CeBIT 2008: Panasonic, Samsung Gear Up for Blu-Ray Invasion

The new high-definition content king has been properly celebrating during this year's CeBIT expo. Panasonic and Samsung were the most important players in the Blu-Ray field and showcased both average models, as well as state-of-the-art devices, where aesthetics is part of the manufacturing process.

Panasonic came to the show with its biggest guns ready: its supersized LCD display was connected to a living-room PC running high-definition multimedia content via the company's Blu-Ray players. One of the first demonstrated models was the internal SW-5583-C Blu-Ray drive.

The device can read both single-layer and dual-layer disks with storage capacities of 25GB and 50GB, respectively. It connects to the computer via a Serial-ATA-I interface that can deliver data transfer rates of 1.5 Gb/s. The SW-5583-C can work with BD-R (SL / DL) media at 4X speeds for both reading and writing, with BD-RE (SL / DL) media at 2X speeds and with BD-ROM (SL / DL) media at 4x reading speeds.

The SW-4583-C model is a tray-ype Blu-ray drive that also connects to the computer via a Serial-ATA interface, but it does not come with writing capabilities for the Blu-Ray media. It can reach reading speeds of 4x for BD-R (SL / DL) optical disks, and offers DVD Multi read / write support.

If Panasonic would mostly insist on the internal Bly-Ray devices for personal computers, Samsung has aligned three different breeds of high-definition players to the race. Samsung's offer was extremely generous with devices that would pack everything but the kitchen sink.

The most interesting offering was the external combo 6X HH drive that packs the latest optical technology in a sleek case – the perfect companion for your home-theater PC. It connects to the computer via a USB 2.0 interface, that can provide the necessary data transfer rate for a smooth and real-time high-definition experience. The device works with BD ROM R / RE media at reading speeds of 6x tops.

The other two Blu-Ray offerings are internal devices and share the same technical specifications. The only difference between them is the form factor: while the BD Combo 4X is a slim drive, suitable for notebooks, the BD-Combo 8X HH drive is a full-form factor optical unit. The former unit can BD-ROM/R/RE media at 4x, while the latter is a little faster, and can handle BD media at 8x reading speeds.



Live report by Bogdan Popa and Alex Vochin from CeBIT 2008 Hanover, Germany.