attn: jmet

[Chewy]

Do burner/firmwares learn how to burn certain blanks?
I am seeing evidence of it, it seems to take 3-4 burns tho.

[jmet]

Updating your firmware will ensure more media compatibility with the burner, so yes.

[nwg]

There is a thing called writing Strategy. This is how a burners writes a DVD. If a burner doesn't right a particular brand or dye very well. The firmware can be altered and improved to burn the discs better. The writing strategy is different depending on whether the disc is a -R,+R,-RW,+RW etc and also different speeds. If someone burns a 4x disc at 4x and then the same disc at 2x. The strategies will be different.

The strategy will also be different between manufacturers and even models from the same manufacturer. How a LG burner writes a Ritek G04 disc maybe different to a Pioneer. The Strategy can also be changed on the fly if the burners thinks it needs it.

It is always wise to have the latest firmware as these strategies change.

[Chewy]

Yep,
been there and done that, but I was asking about a process I have
read about in cdfreaks that's not documented(?) where a burner
CHANGES
it's write strategy(something to do with power calibration) as it learns to write new media(new to it and it's firmware).

What I am seeing is that the first few discs I burn are not as good as
subsequent discs.

My imagination?

"The Strategy can also be changed on the fly if the burners thinks it needs it."

BINGO

[jmet]

Oh ok, misunderstood your question. I think nwg nailed it though.

[Pinan]

Do burner/firmwares learn how to burn certain blanks?
I am seeing evidence of it, it seems to take 3-4 burns tho.

Yes. Sounds like you're talking about Solid Burn. This is included with BenQ 1640 (only works with 1640) burners, in the QSuite software. It takes about 3-4 burns to optimize quality. I don't know how it works, but check the BenQ forum at clubcdfreaks.

I believe LiteOn drives have something like this as well, but perhaps only with altered FW.(?)

[nwg]

I only learned about Solidburn recently. It is basically automatic adjusting writing strategy technology. It saves having to do firmware updates.

Tired of the frequent firmware updates required to maintain your drive's support of blank DVD media? With SolidBurn, the DW1650 is able to apply its own Self-Learning. Writing Strategy algorithm to allow unknown DVD±R media to be written with increased quality. So there is no need for users to update the media support list in their DVD drive as the drive keeps itself up-to-date and ensures best writing quality on all DVD±R media. Better yet, SolidBurn supports the Over-Speed Burning that allows you to burn a 4x or 8x DVD±R disc at 8x or higher speeds.

Taken from here.

http://www.benq.com/products/product.cfm?product=616&page=features

[Chewy]

Not sure it's just with Benq's tho, I found this reference also

http://www.plextor.com/english/support/faqs/G00022.htm

[Pinan]

Not sure it's just with Benq's tho,

Well. A Plextor 740 is a rebadged BenQ 1640 (diff FW), so that would make sense. Though it's been said that it would not support SB unless FW patched to a 1640.

[jm1647]

Yep,
been there and done that, but I was asking about a process I have
read about in cdfreaks that's not documented(?) where a burner
CHANGES
it's write strategy(something to do with power calibration) as it learns to write new media(new to it and it's firmware).

What I am seeing is that the first few discs I burn are not as good as
subsequent discs.

My imagination?

"The Strategy can also be changed on the fly if the burners thinks it needs it."

BINGO

I don't know about other burners but a LiteOn will burn a new media better after the 1st few burns, it is called learning the media.

[Chewy]

So from what I gather, it's not a good idea to use the first disks from a new media, (after a flash or otherwise) for critical backup.
After a flash all media is new? Kinda goes back to the old maxim, find a media/firmware that works and stick with it.