Why does lowering burn speed produce fewer errors and better quality discs?
Below is an example of an actual test performed to show the advantage of lowering the burn speed.
Test 1 - A fifty disc burn at 52x with 700 MB of data produced 3 errors out of fifty. (Average Time per disc 3:18)*
Test 2 - A fifty disc burn at 32x with same 700 MB of data produced zero errors out of fifty. (Average Time per disc 3:27)*
Conclusion - Recommend lowering the burn speed to reduce error rate. The difference in burn time is 9 seconds.
Explanation -
All of the errors received in the first test were very near the end of the burn (near max capacity) where the recorder ramps up to a higher speed and the disc spins at higher velocity. This makes it more likely that you would encounter errors and increases the drives use of error correction. (Higher error correction decreases the disc compatibility with different drives and can render the disc unplayable over time.) By capping the burn speed at 32x you increase the overall quality of the disc and virtually eliminate bad discs all while only increasing the burn time by 9 seconds.
DVDs - This same concept applies to DVDs as well - especially full DVDs that are burned to near capacity.
Note: Smaller amounts of data would not be affected by a slower burn speed simply because the drive may never reach speeds over 32x no matter what speed is set.
*Tests were performed on the same computer using the same type of media and the same recorder drive.
Article ID: 44953