Questionable quality of Imation 16x DVD recordable media

Not too many authors in the blogosphere seem to be interesting in DVD recording and blank media quality. While the recorder and media technology has evolved and matured over the years, the quality of available media on the market still varies a lot. In fact it can vary from absolute rubbish to high quality and reliable media. I had the chance to check out the current 16x speed offering of Imation for both standards, the DVD-R and DVD+R.

Imation is one of those brands that outsources their production completely, and therefore one can get all kinds of media from various manufacturers under the Imation label. Another major label with similar strategy is Memorex. I remember being very upset in Imation in the early CD-R recording age (8x speed was hot then), when they distributed horrible media under their label. Later I have found some excellent 8x DVD-R media from Imation (by RICOH) and and equally great DVD+R 16x Imation media (by Verbatim / MCC). At the moment however, they seem to be shipping media made by MBI, Moser Baer India. I picked a few DVD-R and DVD+R 16x speed media from a huge stock of Imation media and gave them a whirl using Pioneer and LiteOn recorders.

I started by recording 16x DVD-R media with a Pioneer DVR-115D recorder. The first and most serious implicationof quality issues was when one of the Imation DVD-R discs produced a read error at the end of the disc. The quality scans were not too impressive eithe. There were no huge peaks of errors, but the total amounts cumulated to much higher figures than we like to see in quality media. Lite-On DH20A3P recorder produced similar results with even higher total amounts of errors, but this time the disc was at least readble.

The DVD+R media wasn’t any better producing very similar quality scan results than DVD-R. Using both the Pioneer and Lite-On the total amounts of PIF in these scans is much higher than with premium media. You can see the difference yourself by having a look at the scan results, where Verbatim / Mitsubishi Chemicals manufactured Imation branded media delivers way better results than these curren Moser Baer India products.

Overall this is a very disappointing test result. Imation is a huge brand with a large market share, and their RICOH and MCC made media convinced me that they are now on a safe path. Whether the fault is Imation’s or Moser Baer’s, it is hard to tell. MBI has also manufactured quality media in the past for Imation, and many other brands, but at the moment it seems that Imation or MBI is not the best pick.

Be sure to check out our MediaBase for more DVD recordable media test results!