the case a long time ago. Maybe it still holds with bd roms.
But I've after comparing 8/16x writes on a few DVD rom spindles, I've come to the conclusion that 16x is slightly better on decent quality media (Mitsubishi) and the difference was marginal on TDK branded CMC media.