The Taiwanese electronics maker Austek Computer Inc, well known for motherboards has announced plans to launch its first Blu-ray disc writer in July. Asustek expects Blu-ray to do well with its larger storage capacity and wider bandwidth. For example, they mention how Blu-ray writers already offer double the bandwidth of the current HD DVD writers due for launch, but also admit that Blu-ray does suffer a tough start with its high price tag.
According to X-bit labs, the Asus drive is capable of writing both single and dual-layer Blu-ray writable and rewritable media at 2x speed. The writer also writes CD-R/RW and DVD±R/RW media, including double layer DVD media.
As the battle between DVD+RW and DVD-RW writers simply resulted in hybrid writers, the same is likely to take place with the next generation DVD market with BenQ already having plans to introduce a hybrid writer capable of handling both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. They also plan to offer a hybrid set-top HD recorder which can also read from or record HD broadcasts to either format.
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The competition between Blu-ray and High-definition (HD) DVD for the next-generation DVD format is set to fire up as more products from both camps are scheduled to hit the stores next month. |
It looks like as each manufacturer announces their first
Blu-ray disc writer, it offers something superior to the previous one
announced. For example, the first Blu-ray disc writer by Pioneer only supports writing to
single layer Blu-ray media, writes at 2x and does not support CD media.
The came the announcement from LG about their upcoming writer which is the first
to offer 4x Blu-ray
disc writing speed and also writes CD-R/RW media. Now, Asustek will probably be the first to bring dual-layer writing for Blu-ray to the market. With the high cost of dual/double layer blank DVD media, chances are that the dual-layer Blu-ray media will be a hefty premium for a while, particularly with single layer media being as expensive as it is now.
Source: Taipei Times
