LG BH08LS20 Super Multi Blue Blu-ray Disc ReWriter

Model: LG BH08LS20 Super Multi Blue Blu-ray Disc ReWriter
Manufacturer: LG Electronics
Provided By: LG Electronics USA

LG Electronics has been a leader in the industry for nearly 50 years. Since the introduction of their first radio in 1959, the company has grown to become one of the world's top electronics manufacturers, offering everything from large home appliances to tiny mobile phones. LG is no stranger to the optical storage industry either. Working closely with companies like Hitachi, they've lead the way in this area, developing and manufacturing a wide range of products, including the industry's first "Super-Multi" drives.

While LG took a relatively neutral stance in the battle between Blu-ray and HD DVD, the company has fully embraced the winning format. It currently offers a wide range of Blu-ray products, including a growing number of Super Multi Blue drives for the desktop computer market. Earlier this year, LG introduced its first 8x Blu-ray Disc rewriter, the BH08LS20. Featuring some of the fastest BD reading and writing speeds available, this new Super Multi Blue drive is capable of 8x BD-R, 8x BD-R DL and 2x BD-RE writing speeds and a maximum BD-ROM read speed of 8x. The BH08LS20 is also backwards compatible with all major CD and DVD formats and includes features like a 4MB buffer, support for HP's LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling system and a software bundle from CyberLink.

Needless to say, this is only a taste of what LG's new Super Multi Blue drive has to offer. To give you an idea of what to expect, we'll take an in-depth look at the BH08LS20's features and then see how it compares to some of the Blu-ray Disc writers from the competition. Does LG's new Super Multi Blue drive have what it takes? Is it the fastest Blu-ray Disc writer around? Keep reading as we find out.

What's in the box?:

• LG BH08LS20 Super Multi Blue Blu-ray Disc ReWriter
• BD Rewriter Drive Solution CD
• Owner's Manual
• SATA Cable
• SATA Power Cable
• Mounting Screws
• System Requirements for Blu-ray Disc Playback
• Warranty Information

Physical Features:

The drive LG sent us for this review was manufactured in December of 2008 and had firmware version 1.00. At the time of this review, this is the only official firmware available for the BH08LS20.

From the front, the BH08LS20 looks very similar to LG's previous Blu-ray Disc rewriter, the GGW-H20L. While there are a few slight differences, the two drives share the same basic design including the glossy black plastic and silver highlights. The BH08LS20 also has its share of logos. Along with the large "Super Multi Blue" and "LG" logos, you can see one showing support for the Blu-ray Disc format.

Below the tray you can see the BH08LS20's single LED. Off by default, this LED lights up a bright blue whenever the drive is reading or writing.

The rear of the BH08LS20 is pretty straightforward. By looking at the picture above you can see the drive's SATA interface and power connector.

Technical Specs:

The specs below have been taken from LG's website and the manual that came with the drive.

LightScribe:

The BH08LS20 is the latest Super Multi Blue drive from LG 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 BH08LS20, 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 Memorex's LightScribe v1.2 color CD-R media, with the quality set to "best". The results are shown below.

Memorex CD-R v1.2 - 31 minutes

More Features:

By looking at the picture below, you can see that LG's new Super Multi Blue drive is identified as an "HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH08LS20."

The Nero screenshot also shows that the BH08LS20 has a maximum CD writing speed of 40x and a 2048KB buffer. This buffer is also backed up by some form of buffer underrun protection. According to Nero, the BH08LS20 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 BH08LS20 is a "two sheep" burner. This means that Sony's new drive is capable of backing up titles protected by SafeDisc 2, including version 2.51.

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 BH08LS20's maximum reading and writing speeds, recording modes, buffer underrun protection and 4MB buffer.

InfoTool also shows that the BH08LS20 is an RPC-2 DVD drive. This means that the drive's region is stored in the firmware. The drive's 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 InfoTool gives us a quick glance at the BH08LS20'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.

LG's new drive also supports a feature called "bitsetting." Using programs like Nero or CD Speed, you can set the book type of both DVD+R and DVD+R DL media to "DVD-ROM". For whatever reason though, the drive does not let you set the book type of DVD+RW discs.

For the BH08LS20's software bundle, LG has turned to CyberLink. The CD that comes with the drive contains the CyberLink BD Solution suite which includes PowerProducer, Power2Go, PowerBackup, LabelPrint, MediaShow and PowerDVD.

CyberLink PowerProducer 5 - With CyberLink's PowerProducer you can create your own movie discs quickly and easily. Right from the start, this wizard based software gives you a number of options to select from. From here you can choose to produce a new movie disc, edit an existing one or record video directly to DVD or BD.

PowerProducer lets you create a number of different movie discs. Looking at the menu below, you can choose to create a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray Disc. The software also supports various disc capacities and formats including DVD-VR, DVD+VR and BDAV.

While you can capture your own video, PowerProducer gives you the ability to import video files in a number of different formats. Once added to your production, you can use the built-in editor to trim, merge or split your video clips. PowerProducer also allows you to set chapters within the video content and add your own custom menus, backgrounds, fonts and titles.

CyberLink Power2Go 6 - Power2Go is the main disc burning program included with the BH08LS20. With this software, users can create various types of CD's, DVD's and BD's or make backups of existing discs. Power2Go also offers enhanced security features, allowing you to password protect and encrypt the names of files on your discs.

CyberLink PowerBackup 2 - If you're looking for a quick and easy way to backup your data, PowerBackup is the answer. Depending on your needs, PowerBackup can do full, differential, and incremental backups as well as fast stream-to-disc archiving.

Backup jobs can be scheduled to run at regular intervals so the data is always protected. PowerBackup also offers more advanced features like file filtering, compression and password protection.

CyberLink LabelPrint 2 - The BH08LS20 also comes with CyberLink's disc labeling software. With LabelPrint, you can design and print labels, covers and inlays in four easy steps. Just select your template type, disc information, text layout, background image and print destination. LabelPrint also supports LightScribe technology, allowing you to burn images and text onto the top of your discs.

CyberLink MediaShow 4 - With MediaShow, you can manage, enhance and share your photos and videos. The software features drag-and-drop functionality as well as automatic sorting, built-in search, easy-to-add tags, and detailed thumbnails. MediaShow can also be used to fix and enhance your photos and videos and create a slideshow which can be burned to DVD, turned into a screensaver or uploaded to Flickr and YouTube.

CyberLink PowerDVD 7.3 - CyberLink's PowerDVD is one of the more popular software DVD players on the market right now. Along with support for DVD's, it can be used to play back Blu-ray Discs and other high-def formats including H.264, HD MPEG-2, and WMV-HD. With its support for BD-Live, PowerDVD also gives you the ability to access additional content via the Internet.

Unfortunately, the version of PowerDVD bundled with the BH08LS20 only supports 2 speaker output. If you want to take advantage of movies encoded with Dolby Digital or DTS, you'll need to buy the retail version of PowerDVD Ultra.

Like LG's previous Super Multi Blue drives, the BH08LS20 isn't short on features. This Serial ATA equipped drive not only looks good, it offers some of the fastest Blu-ray reading and writing speeds available. The BH08LS20 is also backwards compatible with all major CD and DVD formats and includes features like a 4MB buffer, support for LightScribe and a great software bundle from CyberLink. With all this, it's easy to see why the LG BH08LS20 gets a solid 9 out of 10 for its features.

Along with smaller cable size, one of the biggest benefits of Serial ATA is its ease of installation. Because it uses a point to point connection, setting jumpers has become a thing of the past. In most cases, installation is as simple as plugging in the SATA and power cables and turning the computer on. Needless to say, it took only a couple of minutes to install LG's Super Multi Blue drive in our test computer. After making sure that the BH08LS20 was recognized by Windows, I was ready to start installing the software.

Software Installation:

As I mentioned earlier, the BH08LS20 comes with a CD full of software from CyberLink. If you have autorun enabled, the menu pictured below will automatically come up when you insert the disc.

As you can see, this menu is pretty straight forward. To start the setup process, simply click on the "Install Now" button. After selecting your preferred language and entering your customer information, you'll be presented with a list of components to choose from.

From here you can choose to install the BD Advisor, LabelPrint, MediaShow, Power2Go, PowerBackup, PowerDVD, PowerProducer or LG's firmware update utility. To complete the installation, select the components you want and click next a few more times. Once the files are copied over, you can start burning your own discs.

The Documentation:

Most of the BH08LS20's documentation is located in the "User's Manual." Similar to the ones included with LG's other drives, this manual covers a number of topics. It starts out by going over the system requirements and the functions of the various buttons and connectors located on the front and back of the BH08LS20. While the diagrams are small, they are clearly labeled and easy to understand. You will also want to pay special attention to the system requirements, especially if you plan to play Blu-ray movies protected by AACS.

From here, the manual jumps into the physical installation of the drive. The instructions cover all the basics including how to install the BH08LS20 into an empty drive bay and hook up the cables. The manual continues on by going over the basic operation of the drive. It explains how to insert and eject a disc and how to get one out of the drive in case of an emergency. Last but not least, it finishes up with a short troubleshooting section and a page full of specifications for the BH08LS20.

Like LG's previous Super Multi Blue drive, the BH08LS20 was very easy to install. Even though Blu-ray is still a relatively new technology, there were no problems getting the drive or the software installed and working correctly. If you do run into trouble, the documentation LG has provided is more than sufficient. With this in mind, the BH08LS20 scores a 9 out of 10 for the installation portion of this review.

While CPU, memory, OS and other variables don't often make a huge difference, there are some nonetheless. We have a computer that is used only for testing hardware. We do this so all tests can be compared reliably.

Test System:

For Blu-ray Disc writers, the performance tests are normally broken down into six sections: CD read, CD write, DVD read, DVD write, BD read and BD write. Each benchmark test has been run three times. The score given is an average of the three. DMA has been enabled in device manager for all IDE devices supporting it.

CD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the CD-ROM benchmarks, CD WinBench 99 v3.0 and CD Speed v4.7.7.16 are used to test read speeds, seek times and CPU usage. For DAE testing, CD Speed is used to give an overall speed rating.

CD Write Tests: To test the write speeds, Nero Burning Rom is used to write 650MB and 700MB to our test media. Times are recorded. To test rewrite scores, Nero is used again to time how long it takes to write 400MB of random files and directories. Then Roxio's Drag-to-Disc is used to test packet writing speeds. The same files are copied and pasted in Windows Explorer and timed.

DVD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the DVD benchmarks CD Speed v4.7.7.16 is used to test read speeds, seek times, and CPU usage.

DVD Write Tests: To test the DVD write speeds, Nero Burning Rom is used to write a 4.38GB image to our test media. Times are recorded. Then Roxio's Drag-to-Disc is used to test packet writing speeds. For this, 4GB of random files and directories are copied and pasted in Windows Explorer and timed.

BD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the BD benchmarks, CD Speed v4.7.7.16 is used to test read speeds, seek times, and CPU usage.

BD Write Tests: To test the BD write speeds, CD Speed's "Create Data Disc" feature is used to burn an entire BD-R/RE disc. Times are recorded.

CD Winbench 99 Scores:

The CD Winbench test is as close as we can get to testing every day usage. It fires off eight different applications using scripts. This tries to mimic the activities of a person loading these programs onto their own computer.

LG's new Super Multi Blue drive performed pretty well in our CD Winbench tests. While the BH08LS20's overall score wasn't as high as some of the other Blu-ray Disc writers we've looked at, its access time and transfer rates were fairly good. The drive started reading at 18.7x (2810 / 150) and reached a maximum speed of about 46.4x (6960 / 150) on the outside.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - Pressed CD:

For this test I used a pressed CD containing one Mode 1 data track. The disc is 74:38 in size and is full of data and directories.

 

	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L	Lite-On DH-4B1S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	36.43x 21.08x 48.18x	35.19x 20.35x 46.52x	30.94x 17.80x 40.63x	31.11x 17.72x 41.13x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	127ms 146ms 214ms	145ms 152ms 280ms	114ms 129ms 186ms	133ms 150ms 201ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	1% 1% 2% 5%	0% 1% 5% 2%	1% 1% 8% 9%	0% 1% 2% 4%

LG's new Blu-ray Disc writer performed very well when reading pressed CD's. The BH08LS20 flew through CD Speed's transfer rate tests, reaching a maximum read speed of 48.18x. Looking at the other scores, you can see that its seek times were also pretty good.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - CD-R Media:

For this test I made a copy of our pressed test CD. I used 12x rated Memorex Gold 74 minute media for the tests.

 

	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L	Lite-On DH-4B1S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	36.95x 21.17x 48.93x	35.96x 20.51x 47.65x	31.08x 17.77x 40.83x	31.79x 17.97x 42.18x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	122ms 145ms 225ms	161ms 169ms 304ms	123ms 156ms 229ms	136ms 154ms 204ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	1% 1% 2% 5%	0% 1% 6% 2%	1% 1% 8% 10%	0% 1% 2% 4%

Like the other drives, the BH08LS20 was a little faster when reading CD-R media. Thanks to this small speed boost, the drive was able to reach a maximum transfer speed of 48.93.

LG's new Blu-ray drive had no problems recognizing our 99 minute CompUSA media. The BH08LS20 read our test disc from start to finish, reaching a maximum transfer speed of 49.75x.

 

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - CD-RW Media:

For this test I made a copy of a pressed test CD. I used some PNY 80 minute CD-RW media for the tests. 

 

	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L	Lite-On DH-4B1S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	30.00x 17.48x 39.69x	24.85x 14.37x 32.82x	30.56x 17.74x 40.00x	31.22x 17.92x 41.21x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	119ms 142ms 215ms	153ms 163ms 303ms	120ms 135ms 203ms	134ms 150ms 202ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	1% 1% 2% 5%	0% 1% 2% 2%	1% 1% 8% 10%	0% 1% 2% 4%

While the BH08LS20 is rated at 48x when reading pressed and CD-R media, its CD-RW read speeds are limited to only 40x. As you can see, the drive came very close to reaching this speed in our tests.

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 (DAE) - Pressed CD:

For this test I used Pure Funk. The CD is almost exactly 74 minutes. This helps to squeeze the maximum performance out of the CD.

Exact Audio Copy can tell us a lot about a drive's capabilities. You can see from the screen shot that the LG BH08LS20 supports accurate stream, caches audio data and has the ability to retrieve C2 error information from audio CD's.     

 

CD Speed	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L	Lite-On DH-4B1S
Average: Start: End: DAE Quality: Accurate Stream:	30.25x 17.91x 39.96x 10 Yes	18.66x 10.96x 24.65x 10 Yes	30.72x 18.00x 40.30x 10 Yes	31.41x 18.00x 41.55x 10 Yes

The BH08LS20 did fairly well in our DAE tests. While not as fast as the GGW-H20L and DH-4B1S, it was able to rip pressed audio CD's at at respectable 39.96x.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 (DAE) - CD-R Media:

For this test I used a copy of the Pure Funk CD. It's burned onto the same Memorex Gold 74 minute media I used in the CD Speed tests.

 

CD Speed	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L	Lite-On DH-4B1S
Average: Start: End: DAE Quality: Accurate Stream:	29.90x 17.99x 39.43x 10 Yes	18.42x 10.88x 24.37x 10 Yes	30.44x 17.99x 39.86x 10 Yes	31.12x 17.95x 41.03x 10 Yes

LG's new Blu-ray drive was a little slower when ripping audio CD-R discs. Nevertheless, this didn't keep it from reaching a maximum DAE speed of 39.43x in our tests. So how did it do in CD Speed's advanced DAE tests? Take a look below.

The BH08LS20 completed CD Speed's advanced DAE tests with an average score of 28.42x. The drive did not create any errors, but for whatever reason, it was not able to pass all of the on-the-fly copying tests. If you look at the advanced features, you can see that the BH08LS20 was able to read the CD-Text, subchannel data and lead in but failed to read the lead out section of the CD.

CD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 7.11.10.0 and Drag-to-Disc 5.20:

For this test I randomly generated 650MB and 700MB of files and directories to test the time it takes the drive to write and close a CD. All of the files are between 1MB and 25MB in size and no more than 10 directories deep. 

The BH08LS20 has a maximum CD writing speed of 48x. To reach this speed, it uses CAV, or Constant Angular Velocity. With Taiyo Yuden's 52x media, the drive started writing at about 21.70x and accelerates, reaching a maximum speed of 48.96x at the end of the session. This gave LG's new drive an average writing speed of about 36.82x.

To test the drive's writing times, I wrote our test data to some Taiyo Yuden media rated at 52x. The results are below.

LG's new drive did very well in our CD writing tests. Thanks to its 48x CD writing speed, the BH08LS20 was able to write an entire 701MB CD in 2:43.

To test the drive's writing quality I used Lite-On IT's KProbe2. Written by Karr Wang, this utility can be used to test the number of C1 and C2 errors on a disc. For these tests I used a Lite-On LTR-52246S (firmware 6S0F) and read the discs at 32x. 

Imation 52x (MBI)

Taiyo Yuden 52x

Verbatim 52x

The BWU-300S's writing quality was very good. By looking at the KProbe screenshots, you can see that the discs burned by the drive had a low number of C1 errors. More importantly, there were no C2 errors at all. 

For the rewriting tests I created 400MB of files on the hard drive and wrote them in DAO mode using Nero. To test the packet writing speeds I copied and pasted the same files off the hard drive onto a CD-RW disc using Drag-to-Disc from Roxio. Verbatim's 24x Ultra Speed CD-RW media was used for these tests.

While the BH08LS20 uses CAV when writing to CD-R discs, it uses Z-CLV, or Zone CLV, when rewriting at 24x. The drive starts rewriting at about 16x and then jumps to its maximum speed at the 6 minute mark.

LG's new drive did very well in our rewriting tests. Thanks to its 24x rewriting speed, the BH08LS20 took 2:23 to write 400MB with Nero and 2:34 to do the same with Drag-to-Disc.

The BH08LS20 also erases at 24x. At this speed, it took the drive 18 seconds to do a quick erase and 3:41 to fully erase the disc.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD-ROM:

For this test I used a single layer, single sided data DVD-ROM disc that is 4.37GB in size.

 

	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L	Lite-On DH-4B1S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	12.34x 6.84x 16.51x	12.27x 6.80x 16.40x	12.28x 6.80x 16.42x	9.33x 5.12x 12.49x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	111ms 115ms 191ms	153ms 158ms 291ms	121ms 141ms 213ms	138ms 158ms 209ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 8% 15% 27%	4% 6% 9% 18%	4% 8% 14% 23%	5% 9% 17% 32%

The BH08LS20 was fairly quick when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. In our tests it started reading at 6.84x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 16.51x. Looking at the other scores, you can see that the drive's seek times were also quite good.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD-R and DVD-RW:

First, we'll look at the drive's DVD-R and DVD-RW reading performance. For this I made copies of our DVD-ROM test disk using some general use 16x DVD-R and 4x DVD-RW media from Verbatim and then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. For the DVD-RAM tests, media from Maxell was used. The results are below.

Verbatim DVD-R
 

	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L	Lite-On DH-4B1S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	12.36x 6.88x 16.52x	12.28x 6.80x 16.42x	9.23x 5.12x 12.33x	9.35x 5.14x 12.49x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	116ms 125ms 191ms	166ms 170ms 317ms	102ms 125ms 183ms	139ms 158ms 212ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 8% 15% 28%	4% 6% 10% 18%	3% 6% 12% 22%	5% 9% 17% 32%

Verbatim DVD-RW
 

	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L	Lite-On DH-4B1S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	7.72x 4.28x 10.32x	6.15x 3.41x 8.23x	7.69x 4.23x 10.29x	9.37x 5.13x 12.54x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	106ms 124ms 199ms	156ms 228ms 352ms	110ms 136ms 206ms	138ms 159ms 212ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 8% 15% 28%	4% 6% 10% 18%	4% 7% 13% 24%	5% 10% 17% 32%

The BH08LS20 performed very well when reading DVD-R and DVD-RW media. In our tests, the drive read DVD-R discs at 16x and DVD-RW media at a respectable 10x

LG's new drive had no problems reading Verbatim's 4x DVD-R DL media. The BH08LS20 started reading at 3.44x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 8.24x.

Maxell 5x DVD-RAM
 

	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	4.65x 3.01x 5.02x	4.99x 4.96x 5.00x	4.62x 3.00x 5.00x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	185ms 201ms 276ms	327ms 472ms 1135ms	139ms 156ms 206ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x:	21% 34% 53%	18% 14% 74%	17% 27% 42%

The BH08LS20 has a maximum transfer speed of 5x when reading DVD-RAM discs. By looking at the screenshot you can see that it starts reading at 3.00x and accelerates, reaching 5x at the 1.6GB mark. 

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD+R and DVD+RW:

Next we'll look at the drive's DVD+R and DVD+RW reading performance. For this I made a copy of our DVD-ROM test disk using some 4x DVD+R and 2.4x DVD+RW media from Verbatim. I then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. The results are below.

Verbatim DVD+R
 

	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L	Lite-On DH-4B1S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	12.37x 6.87x 16.53x	12.29x 6.78x 16.43x	9.22x 5.10x 12.33x	9.35x 5.13x 12.51x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	120ms 127ms 198ms	165ms 171ms 303ms	100ms 130ms 196ms	137ms 162ms 213ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 8% 15% 28%	4% 6% 10% 18%	3% 7% 15% 24%	5% 9% 17% 32%

Verbatim DVD+RW

	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L	Lite-On DH-4B1S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	7.73x 4.30x 10.33x	6.15x 3.41x 8.22x	7.69x 4.24x 10.29x	9.36x 5.13x 12.50x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	108ms 122ms 190ms	156ms 169ms 330ms	110ms 129ms 191ms	138ms 161ms 213ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 7% 15% 28%	4% 6% 10% 18%	4% 7% 12% 23%	5% 10% 17% 32%

The BH08LS20's performance with DVD+R and DVD+RW media was very similar to what we saw with DVD-R and DVD-RW. The drive read DVD+R discs at 16x and DVD+RW media at 10x.

Verbatim DVD+R DL
 

Reading Verbatim's double layer DVD+R media wasn't an issue for LG's new drive either. The BH08LS20 started reading at 3.44x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 8.25x.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD-Video:

For these tests I am using the US version of Transformers: The Movie on DVD. The disc is over 4GB and single sided.

 

	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L	Lite-On DH-4B1S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	3.66x 2.03x 4.89x	4.55x 2.52x 6.09x	6.06x 3.36x 8.10x	9.24x 5.05x 12.35x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	134ms 167ms 228ms	149ms 163ms 311ms	191ms 231ms 333ms	138ms 160ms 208ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	4% 7% 13% 31%	4% 6% 10% n/a	4% 6% 18% 24%	5% 9% 17% 32%

The BH08LS20 didn't do nearly as well as the other drives when reading DVD videos. In our tests, it reached a maximum speed of only 4.8x when reading both single and dual layer discs. 

To see how well LG's new drive worked as a DVD player, I watched a few scenes from Transformers: The Movie and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace using the bundled version of PowerDVD. The BH08LS20 had no problems playing back either movie and was fairly quiet.

DVD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 7.11.10.0 and Drag-to-Disc 5.20:

To test the DVD writing performance of LG's new drive I used Verbatim 16x DVD+R, 16x DVD-R, 6x DVD-RW and 8x DVD+RW media. To get the writing times, a 4.38GB image was burned to our test discs using Nero.

When writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media at 16x, the BH08LS20 uses CAV. By looking at the screenshots above, you can see that LG's new drive starts writing at about 6.7x and accelerates, reaching its maximum speed at the end of the disc.

The BH08LS20 also features 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW writing speeds. While the drive uses CLV when writing to DVD-RW media, it uses Z-CLV to reach its maximum DVD+RW writing speed.

The BH08LS20 performed very well in our DVD writing tests. While not as fast as some of the 22x and 24x DVD writers we've looked at recently, it turned in some impressive times with DVD±R and DVD±RW media.

To check the media compatibility of the BH08LS20, I ran a few tests using some of the media available in my area. The media types, along with the average time it took the drive to write our 4.38GB image, are listed below.

So what about writing quality? Testing a drive's DVD writing quality isn't easy. Until now, there were very few options, unless you wanted to shell out thousands of dollars for a certified test machine. Thanks to KProbe, we can test a disc's PI (Parity Inner) and PIF (Parity Inner Fail) rates. For these tests I used a Lite-On SOHW-1673S and read the discs at 4x with the PI and PIF ECC sums set to 8 and 1 respectively. For comparison, I also tested the discs on a BenQ DW1640. When combined with Nero CD Speed, the DW1640 is able to report PI Errors, PI Failures, Parity Outer Failures and even jitter levels. For this test, the discs are read at 8x with both the PI and PIF ECC sums set to 8.

So what are "good" results supposed to look like? With KProbe, the PI errors should not exceed 280 and the number of PIF errors should stay below 4. When testing with CD Speed, the number of PI errors should stay below 280 as well. However, because it scans with an ECC sum of 8, a higher number of PIF errors is acceptable, as long as they do not exceed 32. Since POF errors are uncorrectable, we really don't want to see any of them at all.

I also put these discs through a "stress test" by reading them back at 16x with the DW1640. By reading these discs back at this speed, we can see if there are any readability issues caused by the number of errors or high levels of jitter. 

The BH08LS20's writing quality was pretty good with most of the DVD+R media we tested. Aside from a few small spikes, the PI/PIF rates stayed within acceptable limits.

Lastly, here are some results from our DVD-R test media. While the writing quality varied from one manufacturer to another, the results were fairly good for the most part.

To test the BH08LS20's packet writing performance I used Drag-to-Disc 5.20. Verbatim 8x DVD+RW, Verbatim 6x DVD-RW and Maxell 5x DVD-RAM media were used once again.

The BH08LS20 performed fairly well in our packet writing tests. While not the fastest drive we've tested, it turned in some respectable times when reading and writing to DVD+RW, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM media.

Double Layer DVD Write Tests - Nero Burning Rom 7.11.10.0:

To test the double layer DVD writing performance of the BH08LS20, I used DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media from Verbatim and Memorex. I created about 8GB of random files and directories on my hard drive and then burned them to our test discs with Nero.

The BH08LS20 wasn't as fast as the drives from Sony and Lite-On when writing to DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media. With a maximum writing speed of only 4x, it took more than 27 minutes to write 8001MB of data. So what about writing quality? Take a look below.

The writing quality was pretty good with Verbatim's 8x DVD+R DL and 4x DVD-R DL media as well as RiDATA's 8x DVD+R DL discs. The error rates stayed within acceptable limits and, aside from a dip at the layer change, there weren't any readability problems. Unfortunately, the results weren't as good with Verbatim's 2.4x DVD+R DL media. When tested with CD Speed, there was a large error spike at the layer change which caused some readability problems.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - BD-ROM:

To test the BH08LS20'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.

 

	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L	Lite-On DH-4B1S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	3.62x 2.02x 4.83x	6.99x 4.14x 7.99x	3.61x 2.01x 4.82x	3.02x 1.67x 3.99x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	93ms 4ms 3ms	91ms 171ms 479ms	117ms 175ms 223ms	108ms 4ms 3ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 0% 1% 2%	0% 0% 1% 2%	0% 1% 1% 2%	2% 1% 3% 4%

While the BH08LS20 is rated at 8x when reading single layer BD-ROM discs, its speeds are limited to only 4.8x when reading AACS protected titles. In our tests, the drive started reading at 2.02x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 4.83x.

LG'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.

Memorex BD-R
 

	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L	Lite-On DH-4B1S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	6.09x 3.47x 8.08x	7.02x 4.25x 7.98x	4.55x 2.58x 6.04x	3.02x 1.71x 4.03x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	104ms 4ms 3ms	95ms 165ms 464ms	121ms 167ms 217ms	109ms 4ms 3ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 0% 1% 2%	0% 1% 1% 2%	0% 0% 2% 2%	2% 1% 3% 5%

Memorex BD-RE

	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L	Lite-On DH-4B1S
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	3.64x 2.07x 4.84x	2.00x 1.99x 2.00x	2.30x 2.29x 2.30x	1.99x 1.96x 1.99x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	116ms 4ms 3ms	101ms 219ms 391ms	150ms 263ms 766ms	111ms 10ms 10ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 0% 1% 2%	0% 1% 2% 4%	0% 1% 2% 2%	8% 9% 14% 24%

Panasonic BD-R DL

LG's new drive had no problems reading BD-R, BD-RE and BD-R DL media. In our tests, the BH08LS20 was able to read both BD-R and BD-R DL media at about 8x and BD-RE discs at 4.8x. For whatever reason, the 1/3 and full seek times were much lower than they should have been.

BD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16:

To test the BD writing performance of LG's new drive I used BD-R, BD-R DL and BD-RE media from Memorex, Moser Baer, Panasonic, Ritek, Sony, TDK and Verbatim. To get the writing times, CD Speed's "Create Data Disc" feature was used. I also ran the discs through CD Speed's transfer rate test to make sure that the BH08LS20 could read them back. .

The BH08LS20 is the first drive from LG that can write to both BD-R and BD-R DL media at 8x. When writing to 25GB BD-R discs at this speed, the drive starts at 4.5x and quickly accelerates, reaching 8x at the 11GB mark. Looking at the other screenshot, you can see that the BH08LS20 isn't nearly as aggressive when writing to 50GB BD-R DL media. This time around, the drive starts writing at 3.5x and doesn't reach 8x until the 22.5GB mark.

The BH08LS20 performed very well when writing to BD-R media. It completed our tests in record time, beating the BWU-300S by a small margin. LG's new drive didn't disappoint when writing to BD-R DL media either. Thanks to its 8x writing speed, the BH08LS20 took 31 and a half minutes to burn an entire BD-R DL disc.

The BH08LS20 completed our Blu-ray writing tests without any problems. Amazingly enough, the drive wrote to all 25GB and 50GB BD-R media at 8x, including Verbatim's 2x BD-R discs.

Performance Revisited:

Like LG's previous Super Multi Blue drives, the BH08LS20 performed pretty well throughout most of our tests. The drive flew through our BD writing tests, turning in some very impressive times with BD-R and BD-R DL media. Reading Blu-ray Discs wasn't a problem for the BH08LS20 either. The drive was able to read BD-R and BD-R DL media at 8x, but slowed to only 4.8x when reading AACS protected BD-ROM's and BD-RE discs.

The BH08LS20 also did reasonably well in our CD and DVD read tests. Along with some fairly good seek times, the drive read CD's at speeds as high as 48x and single layer data DVD's and DVD±R media at 16x. When it came to writing CD's and DVD's, the BH08LS20 held its own throughout most of our tests and the writing quality was, for the most part, quite good. With all things considered, the LG BH08LS20 gets a solid 8 out of 10 for the performance section of this review.

LG has come a long way since they introduced their first Super Multi Blue drive. With each new drive, they've raised the bar in regards to performance and features.  While lacking support for the now defunct HD DVD format, the BH08LS20 continues this trend by offering some of the fastest BD reading and writing speeds available as well as support for technologies like LightScribe.

The BH08LS20 is the first drive from LG with the ability to write to both BD-R and BD-R DL media at 8x. At this speed, the drive took a little more than 13 minutes to burn an entire 25GB BD-R disc, beating the Sony BWU-300S by a small margin. The BH08LS20 also performed very well when writing to BD-R DL media, burning a full 50GB BD-R DL disc in a less than 32 minutes. Most importantly, the drive was able to do this with a wide range of media, including some rated at only 2x.

Using the bundled software, the BH08LS20 played all of the Blu-ray movies I had on hand, including those protected by BD+ and with BD-Live enabled features. The drive also performed fairly well in our transfer rate tests, reading BD-R and BD-R DL media at 6x and Blu-ray Disc Movies and BD-RE discs at 4.8x.

LG's new drive also has the ability to read and write to all standard DVD formats, including DVD-RAM. The BH08LS20 performed very well when writing to DVD±R discs, taking less than 6 minutes to burn an entire 4.7GB DVD. The drive also had no problems holding its own when writing to DVD±RW and DVD-RAM media. However, its 4x DVD±R DL writing speed put it at a slight disadvantage in our tests. Nevertheless, the BH08LS20 was fairly quick when reading DVD's. In our tests, it was able to read single layer DVD-ROM's and DVD±R media at 16x but slowed to only 4.8x when reading DVD-Videos.

Reading and writing CD's wasn't a problem for the BH08LS20 either. In our tests, it read pressed and CD-R media at speeds as high as 48x and CD-RW discs at 39x. This level of performance carried over to our DAE tests, where the drive ripped audio CD's at speeds as high as 40x. As a writer, the BH08LS20 performed as expected. The drive turned in some respectable times thanks to its 48x CD-R and 24x CD-RW writing speeds and its writing quality was quite good.

Like LG's previous Super Multi Blue drives, the BH08LS20 isn't short on features. To prevent buffer underruns, the drive is equipped with a 4MB buffer that is backed up by some sort of buffer underrun technology. The BH08LS20 also supports HP's LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling system and has the ability to set the book type of DVD+R and DVD+R DL media. Last but not least, LG has included a great software bundle from CyberLink.

In the end, it usually comes down to price. For what it offers, LG's new Super Multi Blue drive is surprisingly affordable. Current prices vary depending on the seller, but the retail version of the BH08LS20 can be picked up for less than $220 on Pricegrabber.

Highs:

• Writes to BD-R and BD-R DL media at 8x
• Writes to BD-RE media at 2x
• Writes to DVD-R and DVD+R media at 16x
• Writes to DVD+RW media at 8x
• Writes to DVD-RW media at 6x
• Reads single layer BD-ROM's at 8x
• Reads BD-R and BD-R DL media at 8x
• Reads BDMV and BD-RE media at 4.8x
• Reads single layer DVD-ROM's at 16x
• Reads DVD±R media at 16x
• Reads DVD±RW media at 10x
• Reads DVD±R DL media at 8x
• Features 48x CD-R and 24x CD-RW writing speeds
• Includes buffer underrun prevention technology
• 4MB buffer
• Good CD-R and DVD±R writing quality
• Low seek times
• Includes software from CyberLink
• Nice looking design with bright blue LED
• Supports bitsetting for DVD+R and DVD+R DL media
• Reasonably priced

Lows:

• Writes to DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media at only 4x
• Questionable writing quality with some DVD+R DL media
• Reads DVD-Videos at only 4.8x
• Cannot set the book type of DVD+RW media
• Overburns to only 95:10