DVD Media Quality Guide

Discussion in 'Storage Devices' started by pelvis_3, Jan 8, 2007.

  1. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    Not all discs are good. In fact, most of the cheap media you see on the shelves are from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong,
    I'd be confident in saying most media is bad. This short guide is meant to help you determine who manufactures the discs you buy and
    whats brands are good, and what brands to stay away from.While some cheap media may work for you, it's a risk that you shouldn't really want to take. Try to use 1st and 2nd class media, and try to avoid 3rd and 4th class media wherever possible. Not only do high qaulity discs use better dying methods, they last longer. Expect 100 years if you look after discs. They are usually not just simply 'stamped' together but also welded around the seems. Compare a cheap and high quality disc side by side and see for yourself. The resuls are quite obvious.

    Brand vs Media ID

    The thing that most people don't know is that most media is produced by a small number of factories, located in several different places. These factories are mostly abundant in Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, China and even India. The best media generally comes from Japan and Singapore. The worst media mostly comes from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. In addition, you need to understand that the brand of the disc means nothing.

    It is the media ID that is important, as it reveals the disc manufacturer just as an FCC ID Code present on all computer electronics would for hardware (P.S. If you ever feel the need to reveal the REAL manufacturer of your PSU, click Here and enter the FCC code). Unfortunately, the media ID is something the manufacturers don't think you need to see. To learn the media ID code, a blank disc must be put into your optical drive and the ID read by special software.
    DVD Identifier being my favourite.
     
  2. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    The Media List

    1st Class Discs - usually 100% burn results. Good for high quality Data backups, Video Masters and everything else in between.
    If you don't buy in bulk or when sales are around, your sure to empty your wallet very quickly.


    Pioneer
    Media ID - PVC001001, PVC001002, PVCW00
    Format - DVD-R, DVD-RW.

    Mitsubishi Chemicals and Verbatim
    Media ID - MCC00RG20, MCC01RG20, MCC02RG20, MCC03RG20,
    MCC002, MCC003, MCC004, MCC00RW, MCC01RW, MCCA01, MKMA02, MKM001, MKM003
    Format - DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL.

    Taiyo Yuden
    Media ID - TYG01, TYG02, TYG03, YUDEN000T02, YUDEN000T03
    Format - All.

    Hitachi Maxell
    Media ID - MXLRG01, MXLRG02, MXLRG03, MXLRG04, MAXELL001, MAXELL002, MAXELL003
    Format - DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM.

    Sony
    Media ID - SONY04D1, SONY08D1, SONY16D1, SONYD21, SONYD11, SONYS11.
    Format - DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW.

    TDK
    Media ID - TDKG02, TTG01, TTG02, TTH01, TTH02, TDK501, TDK502, TDK001, TDK002, TDK003
    Format - DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R.
     
  3. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    2nd Class Media - Not suggested for Video Masters or important data, but fine for data that can be replaced easily and video distributing.
    Also buy these i bulk when possible. Still cheaper than the 1st class stuff, though.


    Ricoh
    Media ID - RICOHJPND00, RICOHJPNR00, RICOHJPNR01, RICOHJPNR02, RICOHJPNR03, RICOHJPNW01, RICOHJPNW11, RICOHJPNW21
    Format - DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL.

    Prodisc
    Media ID - PRODISCS03, PRODISCS04, PRODISCF01, PRODISCF02, PRODISCR01, PRODISCR02, PRODISCR03, PRODISCR04. PRODISCG02, PRODISCW02
    Format - DVD-R, DVD+R.

    Acer & BenQ (Daxon)
    Media ID - DAXON008S, DAXON016S, DAXONAZ1, DAXONAZ2, DAXONAZ3, DAXOND42
    Format - DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW.

    Ritek
    Media ID - RITEKG01, RITEKG03, RITEKG04, RITEKG05, RITEKW01, RITEKW04, RITEK000, RITEKR01, RITEKR02, RITEKR03, RITEKR04, RITEKF1
    Format - DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW.

    Optodisc
    Media ID - OPTODISCK001, OPTODISCR004, OPTODISCR008, OPTODISCR016, OPTODISCW002, OPTODISCW004
    Format - DVD-R, DVD-RW.

    Infodisk
    Media ID - INFODISCA01, INFODISCA10, INFODISCR20, INFODISCR01
    Format - DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW.
     
  4. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    3rd Class Media - Don't use these unless you must. Very average success rate.
    Expect DVD players and ROM's to have trouble reading them at times. Keep it under 2.5Gb.


    CMC Magnetics
    Media ID - CMCMAGD01, CMCMAGE01, CMCMAGF01, CMCMAGM01, CMCMAGR01
    Format - DVD+R.

    CMC Magnetics (2)
    Media ID - PHILIPSCD2, PHILIPS010, PHILIPS041, PHILIPSC08, PHILIPSC16, PHILIPSRW
    Format - DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL.

    LeadData
    Media ID - LEADDATA01, LEADDATA, LD01, LD, LDS03, LDA02
    Format - DVD-R, DVD+R.

    Moser Baer
    Media ID - MBI, MBIPG101R03, MBIPG101R04, MBIPG101W03, MBIPG101W04
    Format - DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW.

    Samsung and BeAl
    Media ID - BEALLG00001, BEALLG40001, BEALL000P40, BEALL000PG0
    Format - DVD-R, DVD+R.

    Infomedia
    Media ID - INFOMER20, INFOMER30, INFOMEDIAT01
    Format - DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL.

    Princo
    Media ID - PRINCO
    Format - DVD-R, DVD-RW.
     
  5. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    4th Class Media - Did I hear someone say CHEAP crap?
    Stay away at all costs. These are really only good for playing Frisbee in the park and will most definitely contribute to some landfill.
    If your drives choke on the disc, I won't be suprised. If you get more than a year from them, I'll probably choke!


    CMC Magnetics
    Media ID - CMCMAGAE1, CMCMAGAF1, CMCMAGAM3, CMC00RG20, CMC00RG30, CMCMAG, CMCW02, CMCW03, CMCMAGW01
    Format - DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW.

    Optodisc Media
    Media ID - OPTODISCP01, OPTODISCP02, OPTODISCP04, OPTODISCR04, OPTODISCR08
    Format - DVD+R, DVD-RW.

    NanyaTech
    Media ID - NANYACLX, NANYAA01
    Format - DVD-R, DVD+R.

    Anwell
    Media ID - AN31, AN32, AN33, AN35, ANWELL
    Format - DVD-R.

    Infosmart
    Media ID - INFOSMART01, ISO001, ISO002
    Format - DVD-R, DVD+R.

    Interaxia AG
    Media ID - VANGUARD, VDSPMSAB01, VDSPSAB
    Format - DVD-R.

    Advanced Media Ltd
    Media ID - AML, AML001, AML002
    Format - DVD-R.

    And there you have it folks. I now hope you have a better understanding of your media. While cheap internet and computer
    store offers may arise, think about what your going to be using them for and what may happen if you use junk media.
     
  6. Karanislove

    Karanislove It's D Grav80 Of Luv

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    Ya, thats true. I bought a 3rd class media from a Chinese shop for Recording a Fusion song for dance competition but wasnt aware of medias. So when i gave that CD to the DJ guy, his dj cd system wasnt reading my CD properly. That was the worst time.. But Thank God it worked out at the end.... So from that day I decided that I will never buy any bad media.... Jst TDK works for me now...:loveme:
     
  7. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    That's true. My very first spindle of discs were 4th class media and almost every disc has perished since then. I then purchased some TDK and Sony discs, and have never had a failed burn, plus they all work still. This is why I use those brands exclusively. If you data is important to you, get the good stuff!
     

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