Pioneer Japan sent out a press release today, announcing yet another new 16x Blu-ray Disc writer, the BDR-S09J-X. Like the original BDR-S09J, this Windows 8.1 compatible drive is is capable of 16x BD-R, 14x BD-R DL, 8x BD-R LTH, 2x BD-RE and 2x BD-RE DL writing speeds and a maximum BD-ROM read speed of 12x. The BDR-S09J-X also writes to triple-layer (100GB) BD-R media at 8x, quad-layer (128GB) BD-R media at 6x and triple-layer (100GB) BD-RE media at 2x.
What makes the BDR-S09J-X unique is its ability to check and display the playback quality of an audio CD (CD-DA) and, in the case of a low quality level, recommend the settings for optimal playback. In the case of a read error caused by dirt or a scratch, the drive uses Pioneer's PureRead3+ technology to reread these sections of a disc. Last, but not least, the BDR-S09J-X features a new technology called RealTime PureRead which reduces the occurrance of data interpolation in real time so that a CD can be played with the original sound quality.
The BDR-S09J-X ships with authoring and playback software from CyberLink and is expected to cost about 33,000 Yen ($276US) when it hits stores in late January.
