PIONEER ELECTRONICS SHIPS TDK BLU-RAY DISC MEDIA WITH WORLD’S FIRST COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE BLU-RAY DISC DRIVE
– TDK Blu-ray Disc Media with DURABIS Hard Coating Technology Bundled with Pioneer BDR-101A Blu-ray Disc Writer –
GARDEN CITY, NY, May 18, 2006 – TDK, a world leader in digital recording solutions, today announced that Pioneer Electronics is bundling TDK Blu-ray Disc media with the Pioneer BDR-101A Blu-ray Disc drive, the world’s first commercially available Blu-ray Disc writer. Each BDR-101A includes TDK’s 25GB Blu-ray Disc media, the ideal media for recording high-definition video and archiving large amounts of data. Featuring TDK’s DURABIS hard coating technology, TDK’s Blu-ray
Disc media is setting new standards in recording and playback by offering unprecedented capacities, fast transfer rates and revolutionary durability.
“Pioneer is very pleased to include TDK Blu-ray Disc media with our BDR-101A Blu-ray Disc drive,” said Andy Parsons, Senior Vice President at Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. “The high performance recording solution represented by combining the BDR-101A and TDK’s rewritable Blu-ray Disc media puts Pioneer’s customers on the cutting edge of optical disc technology.”
Targeted toward the professional market as well as early technology adopters, Pioneer’s first generation BDR-101A offers advanced storage options for any number of recording projects. Together with TDK’s ultra-durable media, end-users can trust their high capacity recordings will be reliably preserved. TDK’s exclusive DURABIS hard coating formulation protects the media surface against scratches and other contaminants that would destroy lesser discs, while the company’s advanced spin coat manufacturing process and ultra-precise recording materials make TDK Blu-ray Discs the failsafe choice for HD video post production, authoring and archiving as well as professional data backup applications.
“A leader in the development of Blu-ray Disc technology, TDK is pleased to supply its highperformance 25GB Blu-ray Disc media to Pioneer for bundling with Pioneer’s BDR-101A Blu-ray Disc drive,” said Bruce Youmans, TDK Vice President of Marketing. “Both companies have played key roles in the development and historic launch of Blu-ray with TDK offering the first recordable Blu-ray Disc media and Pioneer now delivering the first commercially available Blu-ray Disc drive. With TDK Blu-ray Disc media and the Pioneer BDR-101A, professional customers and early adopters can harness unprecedented recording capabilities from backing up massive amounts of data to authoring HD video.”
Currently, TDK is shipping single-sided 25GB BD-R (recordable) and 25GB BD-RE (rewritable) Blu-ray discs. Later this year 50GB products with a dual layer recording material structure will begin shipping. TDK first shipped mass production samples in December 2005, and with the subsequent issuance of the relevant license, the company immediately commenced full force manufacturing.
The high-sensitivity inorganic recording material utilized by TDK for the write-once type BD-R is completely different than the recording materials used for CD or DVD. TDK Blu-ray Discs’ inorganic material is impervious to light, making the discs exceptionally well suited for archiving data. Composed of copper and silicon, TDK’s exclusive recording material delivers remarkable, long-lasting performance. The recording material enables fast recording and playback speeds and also makes it possible to realize massive capacities through multi-layering.
For TDK’s rewritable BD-RE Blu-ray Disc media, a specially designed high-sensitivity phase change recording material is utilized. The material is so stable that a TDK Blu-ray Disc shows virtually no performance degradation even after it has been overwritten 10,000 times. The 25GB BD-RE discs offer 2x (72Mbps) rated recording speed. Based on simulated acceleration tests, TDK’s archival life expectancy rating for Blu-ray Disc media is more than 50 years.
Every TDK Blu-ray Disc includes DURABIS, TDK’s protective hard coating formulation. DURABIS increases the scratch resistance of Blu-ray Disc media by a factor of 100, as demonstrated in rigorous testing. DURABIS also resists fingerprints to help eliminate errors caused by disc surface smudges. TDK Blu-ray Discs provide absolute reliability for perfect recording and playback everytime.
About TDK
TDK Corporation (NYSE: TDK) is a leading global electronics company based in Japan. It was established in 1935 to commercialize “ferrite,” a key material in electronics and magnetics. The company today is a leader in the development of next-generation technologies such as Blu-ray Disc recording media, an optical disc ideally suited for high-definition video recording. TDK offers a full line of recordable DVD and CD media, digital camcorder tapes, professional data storage solutions including LTO Ultrium media, and much more.
About Pioneer
Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. is headquartered in Long Beach, Calif., and its U.S. Web address is
www.pioneerelectronics.com. Its parent company, Pioneer Corporation, is a leader in optical disc technology and a preeminent manufacturer of high-performance audio, video and computer equipment for the home, car and business markets. The company focuses on four core business domains including Blu-ray Disc and DVD, display technologies, navigation, and Digital Network Entertainment(TM) and components.
