What's in the box?:

  • Lite-On DH-20A3H 20x "Super AllWrite" DVD±RW/RAM Drive
  • Nero Software CD
  • User's Manual
  • Quick Installation Guide
  • Front Panel Replacement Guide
  • Beige Replacement Bezel
  • Mounting Screws
  • Warranty Information

Physical Features:

The drive Lite-On sent us for this review was manufactured in August of 2007 and had firmware YP5P.For this review we used firmware versions YP5U and YP5W.

From the front, the DH-20A3H looks very similar to Lite-On's previous 20x "Super AllWrite" drives. While there are a few cosmetic differences, like the placement of the LED and emergency hole, it shares the same basic design and has many of the same logos. Along the front of the tray you can see a few showing support for the DVD+ReWritable and DVD Multi specifications, as well as HP's LightScribe technology.

Below the tray you can see the DH-20A3H's single LED. Off by default, this LED lights up green whenever the drive is reading or writing.

If black isn't your color, you're in luck. The retail version of the DH-20A3H also comes with a beige replacement bezel.

The rear of the DH-20A3H is fairly straight forward. By looking at the picture below you can see the drive's IDE interface, power connector and audio output connectors.

Starting from the left of the IDE connection you'll see the jumper switch for master, slave and cable select. Next to the jumper block is the analog audio connector. The connector on the far left is the digital audio output.

Technical Specs:

The specs below have been taken from Lite-On's website and the documentation that came along with the drive.

   Lite-On DH-20A3H 20x DVD±RW/RAM
CD Write Speeds 48x (CAV)
40x, 32x, 24x (P-CAV)
16x, 8x (CLV)
CD Rewrite Speeds 32x, 24x (Z-CLV)
16x, 10x, 4x (CLV)
DVD+R Write Speeds 20x, 18x, 16x, 12x (CAV)
8x (P-CAV)
6x, 4x (CLV)
DVD+RW Write Speeds 8x, 6x (Z-CLV)
4x, 2.4x (CLV)
DVD-R Write Speeds 20x, 18x, 16x, 12x (CAV)
8x (P-CAV)
6x, 4x (CLV)
DVD-RW Write Speeds 6x (Z-CLV)
4x, 2x (CLV)
DVD+R DL Write Speeds 8x, 6x (Z-CLV)
4x, 2.4x (CLV)
DVD-R DL Write Speeds 8x, 6x (Z-CLV)
4x (CLV)
DVD-RAM Write Speeds 12x, 8x, 6x, 5x (P-CAV)
3x, 2x (CLV)
DVD Read Speeds 16x Max (DVD-ROM)
16x Max (DVD±R)
12x Max (DVD±RW)
12x Max (DVD±R DL)
12x Max (DVD-RAM)
CD Read Speeds 48x Max (CD-ROM/CD-R)
40x Max (CD-RW)
DAE Speed 40x Max
Buffer Size 2 MB
Random Access Times
140 ms (CD)
160 ms (DVD)
CD Formats CD-DA
CD-ROM
CD-ROM XA
CD-Extra
Video CD
Photo CD
Karaoke-CD
Multi-session
CD-I FMV
CD-R
CD-RW
DVD Formats DVD-ROM
DVD-R/RW
DVD+R/RW
DVD+R DL
DVD-R DL
DVD-RAM
CD Recording Modes Track At Once
Session At Once
Disc At Once
Fixed And Variable Packet Writing
Multi-Session
Raw Mode Burning
DVD+R Recording Modes Incremental Write
Multi-Session Recording
DVD+RW Recording Mode Random Write
DVD-R Recording Modes Incremental Recording
Multi-Border
DVD-RW Recording Modes Restricted Overwrite
Rigid Restricted Overwrite
DVD-RAM Recording Mode Random Access Write

LightScribe:

Note: We took a much closer look at LightScribe technology in our review of the BenQ DW1625. In this review we'll just go over some of the basics and see how the DH-20A3H performs with the bundled software.

The DH-20A3H is one of the latest drives from Lite-On to feature 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 DH-20A3H, Lite-On turned to Nero. Using the bundled software you can both 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 color CD-R media, and the quality was set to "best". The results are shown below.

Verbatim CD-R v1.2 - 33 minutes

The DH-20A3H features what Lite-On calls SmartWrite technology. Previously known as HyperTuning, SmartWrite automatically creates writing strategies for unknown, or unsupported, DVD±R and DVD±R DL media. Simply enable SmartWrite, insert your disc and burn. The new writing strategy is then created on-the-fly.

SmartWrite also works with supported media. When enabled, the drive will ignore the writing strategy stored in the firmware and instead create a new one. This is very useful if you are trying to record a disc that uses another company's MID code (I.E. fake TYG02 code discs).

OverSpeed:

The DH-20A3H also supports Lite-On's OverSpeed function. When enabled, the drive will try to write to your DVD±R media at a speed higher than what would normally be supported. To do this, OverSpeed relies heavily on SmartWrite. When a disc is written at a higher than normal speed, SmartWrite will automatically create a new writing strategy for it.


OverSpeed Off


OverSpeed On

While the OverSpeed function on the DH-20A3H is a bit more flexible than previous incarnations, it still has some limitations. To prevent people from writing to all DVD±R media at 20x, the writing speed can only be bumped up by two levels. For example, if your disc was normally supported at only 8x, the LH-20A1L would now give you the option to write to it at 16x.

More Features:

By looking at the picture below, you can see that Lite-On's new DVD writer is identified as an "ATAPI DVD A DH20A3H."

Nero also shows that the DH-20A3H has a maximum CD writing speed of 48x and a 2048KB buffer. This buffer is backed up by Super-Link buffer underrun protection as well. According to Nero, the DH-20A3H can also write CD-Text and overburn. When testing the drive's capacity, it had no problems overburning up to 99 minutes with our CompUSA media.

Using Alex Noe's Weak Sector Utility we were able to determine that the DH-20A3H is a "two sheep" burner and is capable of backing titles protected by SafeDisc 2.90. Like most drives, it did not pass the "three sheep" test.

Here is a screen shot from Nero's InfoTool. This program queries the drive to see what its reading and writing capabilities are. InfoTool had no problems detecting the DH-20A3H's maximum reading and writing speeds, recording modes, buffer underrun protection and 2MB buffer.

InfoTool also shows that the DH-20A3H 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. While there isn't an RPC-1 firmware available for the drive, there is a utility available that can make the drive region free.

While InfoTool gives us a quick glance at the DH-20A3H'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 while Lite-On's new drive can read and write to DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL and DVD-RAM media, it does not support the Mt. Rainier format.

The DH-20A3H also supports a feature called "bitsetting." Using Nero, CD Speed or Lite-On's BookType Utility, you can set the book type forDVD+R, DVD+RW and DVD+R DL media. By doing so, your recorded discs will identify themselves as "DVD-ROM." This feature comes in handy if you have an older DVD player that has problems playing recordable media.

I should point out that the DH-20A3H can also set the book type of DVD+RW media after the data has been burned to disc. This "Write Now" feature is available in both KProbe and Lite-On's BookType Utility.