Page 1 of 1

Proposed Study

PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 11:45 am
by Intimidator
Being a scientific person as I am, I would like to propose a study for all the BENQ 1620 worldwide and would like your feedback to improve the quality of this study.

Purpose: To progressively watch the deteriation of various media over time that we use for our BENQ 1620.

Background: This study could be open to ALL DVD burner makes/models however we need to eliminate some variables and the BENQ 1620 may write DVD's slightly differently than other burners on the market. Others may incorporate a similar study to isolate a certain make/model DVD burner in a separate thread or sticky then link back to this thread to observe direct media related issues. It has been reported that users have made successful burns that were great at first but then weeks to months later are very bad and cannot be read anymore. This is very heartbreaking when we spend good money, time and effort to make these copies then to see all of your hard work vanish into thin air. We can do better!

There are many variables that cannot be controlled such as temperature, humidity, UV exposure, jewel cases vs CD/DVD wallet....etc. There was a German study that looked at jewel cases and wallets but the results were in-conclusive but some say it was chemicals that were leached from the wallet sleeves or plastic that affected the DVD's. We have to keep in mind that we may not watch a movie in several months when in reality the disc went bad in a few weeks sitting in a humid DVD wallet. Or if we have lots of movies and may never watch them until the following year. This is another example of variables that cannot be controlled especially when dealing with a large number of burned DVD's. However we can report our own findings and over time and should see a pattern develop.

Reporting: Please use the following template for reporting:

BENQ drive/Firmware version
Disc Brand and rating
Media Code
Approximate original burning date (this may be +/- a few days)
Make/model of stand alone DVD player to confirm good original burn
Approximate date when first noticed problems
Make/model of standalone DVD player when problems noticed
Please Describe the problems you are having
Calculate approximate time b/t original burn and now failure
How do you store your DVD's (jewel case vs wallet)
Approximate temp and humidity where DVD's are stored

Please understand that this is a work in porgress. I think that if over time we contribute to this thread there will be a correlation and we be able to improve the overall user satisfaction with the BENQ 1620 and media that we use to preserve our collections.

Once again I encourage a study like this for the various DVD burner manufactures, Pioneer, NEC, Plextor, Lite-ON, LG....etc. Since they use certain media better than others.

Thanks for your time and cooperation on this endeavor.

PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 12:30 pm
by Intimidator
I forgot one very important criteria...how do you label your DVD's? Are you using labels, ink jet printer, permanent marker....etc. This is extremely important and could very well affect your results.

PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 3:05 pm
by hoxlund
i doubt people will take the time to do this

btw i use printable TY TYG02 media and print on them in my epson r300 printer

PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 3:42 pm
by Intimidator
hoxlund....I thought it was worth a try we can gain some valuable information over time. Sounds like you have a nice system down pat, good for you.

PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 3:45 pm
by hoxlund
my next upgrade is my aging video card

and when i get a new vid card gonna have to get new power supply, maybe the new 680watt purepower from thermaltake:

http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/tt680/

PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 5:04 pm
by RJW
There are many variables that cannot be controlled such as temperature, humidity, UV exposure, jewel cases vs CD/DVD wallet....etc.

and some other stuff.

Untrue. However there hard to be controlled they seem to be controlable..
However the people are involved in this do have a bit more access to stuff as the average people.
Let me say this I won't be suprised if someon comes up with something in the next few years. Which might be to late for dvd testing but with a little luck most methodes can be used for the newer generations of media.

PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 5:08 pm
by Intimidator
RJW.....sorry, but I don't follow your post? Please clarify.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 8:24 am
by RJW
With controlable is that they can be tested.
For UV testing you can use special lights. - and that's a simple example.
Which allready proven to work.
(infact with the right lights and good testing software drive you can do this one at home. Only problem is getting the light.)
If you don't interested in paying for the light you can do it cheaper with the followeing trick. You can use sunlight.
It will give you less info and you can only compare disc's in the same testing batch. But still better as nothing.

Thermal stability (just temperature.) - With the help of some ovens and fridges possible to test. You will be suprising what you can get this way.

Also humidity/(arhenius ageing) can be tested I know not with most home equipement. Still some people have access to more stuff.

Well if you can do arhenius tests then a few additional changes might make it possible to do some corosion tests.

Storrage effects ? - Use different conditions with crap manufactured media.
You need crap manufactured media to see if there is a difference.

So how about multivariate (includeing multiple sources and there interactions.) testing. It can be done however this one is really tricky.
Infact most compannies don't like this one.
In extreme cases this last one can be reconstructed into destruction optimalisation. Under the optimal destruction conditions you then can test your stuff. However these last 2 require some mathematics which isn't simple. ALso there very time consumeing.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 10:53 am
by Intimidator
RJW....yes if you want to get technical and be able to test this in the lab but I am referring to the AVERAGE home user that does not consider these factors.

I am sure we can come up with some VERY detailed testing methods but is that really practical for most people, the answer is no. So we have to eliminate as many variables as possible and test them one or two at a time.

However, it is very difficult to eliminate most of these variables in out homes.