What's in the box?:
- LG BP06LU10 Portable 6x Blu-ray Disc ReWriter
- Super Multi Blue Install Disc
- Quick Setup Guide
- USB Cable
- Warranty Information
Physical Features:
The drive LG sent us for this review was manufactured in December of 2010 and had firmware HL03. This is the newest firmware currently available for the BP06LU10.
The BP06LU10 is one of the smallest Blu-ray Disc writers to come through the 'Labs.. Measuring 156 x 21.4 x 165.20 mm, it's not much larger than a couple of jewel cases stacked on top of one another. The BP06LU10 is also constructed out of blue and white plastic. It's hard to tell by looking at the pictures below, but the blue plastic contains a metallic flake that helps hide the finger prints and smudges that glossy plastic tends to attract.
The BP06LU10 also has its share of logos. Along with the small "Super Multi Blue" and "LG" logos, you can see a larger one showing support for the Blu-ray Disc format.
On the bottom, the BP06LU10 has four small rubber feet to keep it from sliding around when placed on a flat surface. The plastic also has a matte finish which makes it a little easier to hang onto the drive.
The LED and eject button are located along the front of the BP06LU10. This LED lights up green when both reading and writing.
Along the rear, you can see the BP06LU10's USB 2.0 interface. This connector not only transfers data but provides power for the drive.
Technical Specs:
Most of the specs below have been taken from LG's website and the manual that came with the drive.
| LG BP06LU10 Portable 6x Blu-ray Disc ReWriter | |
| BD-R Write Speeds | 6x (CAV) 4x (P-CAV) 2x (CLV) |
| BD-R DL Write Speeds | 6x (CAV) 4x (P-CAV) 2x (CLV) |
| BD-R LTH Write Speeds | 6x (CAV) 4x (P-CAV) 2x (CLV) |
| BD-RE Write Speeds | 2x (CLV) |
| DVD+R Write Speeds | 8x (CAV) 6x, 4x (P-CAV) 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD+RW Write Speeds | 8x, 4x (Z-CLV) 3.3x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R Write Speeds | 8x (CAV) 6x, 4x (P-CAV) 2x (CLV) |
| DVD-RW Write Speeds | 6x, 4x (Z-CLV) 2x, 1x (CLV) |
| DVD+R DL Write Speeds | 6x, 4x (Z-CLV) 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R DL Write Speeds | 6x, 4x (Z-CLV) 2x (CLV) |
| DVD-RAM Write Speeds | 5x (P-CAV) 3x, 2x (Z-CLV) |
| CD Write Speeds | 24x, 16x (Z-CLV) 10x (CLV) |
| CD Rewrite Speeds | 24x, 16x (Z-CLV) 10x, 4x (CLV) |
| BD Read Speeds | 6x Max (BD-ROM Single Layer) 6x Max (BD-ROM Dual Layer) 6x Max (BD-R) 6x Max (BD-R LTH) 6x Max (BD-RE) 6x Max (BD-R DL) 6x Max (BD-RE DL) 4.8x Max (BDMV) |
| DVD Read Speeds | 8x Max (DVD-ROM) 8x Max (DVD±R) 8x Max (DVD±RW) 8x Max (DVD±R DL) 5x Max (DVD-RAM) 4x Max (DVD-Video) |
| CD Read Speed | 24x Max |
| DAE Speed | 24x Max |
| Buffer Size | 4MB |
| Access Times |
200 ms (BD-ROM) 170 ms (DVD-ROM) 180 ms (DVD-RAM) 160 ms (CD-ROM) |
| CD Formats | CD-DA CD-ROM CD-ROM XA CD-I FMV CD-Bridge CD-Extra CD-Plus Video CD Photo CD CD Text CD-R CD-RW |
| DVD Formats | DVD-ROM DVD-R/RW DVD+R/RW DVD+R DL DVD-R DL DVD-RAM DVD-Video |
| BD Formats | BD-ROM BD-R/RE BD-R/RE DL BD-R LTH BD-Video BD-MV |
LightScribe:
Like many of LG's drives, the BP06LU10 features support for LightScribe technology. Developed by HP, LightScribe lets you burn durable, silk screen quality labels directly onto your CD's and DVD's using the same drive that burned the data. According to HP, it's as simple as burning the data, flipping the disc, and then burning the label.
Of course you can't do this with just any drive, media or software. While LightScribe capable drives use the same laser when burning both the data and label, they have to be able to accurately control the laser's focus and position as well as the spindle speed. They also must be able to recognize LightScribe media. These special discs have a thin dye coating on the label side that absorbs laser light. This triggers a chemical reaction that produces a color change, allowing the user to print text, artwork or graphics.
Even if you have a LightScribe capable drive and media, you will need software that supports it. Most major software companies have pledged support for the technology. However, at the time of this review, the list of compatible software is still relatively short. For the BP06LU10, LG turned to CyberLink. Using the bundled LabelPrint software you can create and burn LightScribe disc labels.
Once you've created your LightScribe label, you're ready to print it. Before you can do this though, you will need to choose the contrast. Keep in mind this option not only changes the level of detail, it also affects the amount of time it takes to print the label. The higher the quality, the longer the process will take.
How long does it take to print a label? For testing purposes, we printed a disc using Verbatim's LightScribe v1.2 DVD+R media, with the quality set to "best". The results are shown below.
 |
| Verbatim 16x DVD+R v1.2 - 23 minutes |
More Features:
By looking at the picture below, you can see that LG's new Blu-ray Disc writer is identified as an "HL-DT-ST BD-RE BP06LU10."
Nero also shows that the BP06LU10 has a maximum CD writing speed of 24x and a 4096KB buffer. This buffer is also backed up by some form of buffer underrun protection. According to Nero, the BP06LU10 can write CD-Text and overburn. When testing the drive's capacity I found that the drive was able to overburn up to 95:10 with CompUSA's 99 minute CD-R media.
Using Alex Noe's Weak Sector Utility we were able to determine that the BP06LU10 is a "two sheep" burner. This means that LG's new drive is capable of backing up titles protected by SafeDisc 2, including version 2.51.
Here is a screen shot from Erik Deppe's Opti Drive Control. Among other things, this program queries the drive to see what its reading and writing capabilities are. Opti Drive Control had no problems detecting the BP06LU10's reading and writing speeds and supported disc types.
Opti Drive Control also shows that the BP06LU10 is an RPC-2 DVD drive. This means that the drive's region is stored in the firmware. The region can be changed five times and after that it cannot be changed anymore. Unfortunately, a patched RPC-1 firmware is not yet available for this drive.
While Opti Drive Control gives us a quick glance at the BP06LU10's features, DVDINFOpro provides a little more information on some of the drive's reading and writing capabilities. By looking at the screenshot above you can see that LG's new drive can read and write to most BD and DVD formats.
The BP06LU10 doesn't let you set the book type of single layer DVD+R or DVD+RW media. However, the drive automatically sets the book type for DVD+R DL discs to "DVD-ROM". This greatly reduces compatibility problems, especially with older DVD players.
