Combination of a budget brand and a 8.5GB Dual Layer disc is not yet very common. However Tuffdisc DVD+R DL 8.5GB is just that. Tuffdisc is a brand owned by E-Net Distribution, who provided us with a sample batch for testing.

The company hype

The Tuffdiscs has been perhaps one of the better budged media brands on the market, succefully maintaining a decent quality of procuts. They are always advertised for their hard protective top coating. The single layer Tuffdiscs typically have a very think coating with a rubber-like feel to it, but these Dual Layers seem to have a thinner and smoother top coating - so no pebbledash coating on these discs. Here is a quote from their website:

Tuff Disc, as well as being based on a highly compatible dye, has the further advantage of being able to withstand any type of treatment thrown its way - from everyday wear and tear to the rough handling and damage caused by small children, or when taking data off-site. Our disc has been reprinted with a tough pebbledash finish producing a media surface that is 40 times more scratch resistant and 20 times more dust resistant than standard DVD media.

Our test batch was a 10pcs box with slim jewel cases. On the box it says Manufactured by Ritek Taiwan and indeed these discs carry a Ritek media identifier RITEK D01 (001)

The test method

As the amount of sample discs was limited, this is not a very through test. For testing we burned the discs using a Plextor PX-716UF, Pioneer 110D, and a LiteON SOHW-1653S. All of the drives had the most recent firmware available at the time. After recording the discs were scanned using the LiteON drive and the Nero CD/DVD Speed software. This test method is not scientifically valid or 100% accurate, but usually gives a good indication of the quality.

Performance using Plextor PX-716UF

Plextor sets the speed record for this test burning at 4x speed, only slowing down at the layer break point. The average PIE and PIF values are decent, but there is a high bump at the beginning of the second layer, where the PIE is raised and PIF spikes briefly.

Performance using Pioneer 110D

The Pioneer results are very similar to Plextor, while the disc was recorded at the rated speed of 2.4x. The average amount of PIF and PIE are sligthly higher than with the Plextor. Once again PIE is raised at the beginning of the second layer and PIF spikes at the same point. Also there is a bit more PIF on the second layer.

Performance using LiteON SOHW-1653S

The oldest drive of the pack, the LiteON 1653, surprised us by giving the best result. The PIF and PIE curves are lower and the PIF spike at the layer change is not as serious as with the Plextor or Pioneer.

Conclusions

First of all we have to say that the RITEK D01 is not the best Dual Layer media on the market, no matter what the brand on the box is. If you Google around, you will find very similar results for this media - some are better and some are worse. In the small sample batch there was no quality variation, and all the discs performed identically. LiteON seemed to have the best support for this Ritek made media.

The only question is the error spike at the layer break point - how serious is it really? At this point we could not make a massive playback compatibility test, but we would presume that such a narrow spike would only cause issues in very media sensitive devices. Typical PC DVD-R drives and DVD video players most likely are able to read this discs quite well, if DVD+R DL is supported. For critical recording tasks and media picky devices we would recommend something else, but if you can find these Tuffies for a good price they might not be a bad buy.

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