Optical Discs From Japan – Part 1: A Visit to Mag-Lab & Daiso in 2024

Posted on February 22, 2025 by lui_gough

While my recent trip to Japan in 2024 did see me hauling back BDXL equipment and discs, that was not all. Every time I visit, I am enamoured by the mix of new and old, as some very well-kept vintage technology can still be found if you look around a bit.

This will be a series of posts looking at optical discs of various vintages from Japan. Many of the images were scanned using a scanner, with some being photographs from a DSLR as the scanner doesn’t capture the colour of reflective objects properly.

Mag-Lab

The Mag-Lab store is one of my favourites and this time, I returned a few times just to make sure I could soak-up all it had to offer. The language barrier made for some difficulties, but I did enjoy all they had on display, but also the fact that there were a number of products being cleared out on “junk” and “as-is” clearance. For the overseas travellers with a foreign passport, they’ll give you a discount too (I think it was 10%) as they don’t do tax-free themselves … but if you’re like me and combining the “junk” deals with the discount, they’re probably going to get a little annoyed.

Nevertheless, I suppose I ended up helping them “clean-up” the store a little with my visit. For reference, it seems that online, they now go by the name FlashStore (but formerly would have been known as HiDisc or Mag-Lab). While their catalogue is rather extensive online, it seems the physical shop doesn’t necessarily carry or display all items and some of the lucrative “clearance” prices listed online aren’t available in-person.

BenQ DVD+R 4x

Stickered at JPY200 (or about AU$2), but selling at just JPY100 (due to a clearance) was this BenQ 4x DVD+R spindle of 10 discs.

My first DVD burner was a BenQ DW400A, a 4x DVD+R/RW drive. While I had a BenQ drive, I was feeding it mostly “trash” media from local sellers who were reselling Chinese fake-MID media or low-quality media (AML001, MEDIA_ID001, VDSPMSAB, etc) aside from the occasional nice RICOHJPNR01 and MCC (Verbatim) of the era which has stood the test of time quite well. So I was curious, what did BenQ decide to attach their name to?

The discs themselves had a logo-top design. The bottom has a relatively ordinary purplish dye colour of which the scanner fails to capture correctly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD+R:DAXON-AZ1-001]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc & Book Type :       [DVD+R] - [DVD+R]
Manufacturer Name :      [Daxon Technology Inc.]
Manufacturer ID :        [DAXON]
Media Type ID :          [AZ1]
Product Revision :       [001]
Blank Disc Capacity :    [2,295,104 Sectors = 4.70 GB (4.38 GiB)]
Recording Speeds :       [1x-2.4x , 4x]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** INFO : Hex Dump Of 'Media Code'-Block Listed Below
** INFO : 4-Byte Header Preceding 'Media Code'-Block Discarded
** INFO : Format 11h (Method 1) - ADIP Information
0000 : a1 0f 02 00 00 03 00 00  00 26 05 3f 00 00 00 00   .........&.?....
0010 : 00 00 01 44 41 58 4f 4e  00 00 00 41 5a 31 01 38   ...DAXON...AZ1.8
0020 : 23 54 37 11 00 56 71 00  be 6b 16 16 0b 0b 0a 0a   #T7..Vq..k......
0030 : 01 19 1b 0c 0c 0c 0d 01  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0040 : 01 00 38 38 00 29 60 38  06 30 22 10 08 20 1c 01   ..88.)`8.0".. ..
0050 : 00 00 00 29 60 38 06 30  22 10 08 20 1c 01 00 00   ...)`8.0".. ....
0060 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0070 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0080 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0090 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00a0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00b0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00c0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00d0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00e0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00f0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00                            ........        
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ DVD Identifier V5.2.0 - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The discs, as it turns out, are DAXON-AZ1-001 and come from their Malaysian plant. According to rumblings online, Daxon also manufactured in Taiwan, making discs also for Sony, but the Malaysian ones often cause trouble.

Perhaps this is why they were on sale. A blank disc on the left, recorded on the right. Just picking the top on the stack, there is a visible dye streak defect in the 2-3 o’clock position. That’s not a good sign.

The stamper code is interesting too – PHI4DPR47CI1201 D34022 followed by a series of “block” characters. I wonder if “PHI” stands for Philips? The 4 may indicate 4x, DPR = DVD+R, 47 = 4.7GB but the remainder is a mystery. It has an IFPI code of LE41.

Running TE/FE tests on the blank on a BenQ DW1640 shows quite an elevation in TE on the inner diameter. Could this be a sign of a bad stamper? Even at the moderate speed of 8x, the TE and FE elevate sharply on the outer diameter suggesting the disc isn’t particularly “stable” or “rigid” so high-speed reads may be a challenge even on a good burn. Based on this, only a 2.4x burn would be truly “safe” with adequate margin to ensure a good burn. Curiously, even on a BenQ-branded DW1640 burner, the DAXON-AZ1 media code is no longer in the table – so perhaps this media was relatively shortlived or rare to the point that even BenQ didn’t feel it necessary to ensure the best burn quality with their own product.

Nevertheless, I let it run at 2.4x anyway, relying on SolidBurn’s “automatic” strategy to produce a … solid burn. Hah. See what I did there? The readback transfer-rate test (TRT) does show a lot of fallbacks towards the 3.5GB mark, but this may be down to the poor stability and rigidity of the disc itself.

At a leisurely 4x CLV, the quality scan actually imples a very good burn overall. Error rates are well within limits and jitter is low too. SolidBurn did a solid job here.

The favourite LiteOn DH16A6L wasn’t a fan of the disc – when the rigidity caused enough errors, the drive just decided to throw a continuous series of read-errors rather than “gracefully” falling-back in speed and completing the read as one might expect. If one were to read such a disc on this drive, it would be a good idea to manually cap the drive at a lower speed so that it would read-out correctly.

The DH16A6L also agrees, the disc is a good burn and the jitter is similarly low. So while the discs may not appear to be high quality and may have caused trouble in the day, my DW1640 seems to like it nonetheless. It’s just a shame the physical construction of the disc makes it impossible to read-out quickly.

Not all burns go well – a few prior attempts had bald burn spots due to some grazing of the polycarbonate surface when stored in the spindle.

Some others did have some evidence of dye streaking. But looking at the dye distribution in the centre of this disc and it seems that the Daxon Malaysia quality is somewhat questionable.

SuperX 8cm DVD-R

The next product was another cake plate of 10 … this time for the low-low price of just JPY100 (or about AU$1).

For this, you get ten 8cm DVD-R discs which would be mostly intended for use in DVD handycams. I recall these products being a relatively short blip in the market, in-between the MiniDV era and the hard-disk-toting Everios which eventually gave way to flash-based cameras.

As one can tell from the label, this SuperX is a Mag-Lab house-brand, and the branding effort is quite low with just a one-sided cover to the stack. The card merely indicates a capacity of 30 minutes, no mention of speed or gigabyte capacities.

Assuming you’ve lived through the earlier DVD recordable era, you’ll recognise the vendor immediately. Perhaps you’ll even have an allergic reaction to just seeing this image above. The white dummy plastic top with inked lettering in the middle – it could only be Princo. But they must have gotten far enough along with their manufacturing that they just printed 1X for one-speed where in the past, they might have had “PRINCO 4X” in that location, proudly boasting of the brand. I suppose their reputation might have been in tatters already at this point, which also explains why it’s “on sale” for cheap. This truly is junk media. From the underside, the stamper code is “DVDRG-BNB” where the DVDRG would likely stand for “DVD-R for General.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD-R:PRINCO]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc & Book Type :       [DVD-R] - [DVD-R]
Manufacturer Name :      [Princo Corp.]
Manufacturer ID :        [PRINCO]
Blank Disc Capacity :    [714,560 Sectors = 1.46 GB (1.36 GiB)]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** INFO : Hex Dump Of 'Media Code'-Block Listed Below
** INFO : 4-Byte Header Preceding 'Media Code'-Block Discarded
** INFO : Format 0Eh - Pre-Recorded Information In Lead-In
0000 : 01 40 e1 ff 21 8c 50 00  02 98 0c 13 76 78 80 00   .@..!.P.....vx..
0010 : 03 50 52 49 4e 43 4f 00  04 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   .PRINCO.........
0020 : 05 88 80 00 00 00 01 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0030 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0040 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0050 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0060 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00                     ..........      
 
** INFO : Hex Dump Of 'Control Data Zone'-Block Listed Below
** INFO : 4-Byte Header Preceding 'CDZ'-Block Discarded
** INFO : Format 10h - Physical Format Information Of Control Data Zone
0000 : 25 1f 02 00 00 03 00 00  00 0d e7 3f 00 00 00 00   %..........?....
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ DVD Identifier V5.2.0 - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is very much identified as a Princo product with an ID of just “PRINCO”. Given there may be full-size discs with the same text ID, I wonder if the drives would take into account some other factors to determine which strategy to use.

Looking at the TE/FE results, overall, there are some spikes towards the outer edge, but it seems that the values are mostly within range. This is perhaps easier as the disc itself is rather small, being just 8cm diameter.

However, the discs did not burn well. I don’t think it’s the dye as such, but moreso the condition of the polycarbonate surface which seems to have “chafed” off some of the printable coating of the disc underneath or become mottled over time, causing “bald” spots in the burn, especially visible in the right example.

My Pioneer DVR-111L decided it could only be burned at 1x, so I let it carry on, but the result with the bald spots meant there were unreadable patches.

The DW1640 agrees with this diagnosis, but the areas outside of these seem to be somewhat acceptable.

A second sample was burned with the BenQ DW1640 and SolidBurn, this time at 2.4x which is a non-standard DVD-R burn speed. It seems the Philips/NXP chipset doesn’t want to run a 4x burn on the media and probably doesn’t support a true 2x mode. Readback TRT is smooth.

While the PI looks fine, the PIFs show clusters of errors due to the mottled appearance of the polycarbonate. The burn is reasonable outside of this … but as is Princo nature, I suspect even a good burn like this won’t last long.

Testing with the DH16A6L gives a similar opinion – a smooth TRT with error clusters, acceptable PI error levels but slightly more than the DW1640 reported.

So if these discs won’t burn well, can they at least carry a picture using LabelFlash?

As it turns out, no. The LabelFlash software won’t even attempt to label an 8cm disc, so I needed to resort to a DVD-R swap-trick with an MCC03RG20 I had laying about. Even then, the burned image was “ghosted” around the disc, suggesting my DVR-111L had issues keeping the spindle speed where it needed to be. Perhaps it was “tuned” for the weight of a 12cm disc and had trouble keeping the spindle stable with a lesser weight. Unfortunately, I don’t have one of those early 8cm to 12cm adapters which could add weight to it. While I might be able to 3D print something just for fun, I don’t fancy harming my precious open-shell DVR-111L, so that might be an experiment that is left unattempted.

Panasonic 5.2GB DVD-RAM

Perhaps those two spindles are not interesting (and I wouldn’t blame you if you were to think they’re just ordinary). But what about this?

The 4.7GB capacity that we most associate with DVD was not the first. I mentioned before that there was a 3.95GB DVD for Authoring v1.0 format. But there was also a 2.6GB format for DVD-RAM as well, resulting in 5.2GB for double-sided cartridges like the one pictured here, still in-wrap. This one cost a very reasonable JPY340 and is a true relic, being a Type 1 RAM disc, meaning it is in a sealed cartridge never intended to be removed. Unfortunately, the DVD-RAM format was not common due to the high expense of the drives and somewhat slower speeds, but it did achieve a reliability that other formats did not have. I suppose it is often claimed that any optical disc format that mandates a cartridge is doomed to failure may have a grain of truth to it, but making the discs removable didn’t really save the format.

It almost feels a shame to open it, but I’ve never seen a Version 1.0 RAM disc before, so I might as well.

Well that’s a surprise. The yellow Panasonic cartridge is a familiar sight – I’ve got some later Version 2.0 RAM discs in the same sort of shell. But the disc has noticeably larger sector headers embossed into the disc with fewer zones. The scanner does a horrible job of picking up the colour though …

… as compared with ordinary Version 2.0 DVD-RAM discs, this one had a much more metallic blue-grey colouration to it rather than the normal light metallic chocolate brown. This reminds me a bit of an intermediary between Phase-Change Dual (PD) and the DVD-RAM that came later.

A label-sheet is included. Now while the disc isn’t supposed to be liberated from the cartridge, in the interests of seeing what can be done with the disc, I gave the cartridge a good squeeze and it decided to burst at the seams. With the bare disc in hand, I gave it a twirl in many of my RAM-supporting drives.

On all drives except my (horrible USB external Blu-Ray) Samsung SE-506CB, it would crunch for a bit and report no media. A minority of drives would report “Incompatible Medium Installed”. But the SE-506CB was the exception – it crunches for a while but it does report something … but it may not be quite accurate.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD-RAM:NO_ID_PRESENT]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc & Book Type :       [DVD-RAM] - [DVD-RAM]
Manufacturer Name :      [Manufacturer Not Found In Database]
Manufacturer ID :        [Not Available]
Supplementary Info :     [Not Available]
Formatted Capacity :     [Decimal GB (1000) Followed By Binary GiB (1024)]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
** INFO : Hex Dump Of 'Media Code'-Block Listed Below
** INFO : 4-Byte Header Preceding 'Media Code'-Block Discarded
** INFO : Format 00h - Physical Format Information
0000 : 11 02 04 20 00 03 10 00  00 16 b4 7f 00 00 00 00   ... ............
0010 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0020 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0030 : 3c 0a 6e 32 11 33 11 00  22 44 6e 32 11 33 11 00   <.n2.3.."Dn2.3..
0040 : 22 44 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   "D..............
0050 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0060 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0070 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0080 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0090 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00a0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00b0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00c0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00d0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00e0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00f0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0100 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0110 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0120 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0130 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0140 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0150 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0160 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0170 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0180 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0190 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01a0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01b0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01c0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01d0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01e0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01f0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0200 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0210 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0220 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0230 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0240 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0250 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0260 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ DVD Identifier V5.2.0 - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com ]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The result has a lot of zeroes in it and there is no media ID present in the dump. Perhaps it simply could not be read by the drive. But maybe early discs didn’t have the ID where we expected it to be. As a disc that should have always lived a sheltered life in a cartridge, this is uncharted waters.

The result from ImgBurn was more surprising – it seems it identified a written track on the disc (perhaps a phantom one, or is it pre-formatted?). The track itself has 1518960 LBA in total, which means a data size of 2,496,430,080 bytes.

Using the physical sector numbers, the implied total data area capacity is 2,636,380,160 bytes which matches the 2.6GB expectation. So it seems this drive understands this is an “old format” Version 1.0 RAM disc.

Unfortunately, it offers no write speeds for the media and attempting to write to it results in the drive returning “write protected”. I suppose perhaps a potential super-power of this SE-506CB is that it just might be able to read an already-written Version 1.0 RAM disc, but I can’t be sure without a pre-written disc to test it with. Still, a very exciting opportunity to get hands-on with an early format I had no chance of affording in its heyday.

Mr. Data 9.4GB DVD-RAM

While I’m on the topic of DVD-RAM, the “word on the streets” was that in 2019, Panasonic was the last DVD-RAM manufacturer and stopped manufacturing discs altogether. This means all the DVD-RAM that can be purchased would be new-old-stock.

Having used plenty of Maxell and Panasonic DVD-RAM, and even encountering a Ritek disc under the TDK brand, it was news to me that CMC Magnetics also made DVD-RAM. Mr. Data is one of their “own brands” in much the same way that RiData is to Ritek. As a result, I decided to buy one for the reasonable price of JPY240. I suppose this tells me not to expect much …

The disc is covered in a colour cardboard outer sleeve – no nice plastic covers for this cartridge.

The cartridge itself is clear with a black shutter. The disc is the ordinary chocolate brown with inked text in the clear spindle clamping area.

Looks quite like an ordinary DVD-RAM – this is a picture of the surface after writing.

Also came with a label sheet which covered the spine when the disc was in its cardboard sleeve. The unit was sold in a cellophane self-adhesive seal bag.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD-RAM:CMC Magnetics Corporation-M01CMC001]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc & Book Type :       [DVD-RAM] - [DVD-RAM]
Manufacturer Name :      [CMC Magnetics Corp.]
Manufacturer ID :        [CMC Magnetics Corporation]
Supplementary Info :     [M01CMC001]
Formatted Capacity :     [2,236,704 Sectors = 4.58 GB (4.27 GiB)]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
** INFO : Hex Dump Of 'Media Code'-Block Listed Below
** INFO : 4-Byte Header Preceding 'Media Code'-Block Discarded
** INFO : Format 00h - Physical Format Information
0000 : 16 0f 04 42 00 03 10 00  00 26 5f 5f 00 00 00 00   ...B.....&__....
0010 : 80 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0020 : 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0030 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0040 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0050 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0060 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0070 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0080 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0090 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00a0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00b0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00c0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00d0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00e0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00f0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0100 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0110 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0120 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0130 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0140 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0150 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0160 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0170 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0180 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0190 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01a0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01b0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01c0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01d0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01e0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01f0 : 00 00 00 00 52 0a 00 7b  33 33 33 78 2f 2f 2f 1a   ....R..{333x///.
0200 : 1a 00 00 11 22 04 02 00  00 04 03 00 00 04 03 01   ...."...........
0210 : 01 05 03 02 01 09 0b 0b  0c 09 0b 0b 0c 08 0a 0b   ................
0220 : 0b 08 0a 0b 0b 43 4d 43  20 4d 61 67 6e 65 74 69   .....CMC Magneti
0230 : 63 73 20 43 6f 72 70 6f  72 61 74 69 6f 6e 0d 20   cs Corporation. 
0240 : 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20                   
0250 : 20 20 20 20 20 4d 30 31  43 4d 43 30 30 31 0d 20        M01CMC001. 
0260 : 20 20 20 20 20 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00        ...........
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ DVD Identifier V5.2.0 - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com ]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The media ID is as above – indeed, a product of CMC Magnetics Corporation.

For speed, I decided to use streaming writes so the DVD-RAM skips the verify-after-write procedure. I usually find that most RAM discs are fine being written like this, as they’re often in excellent condition when brand new. Unfortunately, the CMC disc proved to be a difficult child – the Pioneer BDR-X13JBK’s write was unreadable towards the outer edge.

Trying it in my LG BH16NS55, the write and readback was successful, but I’m not confident …

My LiteOn DH16A6L scores the recordings (one on each side) as being horrifically poor. Perhaps it’s down to the scanning not having the same adjustments as the read-back of these discs, but with such similar curves between the two burners, it’s not too encouraging for this media.

Smartbuy 8cm 1.46GB DVD-RAM

Before you ask, yes, DVD-RAM also came in 8cm size. I previously showed a Panasonic 8cm DVD-RAM disc in passing, but this one is one branded SmartBuy and is also targeted at the DVD camcorder market.

This one claims to be “VOB Formatted”, whatever that means. I suspect it’s just UDF 1.5. Nevertheless, it goes to great lengths to try and convince you of its quality, while seemingly being packed in a reused old 3.5″ floppy case. I can’t recall the price, but it wouldn’t have been expensive.

For this, they decided to create a little plastic tray to hold the disc.

No mysteries here – the vendor has helpfully indicated “Made by Prodisc” in the centre hub clamping area. I never knew Prodisc actually made DVD-RAM too.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD-RAM:Prodisc-Lot1A]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc & Book Type :       [DVD-RAM] - [DVD-RAM]
Manufacturer Name :      [Prodisc Technology Inc.]
Manufacturer ID :        [Prodisc]
Supplementary Info :     [Lot1A]
Formatted Capacity :     [685,296 Sectors = 1.40 GB (1.31 GiB)]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
** INFO : Hex Dump Of 'Media Code'-Block Listed Below
** INFO : 4-Byte Header Preceding 'Media Code'-Block Discarded
** INFO : Format 00h - Physical Format Information
0000 : 16 1f 04 42 00 03 10 00  00 0e 12 1f 00 00 00 00   ...B............
0010 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0020 : 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0030 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0040 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0050 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0060 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0070 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0080 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0090 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00a0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00b0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00c0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00d0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00e0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00f0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0100 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0110 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0120 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0130 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0140 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0150 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0160 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0170 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0180 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0190 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01a0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01b0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01c0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01d0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01e0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01f0 : 00 00 00 00 52 0a 00 7a  3a 3a 3a 77 37 37 37 1a   ....R..z:::w777.
0200 : 1a 00 00 11 22 00 82 84  84 81 83 85 85 00 82 84   ...."...........
0210 : 84 00 82 84 84 09 0a 0b  0c 09 0a 0b 0c 08 09 0a   ................
0220 : 0b 08 09 0a 0b 50 72 6f  64 69 73 63 0d 20 20 20   .....Prodisc.   
0230 : 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20                   
0240 : 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20                   
0250 : 20 20 20 20 20 4c 6f 74  31 41 0d 20 20 20 20 20        Lot1A.     
0260 : 20 20 20 20 20 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00        ...........
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[ DVD Identifier V5.2.0 - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com ]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

This one has a name of “Lot1A” which I hope means it’s a good grade of product.

The familiar metallic chocolate brown of the underside with an interesting mottled effect and ink print code visible near the clamping area.

Writing this in the Pioneer BDR-X13JBK was no problem, at least at 2x. As with all DVD-RAM, it seems readback speeds are limited to write speeds so as to facilitate random reading and writing without constant spin-up/spin-down delays.

The LiteOn DH16A6L indicates the burn to be acceptably good.

Daiso

From esoteric and old to the brand-new, Daiso is a “life coordinate store” (their words, not mine). A common destination for those looking for cheap variety goods that are useful in the home, I was surprised to find they also sold blank optical media. I gave their CD and DVDs a hard pass, focusing on their BDs instead. Unfortunately, as I don’t want to get dust on my unwritten samples, this will mostly focus on the outer wrap and the media code of the discs contained inside.

BD-R 6x 25GB Single-Layer

The single-layer discs are in a blue and silver coloured wrap. The disc is a 6x rated disc with a printable top surface in a slim jewel case with no inlay card whatsoever. This keeps costs low. Precautions and other information are on the rear, but the disc is claimed to be Made in Vietnam. You know who makes it already …

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [BD-R-SL:RITEK-BR3-000]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc Type :              [BD-R SL : Class 0 - Version 1]
Manufacturer Name :      [Ritek Corp.]
Manufacturer ID :        [RITEK]
Media Type ID :          [BR3]
Product Revision :       [000]
Stamper Date :           [October 2010]
Layer Info :             [1 Layer (L0) : 25.03 GB (23.31 GiB) Per Layer]
Blank Disc Capacity :    [12,219,392 Sectors = 25.03 GB (23.31 GiB)]
Recording Speeds :       [1x , 2x , 4x , 6x]  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** INFO : Hex Dump Of 'Media Code'-Block Listed Below
** INFO : 4-Byte Header Preceding 'Media Code'-Block Discarded
** INFO : Format 00h - Disc Information
0000 : 44 49 01 28 00 00 62 00  42 44 52 01 12 01 00 00   DI.(..b.BDR.....
0010 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 02 00 00 00 19 4e 7e   ..............N~
0020 : 01 ec 64 64 28 28 28 28  1e 1e 1e 1e 00 00 00 00   ..dd((((........
0030 : 59 76 73 04 04 44 1a 8c  a0 f8 f8 f8 f8 f0 f0 f0   Yvs..D..........
0040 : f0 f8 f8 f8 f8 50 00 50  00 50 00 50 00 50 00 50   .....P.P.P.P.P.P
0050 : 00 50 00 50 00 50 00 50  00 50 00 50 00 a0 90 e0   .P.P.P.P.P.P....
0060 : d0 c0 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 42 52 33 7d aa 00   ....RITEK.BR3}..
0070 : 44 49 01 28 00 01 62 00  42 44 52 01 12 01 00 00   DI.(..b.BDR.....
0080 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 02 00 00 00 19 4e 7e   ..............N~
0090 : 03 d7 64 64 2d 2d 2d 2d  23 23 23 23 00 00 00 00   ..dd----####....
00a0 : 77 78 6b 09 09 44 1b 8b  a0 08 08 08 08 08 08 08   wxk..D..........
00b0 : 08 00 00 00 00 58 00 58  00 58 00 58 00 58 00 58   .....X.X.X.X.X.X
00c0 : 00 58 00 58 00 68 00 68  00 68 00 68 00 b0 b0 b0   .X.X.h.h.h.h....
00d0 : c0 d0 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 42 52 33 7d aa 00   ....RITEK.BR3}..
00e0 : 44 49 03 28 00 02 51 00  42 44 52 01 12 01 00 00   DI.(..Q.BDR.....
00f0 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 02 00 00 00 19 4e 7e   ..............N~
0100 : 03 d7 64 64 2d 2d 2d 2d  23 23 23 23 00 00 00 00   ..dd----####....
0110 : 64 6e 6d a7 0b 4a 1a 72  e4 e4 dc 30 30 30 30 30   dnm..J.r...00000
0120 : 30 50 50 50 50 50 50 54  54 54 54 54 54 48 b0 b0   0PPPPPPTTTTTTH..
0130 : b0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0140 : 00 00 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 42 52 33 7d aa 00   ....RITEK.BR3}..
0150 : 44 49 03 28 00 03 51 00  42 44 52 01 12 01 00 00   DI.(..Q.BDR.....
0160 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 02 00 00 00 19 4e 7e   ..............N~
0170 : 07 b0 64 64 46 46 46 46  3c 3c 3c 3c 00 00 00 00   ..ddFFFF<<<<....
0180 : a1 74 67 89 07 43 1c a1  dc dc c4 28 28 28 20 20   .tg..C.....(((  
0190 : 20 38 38 38 40 40 40 50  50 50 50 50 50 60 c0 cc    888@@@PPPPPP`..
01a0 : c0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01b0 : 00 00 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 42 52 33 7d aa 00   ....RITEK.BR3}..
01c0 : 44 49 03 28 00 04 51 00  42 44 52 01 12 01 00 00   DI.(..Q.BDR.....
01d0 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 02 00 00 00 19 4e 7e   ..............N~
01e0 : 0b 86 64 64 46 46 46 46  3c 3c 3c 3c 00 00 00 00   ..ddFFFF<<<<....
01f0 : b1 6c 6f 8b 07 3b 1b 80  e4 dc cc 30 30 30 28 28   .lo..;.....000((
0200 : 28 48 48 48 48 48 48 54  54 54 58 58 58 78 b0 b4   (HHHHHHTTTXXXx..
0210 : a4 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0220 : 00 00 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 42 52 33 7d aa 00   ....RITEK.BR3}..
0230 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
[All Null Bytes Snipped]
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[ DVD Identifier V5.2.0 - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yep, it’s our old friend, Ritek. Well, not so much a friend of mine, but anyway, for JPY100 + tax, it’s not all that expensive.

BD-R 6x 50GB Dual-Layer

The dual-layer disc has gold, instead of silver, on the front and they charge twice as much (JPY200 or JPY220 including tax). Again, it is Made in Vietnam. As I burned this disc, you can take a closer look …

… at the slim case with no inlay housing a disc that has a full-printable white top, with grey branding just at the edge saying BD-R 50GB 1-6X G073. In fact, all of Daiso’s BDs follow the same sort of branding convention.

The underside is a slightly blue-tinted ashen grey colour. This is the appearance of the surface after burning at 2x in my Pioneer BDR-X13JBK.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [BD-R-DL:RITEK-DR3-000]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc Type :              [BD-R DL : Class 0 - Version 1]
Manufacturer Name :      [Manufacturer Not Found In Database]
Manufacturer ID :        [RITEK]
Media Type ID :          [DR3]
Product Revision :       [000]
Stamper Date :           [Not Present On Disc]
Layer Info :             [2 Layers (L0-L1) : 25.03 GB (23.31 GiB) Per Layer]
Blank Disc Capacity :    [24,438,784 Sectors = 50.05 GB (46.61 GiB)]
Recording Speeds :       [1x , 2x , 4x , 6x]  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** INFO : Hex Dump Of 'Media Code'-Block Listed Below
** INFO : 4-Byte Header Preceding 'Media Code'-Block Discarded
** INFO : Format 00h - Disc Information
0000 : 44 49 01 60 00 00 62 00  42 44 52 01 22 01 00 00   DI.`..b.BDR."...
0010 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 02 00 00 00 19 4e 7e   ..............N~
0020 : 01 ec 64 64 46 46 46 46  3c 3c 3c 3c 00 00 00 00   ..ddFFFF####....
0030 : 8c 50 78 13 13 50 19 95  90 10 10 10 10 10 10 10   .Px..P..........
0040 : 10 10 10 10 10 58 00 58  00 58 00 58 00 58 00 58   .....X.X.X.X.X.X
0050 : 00 58 00 58 00 58 00 58  00 58 00 58 00 90 90 a0   .X.X.X.X.X.X....
0060 : b8 c8 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 44 52 33 00 00 00   ....RITEK.DR3...
0070 : 44 49 01 61 00 01 62 00  42 44 52 01 22 01 00 00   DI.a..b.BDR."...
0080 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 26 b1 80 00 3d ff fe   .........&...=..
0090 : 01 ec 64 64 46 46 46 46  3c 3c 3c 3c 00 00 00 00   ..ddFFFF####....
00a0 : 96 4c 73 11 11 2e 19 89  80 00 00 00 00 08 08 08   .Ls.............
00b0 : 08 10 10 10 10 58 00 58  00 58 00 58 00 50 00 50   .....X.X.X.X.P.P
00c0 : 00 50 00 50 00 50 00 50  00 50 00 50 00 80 80 a0   .P.P.P.P.P.P....
00d0 : c0 d0 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 44 52 33 00 00 00   ....RITEK.DR3...
00e0 : 44 49 01 60 00 02 62 00  42 44 52 01 22 01 00 00   DI.`..b.BDR."...
00f0 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 02 00 00 00 19 4e 7e   ..............N~
0100 : 03 d7 64 64 46 50 50 50  3c 46 46 46 00 00 00 00   ..ddFPPP#FFF....
0110 : ac 56 7e 0a 0a 3d 1a 8b  90 10 10 10 10 18 18 18   .V~..=..........
0120 : 18 20 20 20 20 68 00 68  00 68 00 68 00 68 00 68   .    h.h.h.h.h.h
0130 : 00 68 00 68 00 70 00 70  00 70 00 70 00 70 80 a0   .h.h.p.p.p.p.p..
0140 : a8 b8 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 44 52 33 00 00 00   ....RITEK.DR3...
0150 : 44 49 03 60 00 03 51 00  42 44 52 01 22 01 00 00   DI.`..Q.BDR."...
0160 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 02 00 00 00 19 4e 7e   ..............N~
0170 : 03 d7 64 64 46 50 50 50  3c 46 46 46 00 00 00 00   ..ddFPPP#FFF....
0180 : 9a 4a 7a a9 0b 4b 19 84  ec ec d8 40 40 40 40 40   .Jz..K.....@@@@@
0190 : 40 50 50 50 54 54 54 54  54 54 54 54 54 40 a8 b0   @PPPTTTTTTTTT@..
01a0 : b0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
01b0 : 00 00 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 44 52 33 00 00 00   ....RITEK.DR3...
01c0 : 44 49 01 60 00 04 62 00  42 44 52 01 22 01 00 00   DI.`..b.BDR."...
01d0 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 02 00 00 00 19 4e 7e   ..............N~
01e0 : 03 d7 64 64 46 50 50 50  3c 46 46 46 00 00 00 00   ..ddFPPP#FFF....
01f0 : f8 56 67 0a 0a 36 1d 8b  90 18 18 18 18 20 20 20   .Vg..6.......   
0200 : 20 30 30 30 30 68 00 68  00 68 00 68 00 68 00 68    0000h.h.h.h.h.h
0210 : 00 68 00 68 00 60 00 60  00 60 00 60 00 80 80 a0   .h.h.`.`.`.`....
0220 : a8 b8 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 44 52 33 00 00 00   ....RITEK.DR3...
0230 : 44 49 01 61 00 05 62 00  42 44 52 01 22 01 00 00   DI.a..b.BDR."...
0240 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 26 b1 80 00 3d ff fe   .........&...=..
0250 : 03 d7 64 64 46 50 50 50  3c 46 46 46 00 00 00 00   ..ddFPPP#FFF....
0260 : a9 48 75 06 06 32 1a 8e  90 10 10 10 10 10 10 10   .Hu..2..........
0270 : 10 20 20 20 20 68 00 68  00 68 00 68 00 68 00 68   .    h.h.h.h.h.h
0280 : 00 68 00 68 00 70 00 70  00 70 00 70 00 90 80 a8   .h.h.p.p.p.p....
0290 : c0 c0 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 44 52 33 00 00 00   ....RITEK.DR3...
02a0 : 44 49 03 61 00 06 51 00  42 44 52 01 22 01 00 00   DI.a..Q.BDR."...
02b0 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 26 b1 80 00 3d ff fe   .........&...=..
02c0 : 03 d7 64 64 46 50 50 50  3c 46 46 46 00 00 00 00   ..ddFPPP#FFF....
02d0 : 95 3e 75 af 07 3f 1a 78  ec e8 d0 40 40 40 40 40   .#u..?.x...@@@@@
02e0 : 40 50 50 50 4c 4c 4c 54  54 54 54 54 54 48 b0 b8   @PPPLLLTTTTTTH..
02f0 : b8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0300 : 00 00 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 44 52 33 00 00 00   ....RITEK.DR3...
0310 : 44 49 01 61 00 07 62 00  42 44 52 01 22 01 00 00   DI.a..b.BDR."...
0320 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 26 b1 80 00 3d ff fe   .........&...=..
0330 : 03 d7 64 64 46 50 50 50  3c 46 46 46 00 00 00 00   ..ddFPPP#FFF....
0340 : fa 48 65 06 06 32 1c 64  90 10 10 10 10 10 10 10   .He..2.d........
0350 : 10 20 20 20 20 68 00 68  00 68 00 68 00 68 00 68   .    h.h.h.h.h.h
0360 : 00 68 00 68 00 60 00 60  00 60 00 60 00 90 80 a8   .h.h.`.`.`.`....
0370 : c0 c0 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 44 52 33 00 00 00   ....RITEK.DR3...
0380 : 44 49 03 60 00 08 51 00  42 44 52 01 22 01 00 00   DI.`..Q.BDR."...
0390 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 02 00 00 00 19 4e 7e   ..............N~
03a0 : 07 b0 64 64 46 82 82 82  3c 78 78 78 00 00 00 00   ..ddF...#xxx....
03b0 : ea 54 78 92 08 35 1a 94  e4 e8 d0 38 38 38 38 38   .Tx..5.....88888
03c0 : 38 50 50 50 4c 4c 4c 54  54 54 54 54 54 50 98 a0   8PPPLLLTTTTTTP..
03d0 : b0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
03e0 : 00 00 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 44 52 33 00 00 00   ....RITEK.DR3...
03f0 : 44 49 03 61 00 09 51 00  42 44 52 01 22 01 00 00   DI.a..Q.BDR."...
0400 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 26 b1 80 00 3d ff fe   .........&...=..
0410 : 07 b0 64 64 46 82 82 82  3c 78 78 78 00 00 00 00   ..ddF...#xxx....
0420 : c6 42 78 a1 05 3b 1a 6e  e8 e4 d8 28 28 28 30 30   .Bx..;.n...(((00
0430 : 30 50 50 50 54 54 54 54  54 54 54 54 54 50 a8 a8   0PPPTTTTTTTTTP..
0440 : b0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0450 : 00 00 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 44 52 33 00 00 00   ....RITEK.DR3...
0460 : 44 49 03 60 00 0a 51 00  42 44 52 01 22 01 00 00   DI.`..Q.BDR."...
0470 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 02 00 00 00 19 4e 7e   ..............N~
0480 : 0b 86 64 64 46 82 82 82  3c 78 78 78 00 00 00 01   ..ddF...#xxx....
0490 : 14 50 8e 9a 06 3a 1a af  e8 e8 d0 38 38 38 30 30   .P...:.....88800
04a0 : 30 50 50 50 4c 4c 4c 58  58 58 58 58 58 68 a0 a0   0PPPLLLXXXXXXh..
04b0 : 90 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
04c0 : 00 00 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 44 52 33 00 00 00   ....RITEK.DR3...
04d0 : 44 49 03 61 00 0b 51 00  42 44 52 01 22 01 00 00   DI.a..Q.BDR."...
04e0 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 26 b1 80 00 3d ff fe   .........&...=..
04f0 : 0b 86 64 64 46 82 82 82  3c 78 78 78 00 00 00 01   ..ddF...#xxx....
0500 : 1a 46 7d 92 04 40 1a 96  e8 e4 d4 38 38 38 40 40   .F}[email protected]@@
0510 : 40 58 58 58 4c 4c 4c 4c  4c 4c 50 50 50 68 a4 a8   @XXXLLLLLLPPPh..
0520 : a8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
0530 : 00 00 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 44 52 33 00 00 00   ....RITEK.DR3...
0540 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
[All Null Bytes Snipped]
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[ DVD Identifier V5.2.0 - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The disc is a RITEK-DR3-000. Unfortunately, while it reads smoothly on the cross-flashed LG BH16NS55, the quality scan suggests that L0 burn quality is poor even at 2x. Either the Pioneer BDR-X13JBK really doesn’t like the media or it’s just not very good. The L1 result is very good though, save for the dust spikes.

BD-RE 2x Single Layer 25GB

For the standard price, they also sell single-layer re-recordable discs. The downside, of course, is that they will only work at 2x. These too are Ritek – RITEK-BW1-001.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [BD-RE-SL:RITEK-BW1-001]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc Type :              [BD-RE SL : Class 0 - Version 2]
Manufacturer Name :      [Ritek Corp.]
Manufacturer ID :        [RITEK]
Media Type ID :          [BW1]
Product Revision :       [001]
Stamper Date :           [Not Present On Disc]
Layer Info :             [1 Layer (L0) : 25.03 GB (23.31 GiB) Per Layer]
Blank Disc Capacity :    [12,219,392 Sectors = 25.03 GB (23.31 GiB)]
Recording Speeds :       [1x , 2x]  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
** INFO : Hex Dump Of 'Media Code'-Block Listed Below
** INFO : 4-Byte Header Preceding 'Media Code'-Block Discarded
** INFO : Format 00h - Disc Information
0000 : 44 49 01 10 01 00 63 00  42 44 57 02 14 01 00 00   DI....c.BDW.....
0010 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 02 00 00 00 19 4e 7e   ..............N~
0020 : 01 ec 64 64 28 28 28 28  1e 1e 1e 1e 00 00 00 00   ..dd((((........
0030 : 52 5e 73 04 04 90 90 1d  52 5e 73 04 04 90 90 1d   R^s.....R^s.....
0040 : 52 5e 73 04 04 90 90 1d  50 05 05 05 00 00 00 00   R^s.....P.......
0050 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  0f a8 b0 b0 a8 b0 b0 a8   ................
0060 : b0 b0 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 42 57 31 00 00 01   ....RITEK.BW1...
0070 : 44 49 02 10 01 01 62 00  42 44 57 02 14 01 00 00   DI....b.BDW.....
0080 : 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 02 00 00 00 19 4e 7e   ..............N~
0090 : 03 d7 64 64 28 2c 2c 2c  1e 21 21 21 00 00 00 00   ..dd(,,,.!!!....
00a0 : 5a 5e 7a 07 07 84 1e 00  70 10 10 10 10 10 10 10   Z^z.....p.......
00b0 : 10 10 10 10 10 30 00 30  00 30 00 30 00 30 00 30   .....0.0.0.0.0.0
00c0 : 00 30 00 30 00 30 00 30  00 30 00 30 00 70 80 f8   .0.0.0.0.0.0.p..
00d0 : fc fc 00 00 52 49 54 45  4b 00 42 57 31 00 00 01   ....RITEK.BW1...
00e0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
[All Null Bytes Snipped]
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[ DVD Identifier V5.2.0 - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com ]
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Conclusion

In this post, I’ve covered some of my non-BDXL haul from my recent visit to Japan. Media that are perhaps trash to others can be treasure to enthusiasts like myself. I felt fortunate to have been able to handle some rather old and perhaps unloved discs – the Panasonic DVD-RAM Version 1.0 Type I cartridge was particularly unexpected and so was the fact the TSST SE-506CB seemingly detected its physical format correctly. It was unexpected to meet Malaysian-made Daxon, the CMC-made DVD-RAM, or my arch-nemesis, Princo. The most surprising part is just how reasonably priced all of these items were … I guess I was just helping them clean-up the store. The mystery Blu-rays at Daiso all turned out to be Ritek, which was a bit disappointing.

But of course, Japan has a lot more to yield than just this haul of discs. I just realised my haul from 2017 was not covered at all – merely sitting in my box awaiting a time it would be covered, so you’ll probably see that coming up next.

Posted in Computing, Tech Flashback | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Tech Flashback: Black CD-Rs

Posted on February 21, 2025 by lui_gough

While thinking about optical media a while back (and I do this surprisingly often), I recalled a perhaps less-remembered product and went looking for it. Surprisingly, I managed to still find it for sale … so I parted with my money to get some.

The Black CD-R

The era of CD recording, for better or for worse, was a tool that enabled consumers around the world to make (legal, and illegal) backups of their CD-based media. Recorded CD-Rs had a distinct look that differed from pressed discs – their undersides often being one of a few basic dye colours (blue (azo), green (cyanine/later azo) or a nearly-transparent golden-yellow (pthalocyanine)) combined with the reflective layer which was often silver or gold. Such discs occasionally didn’t have perfect compatibility with CD drives especially those that pre-dated recordable media, in part due to differences in reflectivity and recording quality. As a result, there was often “rules of thumb” which some users held dear that they swore would make a disc that worked – things like burning at a particular speed (4x, 2x or 1x) or using special features in certain advanced recorders (e.g. Plextor VariRec/GigaRec/AMQR, Yamaha Audio Master Mode).

But perhaps a big market for CD-recording was for Sony Playstation game backups, especially after the mod-chip became inexpensive and ubiquitous. Local marketplaces would have shops willing to install them for about AU$50 at a time and were not shy in selling copied games either.

One distinguishing feature of genuine Sony Playstation game discs were that they were black in colour – the polycarbonate substrate itself was black, while the top was often silver with black silkscreen printing over the top. It was definitely something obviously different and I still remember news stories advising parents “check” their games for authenticity. Hah.

But not long after, it seems that various vendors of CD-Rs started selling “black” discs which they claimed were suited for game backups. Rumours spread that these discs “worked better” with the lasers in the Playstation. Some claimed that the discs were more scratch resistant in the sense that the discs read well even when scratched. Some even said they lasted longer as the colouration would stop the dye degrading. I wouldn’t be surprised if some were used to make more authentic-looking backups. With the benefit of hindsight and a lot more technical knowledge, I’d have to say that most of these rumours are easily seen to be false, although perhaps the dye degradation might be a plausible but not confirmed rumour.

On the Hunt

While they have been impossible to find locally for the better part of nearly two decades now, surprisingly I found a seller online who were still selling them. The price was reasonable, but not exactly cheap when you realise that it is a 50-pack spindle. It came well packed.

The spindle itself has a screw-bottom base. In the old days, one could look at the spindle design and get a good guess as to who made the discs and while I’m sure I’ve handled something similar before, I have no idea who makes this one.

The disc has a mottled translucent surface over the reflective layer, possibly a protective coat or one intended for direct thermal printing. Nevertheless, the stamper code visible from the top “R046-0207-5117” and the font gives me a good hint this is a Prodisc product. The hub area shows the black substrate quite well, as does the outer edge.

From the underside, the disc appears glossy black – you simply can’t tell if it’s been burned or not or even whether it’s a recordable disc or not from this side. The hub stacking ring on this disc has a very conspicuous profile. I suspect genuine discs of the day may have a different hub stacking ring.

With the power of a bright flash, I discovered a printed code in the centre – “2163D524 09038 05”. Printed in black ink, it would probably have never been otherwise seen. But as the flash proves, the “black” plastic isn’t quite fully black. Instead, it’s a bit of a very dark purpley-red, which is similar to the plastic colour you might find in front of older remote controls. While it appears dark to the human eye, it’s almost certainly mostly transparent at the intended operational wavelength of 780nm. As a result, what we see is deceptive as it’s not what the laser sees. After all, even if it’s a little bit absorbant at the infrared wavelengths, the reader and writer may be able to compensate.

Having got the polariser out to eliminate harsh reflections, the smooth, glossy, black bottom is a sight to behold. If you’ve had a spindle of discs with a “black” plastic protect disc – this is a much more polished version that can actually hold data :). So pretty … but alas, in the days, such discs which were game backups often had battle-scars from being used on a regular basis.

Into a Drive

Putting it into a drive and consulting ImgBurn …

… it looks like any old Prodisc 80-minute CD-R. One thing I like to try is to see how much overburning one can get from the disc using an old copy of Nero CD-DVD Speed, but alas …

… modern drives are horrible at running this test as their “simulation” doesn’t actually have the laser follow the stamped grooves in the disc, so it will just keep swallowing data at the write rate without checking the laser can actually follow the track. Older drives are much better in this regard.

Testing with a couple of other drives, one said 86+ minutes which is another failure. Those drives are likely to be only “checking” the disc occasionally or have some internal firmware limitation. The final drive I tested (an older IDE drive) gave me a capacity of 82:50.02 which is a bit on the high side but not entirely implausible. In the past, I used to find CMC Magnetics discs often went 82:20+ relatively reliably but no “80 minute” disc would make it to 83 minutes in my tests. So I am slightly skeptical, but it’s not entirely implausible.

Unfortunately, while the discs were not absolutely spotless, any cleaning was likely to make them worse so straight into the burner they go. I decided to use the Pioneer DVR-111L as the trusty test burner, choosing a speedy but still conservative 24x burn speed. It would seem the discs are still “good” in the sense that the burn completed just fine.

The TRT was not as smooth as it could be, but part of the reason may just be the IDE timing for the BenQ DW1640 which seems quite picky. Nevertheless, no major dips, so that’s definitely readable.

Running the regular quality test, it’s nice to see no C2 errors and a reasonable C1 error rate (220 blocks/sec is the threshold limit). The jitter figures aren’t bad either although the elevated jitter towards the outside might just be a sign that the WOPC was doing the wrong thing … which sometimes happens. It is quite nice to see the transition between CAV and CLV regimes did not see a baseline shift in jitter, suggesting the DVR-111L is doing a good job with the media.

Running the advanced test that breaks down the error types, we do get some jitter spike artifacts due to a DW1640 peculiarity (i.e. spin-down/spin-up) during tests. THis has always been an issue with testing with the drive. Ex1 errors seem fairly well spread around, while Ex2 errors seem to have a few clusters – not sure about the validity of some of the counts however. I’d still consider this a very acceptable burn.

As would my LiteOn DH16A6L which had a very smooth TRT with no dips.

Running a quality scan on this drive also showed no C2 errors and a lower error rate overall. So now I have another 49 black CD-Rs to use … if I ever need them. That being said, if I ever get a Yamaha CRW-F1 with DiscT@2, this definitely wouldn’t be the disc to use!

Other Colours?

Of the coloured discs, I’d say that black was perhaps the most common. But that’s not to say that other colours were not possible. I suspect there were a range of other colours, but manufacturers got lazy towards the end and released “coloured” CD-R discs which only had coloured top printing or cases, rather than the substrates themselves.

While I have no PS1 games to hand, I did find some PS2 games in my collection …

… including this unremarkable game. This one has the Compact Disc logo on the top to indicate it’s using CD technology.

Rather than a black bottom, it has a translucent purple-blue colour. So other colours are definitely possible and this “feature” may make it easy to distinguish PS2 games from PS1 games.

However, many PS2 games were DVD-based instead – note the DVD-ROM logo on the top of this slightly more notable game.

A look at the underside shows that it doesn’t have any coloured substrate. Part of the reason is likely because DVD lasers operate at 650nm, in the visible-red range, so that might limit the colours quite a bit as it is within the visible range. It does have the logo branding in the inner hub area, like the CD above.

The data area also has a subtle difference in reflectivity showing the PlayStation logo. While visually distinct, unfortunately, the end of the CD-era also spelled the end of coloured-substrate discs, as far as I am aware.

Conclusion

The black CD-R was an interesting product as it looks visually distinct to any ordinary CD-R to the human eye, but to a drive, performs practically the same. This is most likely because the substrate is transparent to infrared light that is used for reading and writing, while absorbing visible light to appear black. They sold and were in demand only for a limited time, imitating the look of authentic PlayStation game discs and often sold for game back-up purposes despite not offering any significant proven benefit over ordinary discs in this role.

Despite this, it does hold a place in my mind as something a bit interesting and unique. However, it’s “fad” status was definitely the case – alongside extended 90/99 minute CD-Rs which also enjoyed just a short time on the market.

More optical media posts to follow when the time permits – after all, I’m just starting to dig through my cache of optical media treasures that I’ve accrued over the years, many of which come from Japan.

Bonus: LabelFlash on DataTresorDisc

In the last posting about the Northern Star DataTresorDisc, I had a disc which was “damaged” by the DH16A6L which refused to write the disc despite commencing a session. A reader commented that I should consider running LabelFlash on it to draw some art and I definitely already had that in mind, having previously LabelFlashed some Milleniata discs and even DVD+RW discs (which are not supposed to be LabelFlash-able) using the swap-trick.

In keeping with wanting to scribe something “round” and artistic, I chose a picture of an Osaka manhole cover commemorating EXPO 2025 in Osaka this year that I photographed on my trip to Japan in 2024. I overlaid the words “Thanks Stefan!” as tribute to my donor who provided the discs for testing. Burning this into the disc required the swap trick – the disc’s session data would have prevented the whole surface from being used.

The completed result looks great – nice and sharp and easily readable. The wide viewing-angle of the inorganic discs is very obvious … for comparison, I burned the same image into a BenQ DAXON-AZ1 dye-based media (more about these in the future) below …

… and its contrast and viewing angle are notably worse. So, thanks again to Stefan for submitting the discs for testing and now I can definitely say that I’ve made the most of all the discs that turned up :).

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18650 EDC Head-to-Head: Wuben C3 vs Wurkkos WK03

Posted on February 14, 2025 by lui_gough

Happy Valentine’s Day! No valentine? Me neither … but I do have a couple of flashlights …

Generally, I’ve always preferred big, chunky flashlights with larger batteries for a longer runtime and better lumen maintenance. However, while my preferred 26650 battery size seems to be getting less love since 21700 became the norm, the 18650 cell still enjoys a strong following. Part of the reason is that 18650-based flashlights tend to be more compact and lightweight, making them more suited for an every-day carry (EDC) role.

Thanks to a few promotions, I decided to grab two of the more popular 18650-type flashlights at a rather affordable price to compare. These are often available on promotion for prices as low as AU$18-24 including battery from Amazon AU, making them a potentially great entry-point for the flashlight-uninitiated. I wonder if any one of these is a clear winner?

Unboxing – Wuben C3

We start this review with the Wuben C3, which I purchased for about AU$24. This is an 18650 EDC style flashlight promising 1200lm from an Osram P9 LED. It comes in a natural colour cardboard box with black printing.

The side and rear of the box provides further details as to the specifications and capability of the C3.

Finally, the other side provides QR code links to their website and Facebook page and some certifications.

Internally, the torch is packed inside a milky plastic bag suspended in a cardboard tray.

Within the box, we have a product guide, spare O-rings, a USB A-C charging cable, a branded wrist-strap and the torch itself.

The unit is pretty nice to hold. It has a smooth fine finish. The patterning on the body adds additional grip, but the surface still feels very exquisite and well-made. The rear of the torch has the USB-C charging port covered with a rubber cap. The model and a warning about the torch being “hot” is engraved on the rear.

The front side of the torch has the branding and the CE mark, with a translucent silicone light-pipe for the charge status indication LED.

The USB-C charging port is positioned in a rather tight recess.

The front of the torch has a pattern resembling the rifling in a rifle barrel and is a nice touch, setting it aside from the more generic units. The LED sits in the middle of what seems to be a glass TIR lens.

Internally, the negative side is contacted by a single gold-plated spring. A piece of blue plastic insulator keeps the battery isolated during shipping and must be removed before use.

The cell itself has a black-blue-and-white colour scheme, labelled ABE2600C and with B2405 which I presume may mean Week/Month 5 of 2024. The battery has a capacity of 2600mAh, which is a bit on the small side for an 18650, but is a protected type. It is Made in China.

The protection appears to be on the positive side, where the terminal is a brass/gold coloured nipple.

The contact on the positive side inside the torch is also a spring with a black insulator around it. The tail switch is a clicky switch with a rubber cover that has the Wuben logo on it. The design of the tail-cap allows the wrist strap to be threaded through, but the torch to remain standing on the flat surface.

Finally, of note, is the included charging cable which is Wuben branded as well. This seems to be a cohesive package that feels high quality.

Unboxing – Wurkkos WK03

The second contender in this head-to-head is the Wurkkos WK03. I can’t help but feel the “3” in the name is more than just purely coincidental. This particular one is a SST40-based torch with a 5000-5300K colour temperature (I chose a warmer tone as I find it preferable) and 1800lm maximum output. Despite these generous specifications, this one was the cheaper unit, coming in at AU$18 on promotion.

This one arrives in a colour-print cardboard box with their logo on the top and some certification logos on the side. A label on the side indicates the contents, thus the same box is likely used for a range of different flashlights.

The box thanks us for choosing Wurkkos, while the items are packed tightly inside.

Included is the user manual, a reminder about the insulating sheet, the wrist strap and spare O-rings, the torch and a generic USB-A to C charging cable.

Looking at the torch from the front, it has a very definite Sofirn-esque look to it. The thin branding around the collar, the hot logo, the button with translucent centre for the LED indication. This is all very similar to something like my Sofirn SP33, not that there’s anything wrong there. The button is silicone rubber, rather than the hard plastic on most of my Sofirn torches and protrudes from the body, so probably not the best for throwing into a tool-bag.

There are some oil residues on the body, but on the rear are some approval logos and the USB-C charging port cover. Overall, the design seems very utilitarian, but it does have some good features like the noticeable ribbing around the head which should give it a bit more area as a heatsink.

This, too, has a rather tight charging port recess.

Also, similarly to the C3, a single LED sits in the middle of a glass TIR lens.

The tail on the WK03 is flat, but the wrist strap holes are located such that the strap, when threaded, prevents the unit from sitting perfectly flat on its tail.

Even the insulating paper disc for the battery is very similar to those used by Sofirn. Looking into the tune, the positive terminal is seen to be a spring, but the PCB is exposed inside, which shouldn’t be a functional issue unless it causes short circuits, but isn’t exactly best practice. The design appears dated 10th April 2023.

The negative side is formed by a single gold-plated spring.

The supplied 18650 cell is rated 3000mAh which is quite decent for an 18650. It’s not quite the capacity king, but you wouldn’t expect that from a bundled cell in a low-end product anyway. It is Made in China.

The positive side of the battery has a nipple top with two vents. The cell is unprotected.

User Experience

In general, having used both the C3 and WK03 for more than a month, they are both flashlights with a very similar feature-set and both seem to do their jobs well. The output of both seem fairly honest, although the WK03 wasn’t that much noticeably brighter than the C3 despite the 1800lm vs 1200lm rating. I suppose this might be expected.

The two torches have a very similar beam spread, with the C3 being a little bit more even and the WK03 having more of the LED outline and colour fringe visible. This is likely just down to the differences in the LED design itself. On the whole, both are somewhat “floody” in nature, which is good for general-purpose usage. The warmer colour temperature of my WK03 is noticeable.

As is expected from such torches, the rated lumens are not maintained for long – both units seem to ramp down within around a minute and sustain a more leisurely amount of lumens (probably in the 500-800lm range) to keep themselves from getting uncomfortably hot and overheating (although they do get very warm).

In terms of size, the C3 is longer but both have a similar diameter. The C3 is also heavier, but in return, the C3 feels much nicer in terms of surface finish, without the roughness that the WK03 has. The strap on the Wuben inspires more confidence and the colour co-ordination with the clip on the Wuben is better.

In terms of user interface, the Wuben opts for a clicky tail switch requiring somewhat precise momentary interruptions to change between stepped brightnesses, similar to my 4Tool ED20. This may be a “foolproof” UI for some, but I find it somewhat annoying as two clicks spaced too closely together puts it into strobe mode rather than advancing through the brightness ladder, while two clicks spaced too far apart will cause it to ignore it altogether. The clickiness of the switch and it being at the tail isn’t my thing, but I know some people prefer this.

The Wurkkos using a more traditional “soft” button seems to do the job nicely along with having the ability to “lock-out” and prevent accidental activation. Unfortunately, it doesn’t run a more sophisticated UI, so it’s still stepped brightnesses, strobe and SOS only.

Neither does a good job of indicating battery status, only using the LED colour and blinkiness to indicate okay, low and critical. Charging both flashlights also presents problems as the narrow recess does mean some third-party cables with thicker bodies (especially “metal” plug bodies) may not be able to mate successfully with the port. However, to their credit, both of them have been designed with the correct CC resistances so a USB-C to USB-C cable does charge them successfully.

The Wurkkos’ tail cap design is also a bit of a downside – the holes for threading the wrist strap means that the unit cannot sit flat on its tail. The Wuben does a better job of this, but because of the large tail switch dome, the area on which the C3 stands is a small fraction of the perimeter which doesn’t lead to high levels of stability especially when placed on soft surfaces. I did have some expectation that the design of the WK03 might be magnetic at its base based on a few online images and text descriptions, but it turns out mine is not magnetic at all. Perhaps there are magnetic versions out there …

Performance Tests

This section will focus on the tests I performed on the flashlights. Unfortunately, as I don’t have any radiometric testing equipment, I cannot confirm their lumen output, however it would seem from comparisons with my other flashlights that it is relatively reasonable, although perhaps the Wurkkos WK03 is slightly less bright than I would have expected at the Turbo setting. Most of the tests will concern the included batteries, charging, run-time, weight and thermals.

Battery Tests

Battery testing was performed using the Rohde & Schwarz NGM202 Power Supply under scripted control. Discharge was completed at various rates (with the C/5 rate marked with an asterisk) to a cut-off of 2.5V. Charging was performed to 4.2V with a 100mA termination current.

The Wuben’s 2600mAh protected cell managed to measure 2624.3mAh at the C/5 rate, indicating it is genuinely as rated. The usable capacity decreases only slightly at higher rates – a 3A discharge rate drops the usable capacity to 2578.7mAh although the voltage suffers quite a bit, forming more of a straight-line discharge curve.

The above data is also plotted versus capacity and energy. Of note is that the sequence of tests were run from the highest current to the lowest current, so the 3A result showing marginally better results may be a result of charging a cell that had already been previously fully-charged allowing it to soak up a tiny bit more energy, or due to cycle-related cell capacity losses (ageing) occurring during the test.

The 3000mAh-rated cell included in the Wurkkos is a bit of a surprise too – it managed to eke out 3339.7mAh which is quite a bit more than the rating. At the higher discharge rate of 3A, the capacity was 3193.1mAh which is a bit of a drop (and the voltage similarly also takes a dive) but still above 3000mAh nonetheless. The discharge curves don’t show much of a pronounced “shoulder”, however, so that suggests to me that this cell may be optimised for capacity rather than discharge rate. While it may have the better initial capacity, I also have questions as to its cycle-life longevity. Nevertheless, 18650-cells are plentiful, so replacing it shouldn’t be a hassle.

The same data, also plotted as a function of capacity and of energy.

Based on these results, I think I’ll have to give it to the Wurkkos for out-performing the labelled rating, even though Wuben was very much being honest with theirs.

Charging

Looking at the 5V USB charging current profiles, measured using a Rohde & Schwarz HMC8043 Power Supply, it is clear that the Wurkkos is the much faster charger, reaching full charge in 3h 22m 40s despite having the larger 3000mAh (claimed) cell. The Wuben C3’s behaviour is perplexing, having a linear decrease in charge current followed by rapid “pulsing” of the current until completion. I can only assume that this is likely due to the linear charging solution cutting into thermal protection, suggesting inadequate heatsinking of the charging chip. This results in much longer charge times of 5h 12m 41s. It would seem that the quiescent current consumption after the completion of charging is also higher for the Wuben. Unfortunately, in this area, it seems the Wurkkos wins hands-down.

Run-Time

Run-time was tested with both flashlights set to their Turbo setting and left to run until they stopped producing light altogether. The output brightness is not taken into account.

The Wuben C3 managed a run-time of 2h 35m 4s which matches very closely with the datasheet claim of 1m + 2.5h. To its credit, the brightness seemed to be fairly stable throughout most of this time.

The Wurkkos WK03 managed a run-time of 4h 24m 39s, which was retested and came to within 10s of this measurement. I’m not sure if it has to do with the way the turbo mode is selected, but the manual appears to claim 2h 3m to be the expected run-time for Turbo and 2h 6m for the next highest mode, followed by 6.3h. The result doesn’t match any of the claimed run-times, but is quite a bit longer than claimed albeit with some loss of brightness as it progresses.

In this sense, I’d say that the Wuben C3 is more accurate with its claim and more stable with its output, but the Wukkos WK03 gives a longer illumination time at the cost of less stability in its output.

Weight

Measuring the two on a generic set of kitchen scales (5000g/1g) shows the Wuben measuring in at 122g and the Wurkkos at 101g. Thus, the Wurkkos is lighter weight despite the larger battery capacity and higher lumen rating, which is possibly down to its smaller body size but could also be indicative of the grade of aluminium used in its construction. For EDC where weight may be a concern, the Wurkkos may be preferable, although as mentioned earlier, the Wuben does have the better quality when it comes to the finish and feel.

Thermals

It would seem that the Wuben C3 uses a timed ramnp-down principle with the brightness slowly ramping down after about a minute of usage. On a single run, the head of the torch manages to get to 46.5 degrees Celsius, which is warm to the touch. However, if you repeatedly restart the torch in the highest setting, it is possible to push the temperature as high as 63.8 degrees Celsius which is rather hot. I did try to push it further, but perhaps due to the limitations in battery capacity, the temperature always seemed to remain at around this temperature.

Unsurprisingly, the Wurkkos WK03 exhibited practically the same behaviour with a timed ramp-down of the output. The temperature of a single run saw the head of the torch reach 43.1 degrees Celsius, however, repeatedly cycling the torch allowed me to get it as high as 72.2 degrees Celsius before I called chicken and decided not to keep pushing it. At such high temperatures, not only are skin burns a possibility, but it may also be stressing out the electronics and battery.

Based on these results, I’d say it’s most likely a tie, with the higher temperatures of the Wurkkos likely because of the larger battery capacity and higher lumen rating and both units behaving relatively similarly.

Conclusion

For the flashlight uninitiated, grabbing an 18650 EDC style torch is probably a valuable thing to do as you never know when something like this would come in handy. Both the Wuben C3 and Wurkkos WK03 belong to this category and can be had for very reasonable prices. Both put out a good, honest amount of light and provide basic stepped brightness selections and strobe mode. Both come with an 18650 cell, wrist-strap and USB charging cable as part of the bundle.

However, when it comes down to the finer details, I’d say that the Wurkkos WK03 edges out the Wuben C3 as it has the higher lumen rating (even though it doesn’t maintain it as well), it has an electronic button (which results in less operation ambiguity and includes a lock-out feature too), it comes with a larger cell, has a longer run-time, it charges more quickly, it’s more physically compact/lighter, and finally, it also had the lower price this time around.

But it’s not all bad news for the Wuben C3, as it has the better build quality and finish – the surfaces are nice and fine while the Wurkkos feels a bit rougher in comparison. It’s battery capacity is honest and is a protected cell for additional safety against overcharge/overdischarge. The tail-cap button is also larger, tactile and clicky which may make it easier for some people to use. The design also allows the torch to stand neatly on its tail, something with WK03 doesn’t do if the wrist-strap is threaded into its hole. The overall design of the torch and its accents just “feels” like a nicer product overall, so the higher price is not unexpected, even if its performance is slightly lacklustre.

That being said, both flashlights are excellent choices for the general user, but neither has any fancy features like ramping or blinking out the battery voltage. For users accustomed to Anduril might find these a little boring and lacking in functionality. But I guess those users already know this already.

If you’re interested in one, best keep your eyes peeled for the next promotion as their regular prices are a lot less enticing …

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