Plextor PX-B940SA 12x Blu-ray Disc Writer

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - BD-ROM:

To test the PX-B940SA's BD-ROM reading performance, I used the Blu-ray Disc version of The Fifth Element. This single layer disc is about 23GB in size.

 

	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	5.95x 3.33x 7.94x	5.93x 3.33x 7.85x	3.62x 2.02x 4.83x	6.99x 4.14x 7.99x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	78ms 208ms 350ms	68ms 198ms 346ms	93ms 4ms 3ms	91ms 171ms 479ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 8% 4%	0% 1% 5% 3%	0% 0% 1% 2%	0% 0% 1% 2%

The PX-B940SA performed reasonably well when reading single layer BD-ROM discs. In our tests, the drive started reading at 3.33x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 7.94x.

Plextor's Blu-ray Disc writer had no problems playing back The Fifth Element and The Simpsons Movie using the bundled version of PowerDVD. Just keep in mind that if your monitor is connected to your video card using DVI or HDMI, both need to be HDCP compliant to play AACS protected titles. If not, you can still play them by switching the connection to VGA or using software like Slysoft's AnyDVD HD.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - BD-R and BD-RE:

Next we'll look at the drive's BD-R and BD-RE reading performance. For this I created a few data discs using single layer BD-R and BD-RE media from Memorex and Panasonic and then ran our BD read tests with CD Speed.

Panasonic BD-R
 

	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	5.97x 3.41x 7.94x	5.94x 3.41x 7.78x	6.09x 3.47x 8.08x	7.02x 4.25x 7.98x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	76ms 215ms 363ms	84ms 223ms 368ms	104ms 4ms 3ms	95ms 165ms 464ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 7% 4%	0% 1% 6% 4%	0% 0% 1% 2%	0% 1% 1% 2%

Memorex BD-RE

	Plextor PX-B940SA	Pioneer BDR-2203	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	5.97x 3.41x 7.92x	5.91x 3.41x 7.41x	3.64x 2.07x 4.84x	2.00x 1.99x 2.00x
Access Times Random: 1/3: Full:	79ms 220ms 369ms	81ms 221ms 361ms	116ms 4ms 3ms	101ms 219ms 391ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 7% 4%	0% 1% 6% 4%	0% 0% 1% 2%	0% 1% 2% 4%

Panasonic BD-R DL

Plextor's new drive had no problems reading BD-R, BD-RE and BD-R DL media. In all three cases, the PX-B940SA reached a maximum transfer speed of about 7.9x.