Pioneer to Launch Blu-ray Drive in First Quarter of 2006

[Marwin]

Pioneer to Launch Blu-ray Drive in First Quarter of 2006

Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. today announced one of the industry’s first Blu-ray Disc computer drives, expected to revolutionize digital and high-definition media storage. The new Pioneer BDR-101A will utilize shorter wavelength blue lasers in order to store up to 25 gigabytes of information on a single layer Blu-ray Disc. It is expected to begin shipping in the first quarter of 2006.

This first generation product will be targeted primarily to professional users and serious enthusiasts, generally the first to adopt new technology. In particular, content creators will depend on Blu-ray Disc writers to test and evaluate high definition consumer Blu-ray Disc titles during the authoring process before replication. The drive will come equipped with a data recording application to transfer digital files to Blu-ray Discs.

As the market for high definition video camcorders grows, users will increasingly rely on the Blu-ray Disc drive to store massive amounts of HD video. Likewise, a person with a television tuner on his or her personal computer could use the drive to record high definition television shows for later viewing. The drive also will be able to play consumer Blu-ray Disc movie titles on BD-ROM discs and will play and record standard DVD media.

As one of the first products to utilize Blu-ray Disc technology, the drive significantly increases storage capacity, while reducing the number of discs currently needed to back up computer hard drives, digital files and applications.

“Storage capacity in a stable medium is critical,” said Andy Parsons, senior vice president at Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. “A few years ago, no one could imagine needing more storage than available on a CD-R. Yet today, we need multiple DVDs just to back up the numerous photo and video files on our computers. Blu-ray Disc technology fulfills the rapidly growing need for more storage space and Pioneer is proud to be one of the first companies bringing it to market.”

The half height BDR-101A Blu-ray Disc/DVD writer will read BD-ROM/R/RE, DVD-ROM/DVD-R/DVD-RW and +R/+RW discs. It offers the following write speeds:

BD-R/RE (2X)
DVD-R/+R (8X)
DVD-RW/+RW (4X)

Pioneer has been an innovator of optical disc technology since it brought LaserDisc, the precursor to DVD, to market in 1980. Pioneer went on to introduce the first DVD writer for computer use in 1997, the first DVD recorder as a VCR replacement in 1999, the first DVD/CD writer for home computer users in 2001 and surpassed 5 million sales of DVD writers in 2003. The company now leads the market with the introduction of this new Blu-ray Disc drive. Pioneer Corporation is one of the Blu-ray Disc Founders.

[Blue]

I think that should put the other thread (Pioneer and the HD-DVD web site) to sudden halt. It seems strange they would make the announcement now when they are all apparently planing on making a big bang at the CES in only a few days. Pioneer's Media release is good, but I think TDK is still the winner. It seems that this BD Drive is only single layer.

[hmurchison]

Dude what's with the lack of Dual Layer support?

Hopefully CES 2006 will give us pricing.

[zombie]

How long did it take for DVD drives which supported dual-layer to hit the market? Certainly you weren't expecting recordable dual-layer BDs to be available at launch.

[thunderhawk]

Here's another story:
Pioneer Prepares to Launch Blu-ray Disc Drive

Optical drive for PCs will debut at next month's Consumer Electronics Show.

Pioneer plans to unveil at the International Consumer Electronics Show its first Blu-ray Disc format optical disc drive for personal computers, it said this week. The drive will go on sale in Japan at the end of January pending the completion of two licensing issues, the company says.

The BDR-101A drive is compatible with non-cartridge single-layer recordable BD-R and rewritable BD-RW discs and single and dual-layer read-only BD-ROM discs, the company says. It is also compatible with a wide range of DVD-based media and can write DVD-R and DVD-RW discs, says Pioneer.

Pioneer plans to initially offer it direct to Japanese PC makers for inclusion in their desktop computers and systems and will later expand sales to other countries, says Akira Muneto, a spokesperson for Pioneer in Tokyo. It's scheduled to be available in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2006. This schedule means that PCs on the market boasting Blu-ray Disc support could appear in the first half of 2006.

The drive will have an ATAPI interface that delivers a data transfer rate of 33MB per second, says Muneto.

The company did not specify a price for the drive or plans for sales of the drive direct to consumers.


Content Management Concerns

Pioneer's drive is the first announcement of a shipping date from any optical disc drive maker although its January schedule may be derailed by a delay in licensing of the content management system or Blu-ray Disc logo, it says.

The inability of the companies behind the AACS (Advanced Access Content System) content management system to complete their work has already caused Toshiba to put launch plans for its HD-DVD player on hold. AACS is made up of a number of companies from the electronics and content industries. The group's founders include IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic), Sony, Toshiba, Walt Disney, and Warner Bros.

The group has declined several requests for comment or interview regarding when the first version of its format will be completed.

CES runs in Las Vegas, Nevada, from January 5 to January 8, 2006.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/resource/arti...RSS,RSS,00.asp

[Alex Pallas]

does this mean bluray will launch before hd?...
i wonder how much the initial players will go for........

[Gorkab]

Originally Posted by Alex Pallas

i wonder how much the initial players will go for........

I'm wondering too...

[AV_Integrated]

There are some people over at Audioholics (www.audioholics.com) that are attending CES next week and I have asked them to get all the info they can on Blu-Ray.

My guess though is that by the time they report back to me, we will already know what was said via press releases from the Blu-Ray camp. Let's keep our fingers crossed for some seriously good news.

1. Pricing (sub $500?)
2. PS3 pricing?
3. Disc pricing for both movies & blanks?
4. COMPONENT VIDEO OUTPUT SUPPORT???!!!
5. Availability/release dates?

I really don't care about PC drives - I want my PS3. EB Games... I've got my deposit ready!

[thunderhawk]

I too would be interested in more specific technical details about the players and their outputs and processing of the images...

[phloyd]

I will be at CES and intend to check out what BDA has going there.

Cheers!

[thunderhawk]

Originally Posted by phloyd

I will be at CES and intend to check out what BDA has going there.

Wow you're lucky Bring a notebook with you and note every technical detail you can get about input/output connectors and devices, about the incoming/outgoing signals, the digital/analog support and the copy protection ofcourse.
Anything I forgot (about the basics)..?

[zombie]

Originally Posted by thunderhawk

Wow you're lucky Bring a notebook with you and note every technical detail you can get about input/output connectors and devices, about the incoming/outgoing signals, the digital/analog support and the copy protection ofcourse.
Anything I forgot (about the basics)..?

Bring a camera too!