Singapore, 8 December 2006 -- Sony Electronics unveiled its first internal Blu-ray Disc (BD) rewritable drive for the computer aftermarket.

The new drive (model BWU-100A) supports up to 50 GB of data on BD-R (write once) or BD-RE (rewritable) discs or up to four hours of high-definition video using HDV 1080i on a BD-RE 50GB disc. The new drive is capable of burning a full 25GB disc in about 50 minutes.
For personal content captured on a HDV camcorder, the BD drive is optimized for keeping the video in the native HDV 1080i for playback on home players compatible with BD-AV format and PCs with BD drives installed.

Sony’s BD drive also supports recording of standard single layer 4.7GB DVD ±R/±RW/RAM discs, 8.5GB DVD±R Double/Dual Layer Discs, and CDs, making it a multi-format burner.

“Sony continues to entice with its technology by introducing the much awaited Blu-ray drive which converges the requirement of higher storing capacity and superior quality. Sony’s success and leading position for DVD writers in Singapore attributes to our abilities to be the first to deliver the products to the market. Enthusiasts can now store high-definition videos and

also read and write on normal DVDs & CDs and all this with just one drive” said Vincent Chng, Head and Regional Sales & Marketing Department for branded storage products in Application & Devices Marketing (Singapore) (a division company of Sony Electronics (S) Pte Ltd).

The BWU-100A is capable of playing back commercial Blu-ray movies as well as personally created Blu-ray content. Commercial Blu-ray movies can be viewed on computers that incorporate an HDCP-compliant graphics card offering DVI or HDMI connections, HDCP-compliant computer display, and software that supports BD-ROM playback, along with the Blu-ray drive itself.

The BWU-100A drive comes bundled with the CyberLink BD Solution® from Cyberlink Corporation, which provides a complete software application for capturing, authoring, editing and burning high-definition personal content captured by a HDV 1080i format camcorder onto BD discs. Video can also be “down-converted” to standard-definition resolution for burning onto DVDs.

The internal drive features an IDE (ATA/ATAPI) interface and standard 5.25-inch form factor for easy installation inside a PC.

Availability and Pricing

The recordable and rewritable drive will be available in September for about SGD 1199. It will be available in Singapore through Sony Electronics (S) Pte Ltd’s distributor, Ban Leong Technologies Ltd.