First internal Blu-ray drive available in January 2006

The first internal Blu-ray drive for PCs will be available at the end of January 2006. Pioneer Corporation has announced that its BD/DVD writer will support the BD-R and BD-RE formats for recording/playback and the BD-ROM format for playback.

Pioneer’s BDR-101A drive will allow reading and writing of single layer [25 GB capacity] and double layer [50 GB capacity] Blu-ray discs.

Certain proprietary technologies have been included to maximize the reliability of both the writing and reading process: Ultra DRA has been developed by Pioneer to suppress vibration during the writing process, and Limited Equalizer LSI ensures reading reliability. The drive will connect to Windows PCs via an ATAPI connection.

The BDR-101A will be on display in both the Pioneer and Blu-ray Disc Association booths at the 2006 International CES, which will commence on 5 January 2006 in Las Vegas, USA.

Source: Pioneer Japan