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CeBIT: Blu-ray gathers momentum

Blu-ray is undoubtedly one of the hottest topics at CeBIT this year since many companies backing the prospective optical storage technology have been demonstrating a variety of Blu-ray supporting products at their booths.

According to recent predictions by the Blu-ray Disc Association, the technology will be adopted by enthusiasts in 2005-2006 and then by general consumers in 2007-2008. By 2010, the association hopes that Blu-ray will be the main format for consumer optical storage worldwide.

The main goals of the Blu-ray Disc Association are establishing format standards and promoting and developing business opportunities for Blu-ray. In the middle of February, membership in the organization grew beyond 100 companies. Members include Taiwan companies such as CMC Magnetics, Lite-On IT, Optodisc Technology, BenQ, Lead Data, Nanya Plastics and Ritek. The first three of these are classed as contributing members (annual fee: US$20,000), while the others are general members (annual fee: US$3,000).

At CeBIT, companies represented on the board of directors of the Blu-ray Disc Association, such as LG Electronics (LGE), Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sharp and Sony, are displaying a whole range of new Blu-ray products. Another member of the board, TDK, announced its Durabis coating technology at the show. According to TDK, the new coating improves the durability of Blu-ray discs by increasing their resistance to scratches, dust and grime.

Keeping up with the competition at CeBIT, Taiwan’s BenQ unveiled a triple writer codenamed BW1000 that supports Blu-ray as well as rewritable CDs and DVDs. The drive can be used as a PC component. According to BenQ, it utilizes a Philips triple-laser optical pick-up module in which the separate blue, infra-red and red lasers share the same optical pathway to provide Blu-ray Disc read/write capabilities, as well as read/write compatibility with DVDs and CDs. Initial shipments of this product are expected at the end of this year, while availability for the mass market is scheduled for 2006, business line manager of BenQ Europe Ajen Liao said.

“We currently focus on Blu-ray and don’t support the other technology using blue laser called HD-DVD, but this is definitely something we have to study,” he noted. Another Taiwan company, Asustek Computer, is also showcasing its Blu-ray-supporting PC drive at CeBIT. Asustek has not yet announced when the product will be available on the mass market.

Blu-ray technology lets users store 25GB of data on a single-layer disc and 50GB on a double-layer disc.

BenQ BW1000 triple writer drive with Blu-ray support.




BenQ’s Blu-ray display at CeBIT 2005. BenQ is developing its Blu-ray products in cooperation with Philips


Asustek has been demonstrating a prototype Blu-ray PC drive at CeBIT.