AMEX DIGITAL to launch world's first Blu-ray Disc Recorder

Despite Blu-ray's European launch being delayed, AMEX DIGITAL Corporation has just announced that they have begun shipping the world's first Blu-ray disc recorder, the M505-BDR to the European market to prepare for its launch on August 28th.  This recorder will be capable of playing Blu-ray movies as well as existing DVDs with upscaling support. 

It is capable of outputting video at up to 1080p via its HDMI port and audio with up to 8.1 discrete sound channels.  It features playback support for all DVD recordable formats including DVD-RAM and also CDs.  Other features include a dual hybrid digital TV tuner, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet, Firewire port, S/PDIF in & out and support for HD-DV Camcorders.  It also doubles up as a media centre PC, featuring an Intel Core 2 Duo 64bit CPU, an integrated ATI X1600 graphics adapter with HDMI out, 4GB DDR2 RAM, an Intel 945P Express chipset, 1.5TB of SATA hard disk storage, VGA output and Windows Media Centre Edition 2005 as its operating system.

The recorder is set to become available in the shops on August 28th with a retail price starting at $2,000 and will come with a free Blu-ray movie title.  At this time, 7 out of 8 of the major movie studios have announced Blu-ray titles (mostly to the US market) with an expected growth to at least 200 titles by the end of the year.

The AMEX DIGITAL plays Blu-ray software titles at the highest resolution available via a native 1080p HDMI output for films digitally mastered in 1920 x 1080p. The M505-BDR also up-converts conventional DVDs to 1080p through the HDMI digital interface so the picture quality of any traditional DVD will look noticeably more detailed when used with the disc player. The M505-BDR is backwards compatible and plays both standard DVDs and CDs in addition to supporting all DVD formats including, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+RW, and DVD+R. Additionally, AMEX DIGITAL has included a dual Hybrid digital TV turner with PIP (Picture in Picture) Function and wireless WiFi b/g, 100/1000Mb network, Fire Wire IEEE1394, S/P DIF in/out interface that supports all the major formats source from internet and HD-DV Cam, the native high definition resolution contained in 2-megapixel and larger digital still pictures can be fully rendered on a high definition television via slide show functionality built into the M505-BDR. Connectivity includes HDMI Supported audio formats include: Dolby, DTS, MP3 and 192KHz LPCM. The M505-BDR will be available in stores on AUGUST 28, 2006 at a Price from $2,000 come with free Blu-ray movie title. Further photography can be viewed at AMEX DIGITAL here.

With high definition terrestrial TV preparing for launch in some European countries, this Blu-ray recorder should attract consumers willing to fork out on a HD recorder.  However, going by the inputs, it does appear to lack several features, such as no sign of component video inputs or outputs and there does not seem to be any HDMI input either.  If the only sources it is capable of recording from are terrestrial HDTV and HD content from HD DV camcorders, this will be a disappointment for those interested in getting a Blu-ray recorder to record HD content from satellite or cable TV.

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Source: DVD Recorder World