Burn DVDs at 1x speed

Date: 10y10m06d


Subject:

"A different approach, to DVD-Burner Look-Up Table modifications."
(or, I really, Really, REALLY, want to burn DVDs, at 1x speed.)





It is because of the article, "Can You Trust Your Burns?", written by
Darren Yates, on P.50, of Australian PC User Magazine - May 2009, that,
finally, I understood "Who Sets The Burn Speed?".
(It is pre-determined, by the drive manufacturers' look-up table data,
and, whether or not, the recordable-media ID-code is listed in that table
- defaulting to a minimum 4x speed, for un-recognized ID-codes).

I want to be able to burn DVDs, at 1x speed, to give me the best-possible
burn-quality, but, the Disc-burner's look-up table will not let me burn
at any speed that is less than 4x speed.



So, I ask, why has no-one written a program, that involves no Disc-burner
fimware-flashing, is completely software-controlled/modified,
and, will work for any DVD-Burner, and any recordable-disc brand.

Not being a programmer, myself, maybe I am un-aware of the problems
involved, but, no-one seems to have implemented the concept of ...


The BLT Interceptor (Burner Look-Up Table Interceptor)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maybe I am mistaken, but my logic tells me that every burner must have a
"common-to-all" look-up table access-point, which is why any burning-program
can work with any DVD-Burner. Therefore, every burning-program must make a
call to this common access-point, to access the look-up table data, on any
brand of CD/DVD burner. (I realize that there may be a "middle-man" in the
process - (the Windows device-drivers, for the optical/burner drive) - but,
the concept should, still, be applicable.)

Because the DVD-Burner drive's look-up table has only a few write-speed
options (which are pre-determined by the manufacturer), what is required,
is a program that will run in the back-ground, and intercept calls to
the burner's look-up table, and then, after retrieving the look-up table
information, add its own "extended" write-speed options, which enable the
user to select any write-speed (all the way down, to 1x speed), and then,
send this modified information, back, to the burning-program.

Another option, would be to by-pass the Disc-burner's look-up table,
completely, and retrieve data from a simple text-file, which contains
an easily-modified table of write-speed data.

If the "extended options" idea, covering every possible write-speed, as
proposed above, is not feasible, then, might it be possible to substitute
a single, pre-selected, write-speed value, for the first, available
write-speed?





Suggested Requirements for the "BLT Interceptor":
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- Must be compatible with Windows 98 SE, onwards.
(Windows 95 onwards, would be even better)

- Warning Message, on program-start, and on every intercept,
explaining that certain write-speeds may not work, correctly,
and, are not the manufacturer's recommendations.
(Option to dis-able, so that it displays on first intercept, only)

- "Extended" write-speeds are in italics, or, color-coded (in Red),
to make it clear, that these options are a manual over-ride of
the manufacturer's recommended write-speeds.

- Enables all/any write-speeds, all the way down to 1x.

- Covers CD-R burning, as well ?





I may be mistaken, but I believe that many PC Users would be interested in
such a program, that gives them more user-control over the disc-burning
process, without the risk of Burner-drive damage, through firmware-flashing.





Peter Hardhed