This first test will compare PRODISC R04 16X speed media
burnt at 12x speed

From this table we can see the difference is that the NEC is capable of burning at the additional speeds of 16x and 2.4x The firmware is not patched for 16x DVD+R as it is considered too fast for a reliable burn to uncertified media and in fact 12x speed burning is quicker than 16x speed the way it is applied with the Pioneer

Pioneer


NEC

Interesting here The Pioneer burns at 6-12 Z-CLV as is normal for the drive and the NEC burns at the 5-13 CAV this media being recognised as 16x speed media the NEC used the 16x burning mode as default. Normally the NEC would burn 12x speed media at Z-CLV the same as with TYG02 From these charts we can see the Pioneer is 7 seconds faster but if the NEC had used its correct Z-CLV burning mode it would have been 18 seconds faster.

Burn Quality
Pioneer


Burn Quality
NEC


From the burn quality test both graphs are excellent and I consider them to be as good as it gets. The only minor point I repeat minor is the 6x speed burn in the Pioneer gives PIE errors a little higher than the rest. Overall the NEC burn is marginally better here. The % jitter with both burns is fairly constant and good, the Pioneer being marginally better.
Both these graphs are good and very little between them with this media I consider both drives the equal in this area

Read Speed Test
Pioneer


Read Speed Test
NEC

Interesting here the initial 6x burn in the pioneer produced an erratic graph which smoothes out after the switch to 8x speed burning with a minor glitch half way.
The NEC starts a smooth graph again with a minor glitch in the middle of the burn. The NEC burnt disc was 22 seconds quicker at being read. Both graphs although not ideal are good and perfectly acceptable. Again there is little to chose between them here so the only main advantage is the pioneer which is a mere 7 seconds faster at burning