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This story was printed from CdrInfo.com,
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Appeared on: Sunday, February 17, 2002
Cebit 2001 Show


1. Overview

Cebit 2001

Here you can read all the latest CD/DVD news directly from the Cebit 2001 show!

- Press Releases

26/03/2001: TDK presents CyClone 241040
26/03/2001: TDK Presents "Multi-Level Recording"
20/03/2001: Infineon Technologies to Show Industry`s First System-on-a-Chip Solution for Multibeam DVD/CD-ROM Drives At CeBIT
19/03/2001: Yamaha CRW2200 with SafeBurn to be demonstrated at CeBit 2001

- News

20/03/2001: Ricoh Cebit 2001 news
20/03/2001: Panasonic ships DVD-R/RAM combo drive

CDRInfo.COM Cebit coverage:

19/04/2001: Gigastorage
19/04/2001: HiSpace
19/04/2001: HP
19/04/2001: Maxell
19/04/2001: Mitsumi
19/04/2001: Pioneer
19/04/2001: Prassi/Veritas
19/04/2001: Primera
19/04/2001: Ritek
19/04/2001: Seiko Precision
19/04/2001: SKC
19/04/2001: Sony
19/04/2001: Teac
19/04/2001: Verbatim
19/04/2001: Waitec

29/03/2001: Acer
29/03/2001: Afreey
29/03/2001: AOpen
29/03/2001: ASUS
29/03/2001: BrainWave
29/03/2001: Compro
29/03/2001: CyberDrive
29/03/2001: Disc4You
29/03/2001: Freecom
29/03/2001: FujiFilm

26/03/2001: Yamaha
26/03/2001: Plextor
26/03/2001: Ricoh
26/03/2001: TDK


2. Acer

Acer in Cebit 2001

Recorders

Acer in the Cebit 2001 presented the CRW1610A. The new drive supports 16x writing, 10x re-writing, 40x reading and "Seamless Link" anti-coaster technology. The drive has only 2MB of buffer and 100ms random access time. The drive will not come soon (around May) and no information was given about the price.

Another interesting was that Acer would add "SeamLess Link" in their CRW1832A CDR-W drive (with a firmware update). If you don't know much about "SeamLess Link" the solution seems based upon special firmware instructions and not at an extra IC chipset. The patent is from Acer/Philips and as we were told there are not plans of giving the technology to other manufacturers.

Acer also had another slim-line DVD-Rom reader "SDV-8032EP". The drive supports 8x DVD-ROM and 32x CD reading, is based upon PCMCIA interface and has a weight of 480gr.

Media

Acer presented 20x and 24x certified media that can be used with the coming high-speed recorders, at both 74&80min capacity and in Gold/Green dye. The media will be some late (Q3 2001):

  Acer 80min 24x certified media >> Acer 74min 24x certified media

Acer 74min 20x certified media>> Acer 80min 20x certified media


3. Afreey

Afreey in Cebit 2001

TrueX Technology

Afreey in Cebit 2001 presented their latest DVD-ROM "9025E" which supports 25x DVD-ROM/100x CD-ROM reading and uses "Raptor" chipset from Infineon:

"...Raptor, is Infineon Technology's first single-chip, high-performance DVD-ROM controller. It uses Zen Research's MultiBeam "TrueX" single-beam DVD, and CD drives. Raptor sets an industry speed record of 25x DVD, and 100x CD read rates, when deployed with a MultiBeam optical pickup (from Sanyo). The MultiBeam technology allows DVD and CD drives to achieve peak performance across the entire face of the disk, and not just when reading from the outer disk edge. Disk spindle rates are correspondingly lower than on single-beam drives, reducing vibration, noise, power consumption and heat dissipation.."

Key features:

- MultiBeam 25x/100x CD single chip solution
- Integrated ATAPI interface (supports all data transfer modes up to UltraDMA 66)
- DVD/CD decoder including CSS, ECC
- Support of system configurations of: DVD-ROM, DVD-combo (with external CD-RW controller)
- Disc-read support of: Dual-layer DVD, DVD-R/ROM/RW, CD, CD-R/RW/ROM/Enhanced
- DVD Audio support

 

Most of you must have heard "TrueX" technology. With this technology Kenwood made the first 72x CD-ROM, which had many problems especially with dark CDR media (Verbatim). We asked Infineon about this hot issue and here is the answer we got: "...The pickup is manufactured from Sanyo. This time we believe that we will archive full compatibility with all CDR media.."

The Sanyo pickupAs you understand this time Zen Research passed the knowledge of the TrueX technology at Sanyo and Infineon and both companies now working to make the first real 25x DVD-ROM. Since Sanyo is manufacturing the pickup we hope that all problems that Kenwood 72x CD-Rom had to over passed. But what are the interesting news about the new Afreey drive? We are recording maniacs...Yes you are right. There are very exciting news about the Afreey drive.

The Raptor chipsetInfineon ,which produces the IC chipsets, said that their design is very open and could easily with an addition of chipset to adopt CD/DVD recording features. We asked " Which DVD recording features you mean exactly? (DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW)". Infineon reply was that for them it's all the same :). That means guys that Sanyo will enter in the DVD recording area using Infineon design and Zen Research technologies knowledge. When that happens DVD recording will have become as cheap as CD recording is now days.

But when the drive comes? Is it working? Infineon said that they didn't have an actual drive to demonstrate. They are preparing to show the new technology in June 2001 at Japan (the DVD-ROM drive). Last Infineon said that they have licensed at least 9 other companies (didn't mentioned names) to make similar DVD-ROMs drives.


4. Aopen

AOpen in Cebit 2001

Recorders

AOpen in Cebit 2001 show presented their latest CRW1632A CDR-W drive. It supports 16x writing, 10x re-writing, 40x CD reading (32x DAE), "JustLink" anti-coaster technology and "OPC" technology to improve recording readability. The drive comes with ATAPI interface and supports UDMA 33. We didn't found any information about the shipping date and the possible cost.


5. Asus

Asus in Cebit 2001

Recorders

Asus in the Cebit 2001 show presented a full line of new CDR-W drives for the first time.

- DRW-2010R

This was the most interesting model from Asus. The drive supports 20x writing speed, 10x re-writing, 40x reading and 8x DVD-ROM reading!!! Also you will find 2mb of buffer, "JustLink" anti-coaster technology, 120ms access time and UDMA 33. The drive is obvious based upon Ricoh mechanism. However Ricoh hasn't announced similar 20x combo product in the Cebit 2001 show!

- CRW-1610A

This is another interesting CDR-W drive from Asus. It supports 16x writing, 10x re-writing and 40x reading. It has also 2mb of buffer and "SuperLink" anti-coaster technology. Who makes this drive? Interesting question...The drive doesn't seem based upon Ricoh or Sanyo mechanisms. Maybe it's Philips solution?

DVD-ROM drives

- DVD-E616

This is the latest DVD-ROM from Asus. The drive supports 16x DVD and 50x CD reading. This is the first time we see 16x DVD-ROM with such increased CD reading speed. The drive has 512KB of buffer among with 85ms random access time. Last it includes Asus "DDSSII" system:

"...Asus has developed a unique suspension design - coined "DDSS II" for Double Dynamic Suspension System - for it's DVD-ROM. To reduce the vibration caused by the spindle motor, Asus build a damper between the core mechanisms and traverse as the first suspension and as isolator between the traverse and loader mechanism as the second suspension. Both damper and isolater have precisely been calculated and designed using special rubber materials with different levels of elasticity.."


6. BrainWave

BrainWave in Cebit 2001

Recorders

BrainWave in the Cebit 2001 show presented their 24x CDR-W drive "CRD-BP5/1500P". The drive are based upon Sanyo 24x and will come in market around May/June 2001:

  >>CRD-BP5 Top

>> CRD-BP1500P Top


7. Compro

Compro in Cebit 2001

Recorders

Compro in the Cebit 2001 show presented their portable MP3/CDR-W drive with the code name "PDS-MJ". The drive supports 4x writing, 4x re-writing, 20x reading and Mp3 playback. The interfaces are USB/PCMCIA, FireWire. The package comes with Lithium-Ion rechargeable batteries. The retail price of the drive would be around 449$ and it start shipping from April 2001:

Compro also has a full line of CD/DVD-Rom readers among with CDR-W drives. Their faster recorder comes with 12x writing, 8x re-writing and 32x reading. It seems based upon Philips 12x recorder and it includes "Thermo Balance Write Strategy".


8. Cyber Drive

Cyber Drive in Cebit 2001

Recorders

CyberDrive in Cebit 2001 presented a new line of CDR-W drives. The fastest model "CW038D" supports 16x writing, 8x re-writing and 40x reading. The drive also supports "ExactLink", which possible is the same as the OAK's "ExacLink" anti-coaster technology. Last is has only 2MB of Buffer as we heard supports fully DAO-RAW.

Another CDR-W drive model is the "CW028D". The drive supports 12x writing, 8x re-writing and 40x reading. Again it supports "ExactLink" anti-coaster technology and 2mb of Buffer.

Also CyberDrive had a full series of CD-ROMs, 48x & 52x, DVD-ROMS, 12x/40x & 16x/48x


9. Disc4You

Disc4You in Cebit 2001

Media

Disc4You had a very interesting stand in Cebit 2001. They presented their latest 120minutes media among with the already known 99min CDs. Also they had various shaped CDs among with CD Duplicators/CD Printers.

The 120min CDs are currently supported from 4 manufacturers. Which one? Nice question. We don't know yet. For sure it's not Mitsumi or Plextor. The big problem with 120minute CDs is that in order to get the extra space from 99 to 120min the spindle has become much closer and thinner than with normal CDs. In order the recorder write them it has to change the laser beam length.. The idea behind the 120min CDs is nice since they offer the exact same capacity with Sony's DDCD technology but of course are out of any CD standard... The compatibility is good according to Disc4You - at least for the stand alone CD players.

>>>


10. Freecom

Freecom in Cebit 2001

Recorders

Freecom had an impressive booth in Cebit 2001 among with new interesting models...

- Freecom Traveller II CDR-W/DVD combo

The new drive supports 8x writing, 4x re-writing, 24x reading (CD) and 8x reading (DVD). Freecom follows the Multi Connect System so you can easily connect to USB, FireWire/ i. LINK, CardBus, PCMCIA and Parallel Port (and soon USB-2) and comes in 2 colours (dark blue and grey). The attached CDR software comes from Roxio (Ez CD Creator for PC, Toast for MAX) and for DVD playback the famous "PowerDVD". The new, pluggable power module provides up to 6 hours of power for all second generation Traveller drives when used on the go. The integrated power management system regulates the power supply and recharging processes. The external mains adaptor, the PCMCIA or CardBus connection cables also supply power to the unit.

- Freecom Portable II CDR-W

Freecom presented in Cebit their new line of portable recorders. The specification of the drive differs from the interface, which is used. For example with USB connection you have a 4/4/24 CDR-W, with PCMCIA you can have an 8/4/32 and with FireWire/USB 2.0 a 12/10/32 enabled with BURN-Proof anti-coaster technology. The Portable series includes CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD and CD-RW/DVD combination drive. Power is supplied via the mains adaptor, which is delivered as standard. All drives in the series include the appropriate connecting cables - all CD-RW drives come with the Roxio EASY CD Creator and Direct CD for PC recording software and Roxio Toast software for Macintosh in the USB and FireWire package as standard. Mixman music software from Steinberg has been included for all recorders.

- Freecom Beatman

Another portable MP3 player?..Not exactly:

"...Freecom introduces the Freecom Beatman Mini CD/MP3 player, the first of its kind. It is small size, hardly bigger than the Mini CD medium itself, and it is low weight make it the perfect music device to carry with you. The Freecom Beatman meets all standards you can expect from a portable CD/MP3 player. The high-quality technology and the 40-seconds anti-shock mechanism ensure continuous trouble free playing. You won't miss a beat!

 

Create your own mini CD-R
1. Download music files from the internet or convert your CDs into compressed audio format.
2. Burn up to 210 minutes of music on one Mini CD-R- with your CD writer.
3. Play your music on your beatman and exchange your songs with friends..."

The idea behind the new Mp3 player is very nice. The 8cm media costs around 1.5-1.8$ which is much lower than what flash memory cards cost. Also the BeatMan player price is around 135$ and we must admit that it looks wonderful!

The 8cm Freecom sample media comes from Ritek and can be written in all CDR-W drives (did have you had noticed the smaller inner circle in your CDR-W drive tray?). The maximum overburn time is around 21.15min and 8cm RW media will be also out (not sure if the Freecom BeatMan will support it):

ATIP: 97m 31s 07f
Disc Manufacturer: Ritek Co.
Assumed Dye type: Phthalocyanine (Type 7)
Media type: CD-Recordable
Recording Speeds: min. unknown - max. unknown
nominal Capacity: 186.47MB (21m 15s 00f / LBA: 95475)


11. FujiFilm

FujiFilm in Cebit 2001

Media

Fuji Film in Cebit 2001 show presented mostly new media for DVD-R and DVD-RW formats:

>>


12. Gigastorage

Gigastorage in Cebit 2001

Media

Gigastorage in Cebit 2001 presented a full series of CD/DVD media. The most interesting are the colourful 8cm CD-R/RW media which can be used with the new generation of MP3 CD players:

>>

The 8cm media can hold up to 200mb. There will new MP3 players, which will support such media from Gigastorage. Actually the player will come from third parties but the design comes from Gigastorage. The interesting is that possible the player will support 8cm CDR-W media!

Gigastorage also had various dyes for DVD-R placed in their booth:

>>>


13. HiSpace

HiSpace in Cebit 2001

Media

HiSpace had a full product line of CD media in 12cm and business cards:

>>

If you notice carefully the above picture of the Black CD you will see that the surface looks like vinyl disc! Hi-Space also presented HS-RW (4x-10x) 80min media and 80min (black top) CDR media:

>>>


14. HP

HP in Cebit 2001

Recorders

HP presented in the Cebit 2001 show the latest 9710i and 9900ci models:

- HP 9710i (16/10/40) CDR-W drive

This is the fastest HP CDR-W drive. It supports 16x writing, 10x re-writing and 40x reading. The drive has the code "C9268A". It has 8MB of buffer (no anti-coaster technology included) and comes with EzCD Creator 4.02/DiretCD 3.01 software and with one HP CD-R media:

>>>

>>>

- HP 9900ci (12/10/32/8) combo CDR-W drive:

This is the first ever HP combo (CDR-W/DVD) drive. It supports 12x writing, 10x re-writing, 32x reading and 8x DVD-ROM reading. The drive's code is "C9629A" and has only(?) 2MB of buffer and comes with EzCD Creator 4.02/DirectCD 3.01 and PowerDVD as the attached software.


15. Infineon: System-on-a-Chip CD/DVD Solution

Infineon Technologies to Show Industry`s First System-on-a-Chip Solution for Multibeam DVD/CD-ROM Drives At CeBIT

Infineon Technologies announced the first complete, single chip, system-on-chip solution for advanced, TrueX® Multibeam®, DVD drives at the CeBIT Conference in Hannover, Germany, March 22-28. The 0.18 micron CMOS single-chip DVD-ROM controller will be in shown in the Afreey, Inc. booth in hall 9 stand D12. Afreey, an optical drive manufacturer, is one of the first customers of Infineon and its development partners, Sanyo and Zen Research. Infineon will formally introduce the chip later this year.

The single chip includes analog front end, digital read channels, error correction code, servo, host interface and high performance DSP/microcontroller. This chip is focused on high-performance in a small form-factor with low power dissipation and offers dual-layer data read functionality in DVD. Infineon's future products to provide super high integration solutions for the optical storage industry will support write-once and fully re-writable functionality in both CD and DVD formats.

The high performance of the drive solution is based on state-of-the-art, Multibeam optical storage technology, which is delivered through a collaboration between three companies: Infineon Technologies, Sanyo and Zen Research. When compared to currently available single beam drives, this multiple-beam optical storage system boasts greater than 200% higher than average throughput. DVD-ROM performance and sustained data rates of 25X DVD (over 34 MBytes/sec) and 100X CD (over 15 MBytes/sec) are expected.

``With combined shipments of DVD-ROM and Combo drives expected to approach 250 million units by 2004 with CAGRs in excess of 70 percent and 155 percent respectively, solutions that increase performance of these drives have the potential to garner serious consideration by most of the major drive manufacturers,'' said Mary Craig, principal analyst at Gartner Dataquest. ``OEMs should be especially attracted to technologies that can enable substantial power savings in portable applications.''

Each company contributed state-of-the-art components and intellectual property to create this breakthrough optical storage system. Sanyo Electric delivered the complete Zen Multibeam(TM) optical pick-up assembly. ``We believe that the DVD Multibeam system is the next step in the development of a new generation of high performance pick-ups from Sanyo,'' said Ryoichi Kawasaki, Sanyo, general manager, Pickup Engineering. ``Infineon, Sanyo and Zen are working closely together to break through the barriers of conventional optical drive design.''

Zen Research, the pioneer in multiple beam technologies and architectures, delivered the key intellectual property required to control and process the multiple beams and the resulting data. Zen silicon designs are centered on a series of parallel processors that implement Zen's unique parallel approach to optical signal processing. A Zen enabled processor design accepts input from a Zen Multibeam optical system to simultaneously process and serialize data read from several tracks of standard CD or DVD media. ``DVD is a major convergence medium and provides an impressive capacity increase over CD,'' said Emil Jachmann, president and CEO of Zen Research. ``But DVD brought no advance in performance; the optical drive remains one of the slowest parts of a PC. Infineon's announcement changes that forever.''

Infineon executed the integration of all required drive control and data processing functions into the chip. This super-high-integration solution, boasting 42 million transistors, performs the Multiple beam data processing, advanced error detection and correction, servo motor control and host interface functions.

The chip integrates seven individual read channel processors to perform the Multibeam signal processing. Also featuring the 100 MHz, 32-bit TriCore(TM) Unified Processor core architecture, this chip performs all bus and memory management functions and controls the ATAPI interface to the host. 192kB of configurable memory supports storage of the read data and operating code and provides on-chip cache. Additionally, the chip supports up to 2MB of external flash and 8MB of external SDRAM for serial data management.

Afreey, Inc., a leading CD and DVD drive manufacturer, is the first company to combine all these elements into the world's highest performance optical storage system. The company's state-of-the-art engineering and manufacturing capabilities are critical in meeting the strict performance requirements for such a design.

The multiple beam approach to illuminating and detecting multiple tracks uses a diffracted laser beam in conjunction with a multiple beam detector array. Light from a conventional laser diode is sent through a diffraction grating that splits the beam into seven discrete beams, spaced evenly to illuminate seven tracks. The seven beams pass through a beam splitting mirror to the objective lens and onto the surface of the disc. Focus and tracking are accomplished with the central beam. Three beams on either side of the center are readable by a detector array as long as the center is on track and in focus.

The reflected beams return via the same path and are directed to the multiple beam detector array by the beam splitter mirror. The detector contains seven discrete detectors spaced to align with seven reflected tracks. Conventional detectors are also provided for focus and tracking.

This design uses a conventional approach for tracking and seeks. Performance is far greater than that of conventional drives while supporting lower, more disc tolerant rotational speeds. This technology is fully compatible with CD and DVD disks designed to be read in single beam storage systems, resulting in higher data read performance.

DVD drives have now reached data transfer rates as high as 16X data, and many in the industry predict that this will be the maximum for single-beam systems, citing rotational instability at high speed as the primary reason for this limit. This first implementation of Multibeam for DVD-ROM is expected to provide 25X data transfer rates.

Thus, performance-sensitive applications such as video games can directly benefit from this level of performance. However, the beauty of the Multibeam solution is that `present industry standard' levels of performance can be achieved at substantially lower power dissipation, due to power savings in the highly integrated electronics and the lower rotation speed of the disk. Portable products can now deliver 16X DVD-ROM performance at substantially lower power dissipation than any existing solution. The obvious result of increased battery-life is a key benefit for these portable systems.

A beneficial by-product of the reduced rotational speed is a drive that has less vibration and inherently quieter operation. These are key benefits to a variety of consumer and computing product concepts now finding their way to market. One clear application of this reduced-vibration drive is in LCD and Plasma Thin Panel computers where all electronics and peripherals are integrated onto the back of the display. The reduced vibration is paramount to ensuring a stable display and positive user experience when accessing the drive.


16. Maxell

Maxell in Cebit 2001

Media

Maxell in the Cebit 2001 show presented a full new series for the DVD recording area among with new high anti-scratch coating CDs:

>>

You will notice in the above picture the "DVD-RW version 1.1". What is this about? There is a new version of the DVD-RW format (1.1) in order to cover some weaknesses of the first version. The main difference is the adoption of the CSS protection. The DVD-RW v1.1 media includes CSS information in order to make the media playable in most DVD players. As you know most DVD players will refuse to play media that doesn't include CSS protection. The new version (1.1) hope to solve this problem.


17. Mitsumi

Mitsumi in Cebit 2001

Recorders

Mitsumi in the Cebit 2001 show presented the CR-4808TE CDR-W drive. It supports 16x writing, 8x re-writing and 40x reading. No other information was available about the drive's price of shipping date...


18. Panasonic ships DVD-R/RAM combo drive

Panasonic ships DVD-R/RAM combo drive

Panasonic presents a further break-through in the DVD technology to the CeBIT with the new LF-D311: It is the first multi-function drive, which controls both a describing and a reading of several times recordable DVD RAMs and from uniquely recordable DVD R-S. The media created thereby fulfill all request of the DVD forum and offer so the 100 percent compatibility not only with DVD ROM drives, but also with DVD video Playern and - to recorders. Thus the LF-D311 strikes a crucial bridge between the computer world and the world of the entertainment electronics. Like that the drive for DVD and SINCE IDIOMS is universally applicable: at home as high performance video recorders and memories for the PC, in the office for economical storing and archiving as well as in studios for professional developing and testing of master DVDs.

15 years experience with optical memory procedures and 3 years with DVD RAM drives into the newest development of Panasonic flowed. Switching between a laser with a wavelength of 650 nanometers (Nm) and one with 780 Nm guarantees highest possible compatibility with the LF-D311: The new DVD RAM/R drive can read and describe both 4,7-Giga-Bytes(GB)-DVD-Rs and 4,7-GB-(9,4-GB-)DVD-RAMs. Even the older 2,6-GB-(5,2-GB-)DVD-RAMs can be processed. The DVD technology has crucial advantages opposite from CD: It offers a higher data security, the capacity is zirka seven times more largely and the rate around a multiple more highly. Only on a DVD a feature in perfect digital quality can be stored.

Additionally and does not only describe the LF-D311 reads DVD RAMs and DVD R-S, but is also read compatible to the formats DVD-ROM, DVD video, DVD-R, audio CD, video CD, CD ROM and CD-R/RW. As CD-Drive it operates at 24x rate.

With 4,7-GB-DVD-Rs the new DVD RAM/R drive achieves a raterate rate of up to 11,08 megabits per second (Mbps). That corresponds zirka the 9x rate from CD-ROMs (1 x). max. to 22.16 Mbps is it with 4,7-GB-DVD-RAMs, with which they exceed the CD zirka around the 8x. The average access times amount to 75 milliseconds (ms) for DVD RAMs and 65 milliseconds for DVD R-S, DVD ROMs and CD.

The DVD-R technology is in the best way for it suitably, important information permanently, surely, to store fast and space-saving for example the data of banks, insurance, attorney offices, hospitals, offices and all dataintensive companies. Nevertheless the information is easily accessible. Finally the most DVD video Player and DVD ROM drives can DVD-Rs read and for the further handling for example on computer fixed disks copy.

DVD RAMs can be again-described up to 100,000 times. They are therefore particularly suitable data carriering for backup copies, to which one would like to fall back regularly. Compared with tapes they offer the advantage of the fast access. Owing to the various application type of the DVD RAM/R drive also its target group is very far varied: Is useful for all private customers and businessmen, who look an extensive and future-reliable DVD solution up both for the video area and for professional storing and archiving of data.

The DVD RAM/R drive LF-D311 is available starting from September 2001 in the trade. Excluding OEM customers can the new DVD RAM drive over the Panasonic Industrial Europe GmbH refer.

Technical data of the Panasonic
4,7GB of DVD RAM/R drive LF-D311

Capacity
4.7/9.4 GB DVD-RAM (rewritable)
2.6/5.2 GB DVD-RAM (rewritable)
4.7 GB DVD-R general use (write once)

Buffer size
1 MB

Interfaces
ATAPI

Write function
22.16 Mbps (max.) 4.7 GB DVD-RAM
11.08 Mbps (max.) 2.6 GB DVD-RAM
11.08 Mbps (max.) 4.7 GB DVD-R (general)

Reading function:
- CD-DA, CD-CRom/xa, photo CD, video CD, D-CExtra CD-R, CD-RW: max. 24x
- DVD-ROM, DVD-R: max. 6 x; DVD-RAM: 4.7 GB 2 x, 2.6 GB 1 x

Average access time
- DVD-RAM: 75 ms
- DVD ROM/R, CD ROM: 65 ms

Raterate rate (IF interface)
- Ultra DMA Mode2: max. 33.3 MB/s
- PIO Mode4: max. 16.6 MB/s

Raterate rate writing and reading
- DVD-RAM (4.7 GB): 2 ,770 KB/s (2x)
- DVD-RAM (2.6 GB): 1,385 KB/s (1x)
- DVD-R (4.7 GB): 1,385 KB/s (1x)

Raterate rate reading
- DVD-ROM: 8,310 KB/s (6 x)
- CD-CRom/cd-r 3,600 KB/s (24 x)
- CD-RW: 1,800 KB/s (12 x)

Current supply: 12 V / 5 V, ± 5 %
Dimensions (B x H x T): 146 x 41.3 x 196 mm
Weight :1.1 kg
Date of delivery: September 2001


19. Pioneer

Pioneer in Cebit 2001

DVD Recorders

Pioneer had a very impressive booth in the Cebit 2001 show. The main product that was showed was the new Pioneer DVR-103 DVD-R/CDR-W drive. This is the first consumer DVD-R drive since the price has dropped down to 1000$. If you expect to grab this drive, you will have to wait again since the demand is very high and the volume of the drives low. For now only MAC users can enjoy DVD-R recording at a low price. The rest of us will have to wait...

>>


20. Plextor

Plextor Cebit 2001 Booth

Plextor's Cebit 2001 booth wasn't as much interesting you might think since nothing new was there. Or not? Actually Plextor introduced a new portable 8x recorder (8x re-writing and 24x reading) with BURN-Proof technology, without any model code. The drive was prototype and was turning around in a glass chamber:

>>>

>>>

The second interesting model was the internal slim line solution for portable CDs. The drive supports 8x writing, 8x re-writing, 24x reading and BURN-Proof. Plextor will not ship a drive with their name upon it since the drive is sold OEM to other manufacturers... Of course the firmware is developing from Plextor so the lucky users who would buy a portable PC with this CDR-W drive inside would not be disappointed :)

------------------- Future plans --------------------

Yes i know what you are thinking. When Plextor will release:

1) The next SCSI CD-Rom/DVD-Rom drive...As it seems never! We had posted that the next SCSI DVD-ROM from Plextor would come in summer but.. Newer information seems to want that unlucky to happen. Possibly the plans about SCSI DVD-ROM are abandoned since already cheap SCSI DVD-ROM solutions, from various manufacturers, are out. A Plextor SCSI DVD-ROM would cost a fortune, for the retail user, compared to the existing solutions. So there

2) The PX-W1610S.As it seems never! I know that most of you waited to buy this drive...Don't. Plextor will NOT release a 16x SCSI CDR-W drive. Those were shocking news for us too :(.

3) A faster than 16x writing recorder. The competition (Ricoh, Yamaha, Sanyo) has already announced/showed faster, than 16x, writing solutions but Plextor hasn't... If you also remember previous Plextor drives never had been announced before the official press release. So even a Plextor 24x/10x/40x recorder with "DVD-options" comes out in June 2001 you will find it from the official press release. :)

Viewer: Hey did you say "DVD options"? What this mean?

CDRINFO: No further comments. Wait till summer 2001 to find out ;)

4) A faster than 12x writing SCSI recorder. Wait till the next generation of Plextor recorders hits the market. Possibly (?) SCSI interface will be supported.

5) A Multi-Level (ML) recorder. Yes we know that Plextor's name was in the official press release for the new format but...Nothing has been announced or mentioned from Plextor in Cebit. Very weird silence we must note.

6) A recorder capable of making working backups for SD2 protected CDs in all CD-ROM/DVD-ROMs...The problem is in the Sanyo chipsets, which Plextor and many other manufacturers uses. So there isn't much that Plextor engineers can do about until a newer Sanyo chipset fix it... Desperate users look for a Philips based solution.

------------------- FAQ --------------------

1) What will happen finally with Plextor PX-40TS? Will it stop selling this summer?

Yes. As we "first" posted, the decision is final. The drive will stop selling this summer in Europe and in bigger timeframe in USA (and Japan).

The real question is: "If I decide to buy the drive NOW will Plextor honour the 2 years guarantee?". Plextor's answer was clear: "Even we decide to stop selling a product we will continue supporting it. This mean service (repair or exchange with a new one), firmware updates etc."

2) Why Plextor USA said that there will be a PX-W1610S? Maybe they know better than you...

The answer is quite simple and can be assumed in few words "..engineers knows better than sales person(s)..".

3) Why Plextor seems to drop the SCSI interface? I want my Plex SCSI recorder now!

Yes we also would like more companies to keep shipping SCSI CDR-W drives. However keep in mind that the development of a certain product takes several months and lot of investment. Since most users are not buying SCSI solutions why one company should continue a long tradition in SCSI models?

We think that it's up to users showing companies if they want SCSI models by buying them! Bigger sales for the SCSI recorders will give companies something to think about changing in their roadmap.


21. Prassi/Veritas

Prassi/Veritas in Cebit 2001

Software

Prassi Europe/Veritas had a small booth in the Cebit 2001 show. Prassi Europe actually didn't have any major new product to demonstrate and only had changed their logo in all Prassi PrimoCD/Plus/Pro builds, in order to comply with the recent merge from Veritas software. As we were told Prassi will not stop developing Prassi PrimoCD series. Instead they said that now they have the human resources and the money to continue developing the Prassi PrimoCD series software. Only time will tell if Prassi become the next major competitor in the race for the best CDR software..


22. Primera

Primera in Cebit 2001

CD Printers

Primera Europe in the Cebit 2001 show presented a new model with the codename "Signature Pro". The new CD printer uses inkjet technology and supports up to 2400dpi printing resolution among with various other improvements:

- 3x-4x times faster printing than previous models - Now supports 2 different cartridges for twice-available colour.


23. Ricoh

Ricoh in Cebit 2001

Ricoh's Cebit 2001 booth was very interesting since it introduced 6 new products to the European audience!

1) DVD+RW/CDR-W combo:

Ricoh at Cebit 2001 show, had working DVD+RW prototype models. The drive was attached to a PC and with the help of a digital camera and the proper software you could write video/data in a DVD+RW disc. Actually first you do the Mpeg2 compression on the fly (software solution by third party) and then with Sonic DVDiT do the authoring (menus with videos or pictures) and of course burn the DVD+RW media. Ricoh demonstrated the compatibility of the DVD+RW format at a portable stand-alone Pioneer DVD player and in PC (with Ricoh's MP9120A combo drive).

The system recognized the DVD+RW media as a normal DVD disc and with the help of any DVD player you can playback the DVD+RW media. The DVD+RW drive has 2 lens in order to be able to write/re-write both CD and DVD+RW media.

In the left picture you can see clearly the 2 lens. The left (dark) is used for the DVD+RW format and the white one (right) for the CD format.

The actual writing speed of DVD+RW is 2.5x. That means a full 4.7GB DVD+RW disc would need around an hour to be fully written. The DVD+RW media would be able to re-write more than 1000 times. We didn't tell the exact number.

Also you should expect higher DVD+RW media capacity up to 15GB to come in 2002. There are some thoughts supporting DVD-RW writing (like Sony). The drive also supports 12x writing, 10x re-writing, 32x reading and 8x DVD-ROM reading (and of course "JustLink" - Ricoh's anti-coaster technology). The drive's code name (maybe MP9320A?) wasn't available since the drives of the show were prototypes. Last you should expect the drive around October/November 2001 hitting the market.

2) Ricoh MP7200DP

MP7200DP is Ricoh's answer to the competition from Yamaha and Sanyo. The drive supports 20x writing (partial CAV), 10x re-writing and 40x reading. Both Yamaha 2200E and Ricoh MP7200E have the exact same writing/re-writing specs but the Ricoh drive has "only" 2MB of Buffer.

This drive also uses partial CAV writing which is very well covered in the press release: "...Even if 20x writing is specified, writing is performed at 16x speed at the area 5 to 10minutes from the inner circumference of the disc):

>>

Ricoh said that the MP7200DP will come much faster in the market than the Yamaha,Sanyo based recorders (end of April). We will have to wait and see if that would become true. Last the drive's price wasn't announced.

 

3) Ricoh MP8080MPU

Ricoh enters also the portable recorder arena with a very good looking recorder called "MP8080MPU" CDR-W. The drive supports 8x writing, 4x re-writing and 24x reading and has silver-look appearance. The drive has 2 interface connections: USB and PCMCIA card. With USB interface you can have only 4x writing and with PCMCIA 8x writing.

We assume that the drive will not have "JustLink" technology since nothing was mentioned in the product specifications. This drive is a direct competitor of Plextor's portable solutions.

4) Ricoh 24x certified CDR media

The demand for high-speed writing certified media is very high due to coming of 20x and 24x CDR-W drives. Ricoh has already the answer for the higher writing speeds up to 24x with certified media in both 74 and 80min capacities.

5) Ricoh MP7163ADP

The drive supports 16x writing, 10 re-writing and only 32x writing speed. No other information was posted in Ricoh's booth but we assume that the drive will have 2 MB of buffer among with "JustLink" anti-coaster technology. If you still wondering why this drive is also published ,since there is a faster drive of Ricoh the answer is "price". The MP7163DP would be much cheaper than the faster MP7200DP. The drive also will be used as OEM for other manufacturers (like in case of ASUS)!

>>>

6) Ricoh RW8080A

This is the latest internal slim CDR-W drive from Ricoh. The drive has only 7mm height and supports 8x writing, 4x re-writing and 24x reading. The drive is manufactured only for OEM use in notebooks (5V single power)! No information was given if the drive supports "JustLink" or not.


24. Ritek

Ritek in Cebit 2001

Media

Ritek in the Cebit 2001 show presented many interesting shaped CDs among with a new type of media called "Semi-CD" and "Semi-DVD". If you click in the left picture you will see more clearly the "Semi-CD" media. As we understand the media is full sized (12cm) but the recordable part is up to 8cm (around to 200mb). The rest part from 8cm >> 12cm is see through visible.

Ritek also presented mini DVD media and DVD-Video 5, DVD-Video-9 and DVD-Video-10 media.

 

>>>


25. Seiko

Seiko Precision in Cebit 2001

CD Printers

Seiko Precision in the Cebit 2001 show presented a new CD-printer model with the codename "4000" series. We didn't found much information about the new model and the only sheet page was in German language :(


26. SKC

SKC in Cebit 2001

Media

SKC presented 20x and 24x CDR certified media for general use. Also presented a "Violet CD-R", its surface has violet colour, 4-10x HS-RW media, printable CDR media and a series of business cards available also in printable format. Last there was 8cm CD-R and of course DVD-R for authoring.

>>>>

>> >>

>>>>>

>>>>


27. Sony

Sony in Cebit 2001

Recorders

Sony in the Cebit 2001 show presented mainly the latest CRX-200E DDCD CDR-W drive, which supports up to 1.3GB DDCD media. Sony had a CRX-200E connected to a PC and with Prassi PrimoCD demonstrated the DDCD features. The retail packages as we were told will come with WinOnCD as the main recording software and with Prassi PrimoCD (only for France).

Of course Sony have already produced DDCD CD-R/RW media for using with the new DDCD recorder. The drive is expected to ship in Europe in early May.

>>


28. TDK (1)

TDK in Cebit 2001 - Page 1

Recorders

TDK had a big booth in Cebit 2001 presenting mostly the new line of media among with the whole series of CD recorders among with the new "ML" multi-level recording.

- TDK CyClone 241040:

This is the fastest TDK CDR-W drive and supports 24x writing (Zone-CLV), 10x re-writing and 40x reading. The drive supports "BURN-Proof 2" and based upon Sanyo CRD-BP1500P. You should expect it at May/June 2001 at a price of 360Euro. Attached CDR Software would be Nero 5.5 OEM and TDK's Digital MixMaster (the demo version we watched was very impressive).

- TDK ML Recorder:

The drive seemed like a normal CyClone drive with a different green "colour" logo, in the front, and a colour label with the "TDK-AI-CDRW-ML-X" code name upon it. The idea behind MultiLevel recording seems very nice since it can multiple by X 3 times the capacity of the current CD/DVD media without special modifications (at least according to TDK). TDK is a special presentation showed that the "ML" recording is possible with a very big prototype machine to various other manufactures...

How it works exactly? If we understood correctly, the "ML" technology allows 3 shades of light in the same area, in which with the normal CD/DVD recording you will have only one. That means in the same space you can fit more data ( X 3 times) recorded in the same time! So a 12x CDR-W drive will become a 36x "ML CDR-W" drive and write up to 2GB in 6minutes (at 36x writing speed). The same principal goes on for 16x CDR-W drive - 48x (=3*16x) ML CDR-W drives and so on...

TDK said that this technology could be applied in the DVD area. For example the 4.7GB DVD-R media can jump up to 14.1GB (=4.7*3) if the "ML" recording adopted from manufacturers. TDK said that this would be possible without changing the pickups or the laser. You will have to add another extra IC chipset for the math calculations. That means the price of the "ML" recorder would be slight higher than the normal CDR-W drive (10-20%). However engineers from other companies said that you will have to change laser and pickup for adopting "ML" recoding...

What about the media? The TDK showed both "CD-R2GB" and "CD-RW2GB" media. According to the TDK "...ML discs maintain the cost-per-megabyte efficiencies of conventional CD-R and CD-RW discs and ML drives retain backward compatibility with conventional CD-R/RW recording, enabling users to keep CD's universal compatibility when so desired...":

>>

- TDK CyClone 161040 external:

TDK will ship a new external 16x writer based upon the successful TDK 161040 model for the users who wish a reliable full size portable solution. The drive supports 16x writing, 10x re-writing and 40x reading. The drive will support FireWire and USB 2.0 interface and will ship around Q2 of 2001.

>>>

- TDK CyClone 8824:

This is the first TDK external slim CDR-W drive. The drive supports 8x writing, 8x re-writing and 24x reading. The "BURN-Proof 2" is used to avoid buffer underrun errors and the connecting interfaces would be FireWire and USB 2.0. It expected to arrive in the market around Q3 of 2001.

The drive seems to be based upon Plextor's portable solution (not 100% sure about this).

- TDK CyClone 121024:

This is another external half height TDK recorder. The drive supports 12x writing, 10x re-writing, 24x reading and has "BURN-Proof 2" to avoid buffer underruns. The design of the drive seems very impressive with the usual blue and grey colours which TDK drives use.

- TDK 121032:

This is the entry-level recorder for the amateur user since it will have a very attractive price among with interesting features: 12x writing, 10x re-writing, 32x reading and "JustLink" anti-coaster technology. The interface still remains ATAPI and seems based upon Ricoh MP7125A, which already we have tested.


29. TDK (2)

TDK in Cebit 2001 - Page 2

Media

TDK presented in Cebit 2001 a new series of DVD-R, colourful CDR media and mini 3" CDs (used for portable Mp3 CD players). Note that TDK haven't still presented 24x compatible media since it is still developing. However TDK's 24x media would be available when the CyClone 24x writer would be out in May/June 2001.

TDK is not supporting the DVD+RW format. Why? The answer seems to be that the DVD+RW format hasn't come from the DVD-Forum and that it is closed (companies must pay for getting the licences in order to support it). However if the DVD+RW format becomes the next major DVD Re-Writing standard TDK will support it:

DVD-RW media >>DVD-RW Video Media

DVD-R 4.7GB media >>

>>


30. New super high capacity CD technology
New super high capacity CD technology offers dramatic advantages for video recording, portable audio and data backup applications

Ability of multilevel technology to Triple Capacity and Write Speed of CD-RW drives offers PC and CE manufacturers cost-effective new storage options for Desktop, Convergence and Portable Products

CeBIT 22nd March 2001 - With its ability to store 2 GB of data on a 120mm disc or 650 MB on a tiny 80mm ML disc, MultiLevel Recording is a key enabling technology for PC and CE manufacturers seeking low-cost, high-density storage in a broad range of desktop and portable products. That's the message that TDK and Calimetrics are bringing to CeBIT, as the two companies demonstrate the benefits of ML technology, which transforms familiar CD-RW drives into super high capacity/super fast drives with the addition of a single ML IC. TDK and Calimetrics are the founding members of an industry-wide alliance of companies supporting ML technology.

The high capacity and low cost of ML media and drives give the consumer electronics industry an important new storage alternative for future video, audio and digital imaging applications. As an option for A/V recording systems, such as archiving content from a personal video recorder's hard drive or for recording Internet-delivered program material, a 2 Gbyte 120mm ML disc is an extremely attractive personal-use storage solution. With it's transfer rate of 5.4 Mbyte per second ML is as well an ideal tool for archiving desktop and server data on a 120 mm 2Gbyte ML disc with an reliable and easy to use CD-RW writer instead of a complicated tape streamer.

ML technology 80mm discs outperform the capacity of a standard 64 MB Flash memory card by 10 times and allows 650 Mbyte of music, photographs or data to be stored on a tiny 80mm disc. ML could be used in a megapixel camera with an built-in 80 mm ML disc drive, that records around 660 high-quality images on a 650 Mbyte ML disc. Or an MP3/CD player, which could deliver about four hours of music on a 60 mm ML disc (approx. 200 Mbyte). A typical handheld video recorder could put approximately 3 hours of high-quality MPEG-4 video on the 650 Mbyte of a 80 mm ML CD-R.

The dramatic gains in capacity and speed offered by the new ML format makes it the ideal bridge to the future optical disc formats. ML drives will be very competitively priced at just a little more than CD-R/RW drives because the technology is IC-based. Hardware manufacturers can add ML capability to their CD-R/RW drives without altering existing optics, mechanics or manufacturing infrastructure. From a media perspective, ML discs maintain the cost-per-megabyte efficiencies of conventional CD-R and CD-RW discs and ML drives retain backward compatibility with conventional CD-R/RW recording, enabling users to keep CD's universal compatibility when so desired.

TDK and Calimetrics, Inc., the prime developer of MultiLevel Recording technology, have formed the ML technology alliance to apply Calimetrics' MultiLevel Recordingä (ML) technology to create a new high-speed/high-capacity recordable and rewritable optical disc format based on the familiar and inexpensive CD-R/RW platform.

In addition to TDK and Calimetrics, members of the ML alliance include: Sanyo Semiconductor, a leading manufacturer of controller chipsets used by many CD-RW drive manufacturers; Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, a leading maker of CD-RW media, sold under the Verbatim and Mitsubishi brands; and Plextor, a leading manufacturer of high-performance CD-R/RW drives. TDK has established a dialogue with leading CD-R/RW drive manufacturers such as Yamaha Corporation and the Optical device division of Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd about joining the ML alliance.

ML is not envisaged as a replacement for recordable DVD drives. The ML format is a bridge to the era of recordable DVD. For the next several years, however, there will be a tremendous demand in the market for a format that extends and enhances CD storage, speed and value. MultiLevel Recording technology can be transferred to the DVD platform, where it will offer similar gains in recording capacity and write speed.
Products

TDK intends to introduce internal and external ML drives and media to the market later this year. The drives will be available with various connectivity solutions such as ATAPI on the internal drive and IEEE1394 (FireWire) and USB2.0 on the external devices. The new write-once disc will offer the highest transfer rate at the lowest cost per Mbyte of any random-access removable storage media.


31. High-speed CyClone 24/10/40 from TDK
The world's fastest CD writer: the high-speed CyClone 24/10/40 from TDK

CeBIT, 22nd March 2001 - With its new high-speed "CyClone 24/10/40", TDK once more underlines its position as one of Europe's leading manufacturers of premium-class CD technology. This version of the CyClone is the fastest internal IDE CD?R/RW writer worldwide. And it features top-rank performance data. The CyClone's maximum reading speed for CD media is 40X and for CD-R media 24X and CD-RW media up to 10X.

This new version of the TDK CyClone CD-R/RW, just like it's predecessor, the CyClone 16/10/40, outperforms its competitors by the sheer strength of its technical detail. It is one of the first drives to incorporate the latest BURN-Proof generation: BURN-Proof 2.

BURN-Proof 2 includes not only the now familiar BURN-Proof features but also "shockproof operation" and a system for preventing the "link blocks" previously caused by interruptions to writing when using BURN-Proof. BURN-Proof 2 avoids the "buffer underrun error" caused by an "empty" data buffer. It does so by means of a controller which, throughout the write process, continuously monitors the status of the data buffer. If the available data drops below 10 percent of the total buffer capacity, the controller initiates a controlled interrupt to the writing process and sets a write marker. New data is then loaded to the cache and the laser is repositioned. The drive synchronizes the data already written with the new data in the buffer and repositions the laser "behind" the sector most recently written.

BURN-Proof 2 also avoids the usual scenario in which CD writing completely locks up your PC. It ensures instead that, throughout the write process, your PC remains fully operational and available for other applications. Even relatively low-power computers, with TDK CyClone, can thus make high-speed recordings to a CD-R.

The CyClone is supplied together with "Nero", a software package excellently tuned to support BURN-Proof technology. Nero enables the user to process an MS-WORD document or to copy files while copying a CD at 24x speed at the same time. Further, the software bundle that comes with CyClone includes Digital MixMaster and the InCD packet writing program from TDK. Accessories included are the User Manual, the necessary cabling and installation fixtures, one CD-R Reflex Ultra, and one high-speed CD-RW.

TDK provides a one-year warranty on its CD-R/RW burner and offers access to a free telephone support service. The drive will be available from specialist shops and dealers from June 2001 onward at a price of about 700 German Marks / 360 euros.


32. TEAC

TEAC in Cebit 2001

Recorders

TEAC in the Cebit 2001 show presented mainly the latest CD-W516E CDR-W, which supports 16x writing , 10x re-writing and 40x reading.

- TEAC CD-W516E CDR-W drive:

Product Features:

Performance: 16x writing, 10x re-writing, 40x reading
Access Time: 85ms
Transfer Rate: max: 2.4MB/S write / max: 1.5MB/S rewrite
Buffer Size: 2MB
Interface: ATAPI/IDE
Compatibility: CD-DA, CD-I, Video-CD, CD-ROM-XA, CD-PLUS, Enhanced-CD, Photo-CD, CD-RW
Recording mode: Disk-at-Once, Track-at-Once, Multisession, Incremental, Packet Writing
MTBF: 100.000h!!!

- TEAC CD-210PU slim-line portable CD-ROM drive:

This is new model from TEAC for portable users. The interface is PCMCIA and supports up to 10x reading.

Product Features:

Performance: 10x
Transfer Rate: max: 1.5MB/S
Interface: USB
Power Consumption: < 500mA
Shock: operating: 5G (max), Non-operating: 100G (max)
MTBF: 50.000h

>>

Autoloaders/CD-Printers:

TEAC presented in the Cebit 2001 show a new autoloader/CD printer, which looks exactly with the Primera Composer/Signature III we already have tested. The machine actually is an OEM version of both Primera's Composer/Signature III models:

Duplication Towers

TEAC demonstrated in their booth 2 duplication towers:

- CD-R Dupli 4:

This is a full duplication tower, which supports 4 12x CDR-W drives and one 32x SCSI CD-ROM.

Product Features:

4 CD-Writers: CD-W512S
Performance: 32x read / 12x write / 10x re-write
CD-R speed: 650MB appr. 8min
Access time: 150ms (average)
Tranfer Rate: 3.6mb/s (max) read / 1.2mb/s write / 1.2mb/s re-write
Buffer Size: 4MB
Interface: SCSI-2

CD-ROM: 32x SCSI
Performance: 32x read
Access time: 165ms (average)
Tranfer Rate: max. 4.8mb/s
Interface: SCSI-2
Disc Loading: Motorized Tray
MTBF: 30.000h
Safety Standard: CE

>>

- CS Single 12

This is a small duplication unit since it supports only one 12x CDR-W and one 32x SCSI CD-ROM.

Product Features:

CD-Writer: CD-W512S
Performance: 32x read / 12x write / 10x re-write
CD-R speed: 650MB appr. 8min
Access time: 150ms (average)
Tranfer Rate: 3.6mb/s (max) read / 1.2mb/s write / 1.2mb/s re-write
Buffer Size: 4MB
Interface: SCSI-2

CD-ROM: 32x SCSI
Performance: 32x read
Access time: 165ms (average)
Tranfer Rate: max. 4.8mb/s
Interface: SCSI-2
Disc Loading: Motorized Tray
MTBF: 30.000h
Safety Standard: CE


33. Verbatim

Verbatim in Cebit 2001

Recorders / Media

Verbatim in the Cebit 2001 show presented many new media for all CD and DVD writing/re-writing platforms and a new CDR-W drive (12/10/32). As it seems Verbatim plans to enter the CD recording area with big plans since already after Cebit a 16/10/40 CDR-W drive was also announced.

 

- CD Platform

Verbatim presented:

- HS-RW 80min media
- 24x certified CDR media
- 1.3GB DDCD CD-R/RW media.
- Colourful CDs CDs (probably in package of 10)

>>>

>>>

- DVD Platform

Verbatim supports all DVD platforms (DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD+RW):

>>


34. Waitec

Waitec in Cebit 2001

Recorders

Waitec in the Cebit 2001 show presented 2 interesting new models. The already known "MEGALUS" and a DVD+RW drive (prototype).

- Waitec MEGALUS 241040 CDR-W drive:

This is the fastest Waitec CDR-W from Waitec and will come in June of 2001:

Product Features:
Interface: SCSI-3 (8-bit narrow bus) and Eide/ATAPI
Transfer Rate: 20 Mbytes/s
Mean random seek time: 130ms
Reading speed: 40x CAV
Writing speed: CD-R media 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, 12x, 16x CLV, 16x-24x Z-CLV
Re-writing speed: 2x, 4x, 8x, 10x, 12x CLV, 4x-10x Z-CLV
Application Disc: CD-ROM mode 1, CD-ROM XA mode 2 form 1, mode 2 form 2, CD-DA, Photo CD single session and multi-session, CD-I, CD-G, CD-TEXT
Disc diameter: 12 cm , 8 cm
Storage capacity: 12 cm : 656 MB (mode 1), 748 MB (mode 2) / 8 cm : 185 MB
Loader : Tray loader
OS compatibility : Windows 95/98/ME/NT 4.0/2000 - MAC 8.5
Quality/Reliability: 30,000 POH
BURN-Proof 2 Technology
Certified as Multi-read
Upgradeable firmware (flash memory)
2 MB Buffer

- Waitec DVD+RW drive:

No much information was given about the Waitec DVD+RW drive but you should expect it after this summer.


35. Yamaha

Yamaha in Cebit 2001

As it was expected Yamaha presented in the Cebit 2001 show their newest CRW2200 series. There was at least 5 CRW2200 drives (either in glass chambers or installed in PCs) and there were people from Ahead, which presented both Nero 5.5 and NeroMAX (for MAC) since Yamaha CRW2200 series come with Nero 5.5! The drive will come in May of 2001 first at internal ATAPI (and SCSI) and in external SCSI/Firewire/USB 2.0 versions.

As you may have noticed from the press release of Yamaha CRW2200 the drive supports 20x writing partial - 16x writing in start and increasing up to 20x around 15mins. Why Yamaha chosen again this solution? Well the explanation is simple according to Yamaha "....Most current CD-Roms/DVD-Roms in starts reading at maximum 16x-17x. Since they are using CAV technology the reading speed increases as long the time passes. Also the vibrations for a drive rotating at 20x are very high and will cause shorter life of the recorder mechanisms. That is why Yamaha uses Partial CAV as their writing technology..." What the competition does? Follows the same practise. No other manufacturer offering a "CLV" writing solution above 16x. :)

Another interesting feature is the "Optimal Write Speed" feature. The Yamaha CRW2200 keeps looking the quality of the CD every sec. Let's say that we set the writing speed at 20x. The quality of the media is not very good after a certain point. The Yamaha CRW2200 can detect the problem and lower the recording speed to 16x, 12x or 8x as long the quality of the produced CD is in what the specifications order. If the drive decides that the quality of the media is in normal levels it will speed up the writing speed to from 12x to 20x! Also the included 8MB of buffer according to Yamaha reduces the need of "SafeBurn" technology which makes the final CD more reliable. Last the drive supports real 10x CLV re-writing and 4x-10x (full CAV), which according to Yamaha is faster in packet writing.

Here you can see the first real life picture about the CRW 2200 specifications:

The picture is in German language but you will understand the important features: 20x writing (3000kb/s) , Firmware 0.88beta (since the drive is still evolving), supports overburn, DAO , Simulation, CD-Text and 8MB of buffer. For the new drive 2 more options are available in Nero 5.5: "Buffer Underrun Protection" and "Optimal Write Speed". We told that the drive would support DAO-RAW reading/writing - no information if the drive supports SD2 backups yet....

The first option feature (Buffer Underrun Protection) is there to avoid buffer underruns. The technology comes from OAK Technology (1chip) and Yamaha (2 chips) and with the included 8MB of Buffer will supposed to produce perfect CDs. Yamaha said that their technology (SafeBURN) produces 0 gap length! (not yet 100% confirmed). What about the media? Where is above 16x certified media? For the testing proposes Yamaha used both Verbatim 16x and 24x certified media:

>>>

--------- Future Plans ---------

Yamaha has many plans for the future. For sure there would be faster recorders (above 20x) to reach the competition from Sanyo and Plextor (24x) based in the same partial CAV writing principal.

There are also some plans for MultiLever recorder from Yamaha as the TDK's press release states: "...TDK has established a dialogue with leading CD-R/RW drive manufacturers such as Yamaha Corporation and the Optical device division of Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd about joining the ML alliance..."


36. Yamaha Combines Speed and Stability in New CD-R/RW drives

Yamaha Combines Speed and Stability in New CD-R/RW drives

New CRW2200 series offers world's first 20X write, 10X rewrite, and 40X read speeds - CRW2200 with SafeBurn™ to be demonstrated at CeBit 2001--

Rellingen, March 19, 2001 - Yamaha Corporation, an established leader in digital audio, today unveiled the world's fastest series of CD-R/RW drives, the CRW2200, that promises greater recording stability, efficiency and ease of use.

The CRW2200, equipped with SafeBurn™ for enhanced buffer underrun protection, will make its debut at the opening of the high-technology tradeshow CeBIT 2001, being held in Hannover, Germany, from March 22 to March 28.

Yamaha is presenting five models in the CRW2200 series and the first, the CRW2200E (internal ATAPI), will become available worldwide from the second quarter of 2001.

20X writing, 10X rewriting, 40X reading and audio ripping

To develop the CRW2200 series of drives Yamaha built upon the success of the CRW2100 series launched last October, and significantly increased maximum recording speed to 20X while retaining many of the forerunner's excellent features. Among these is the incorporation of Partial CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) recording to ensure high-quality recording even at high speeds.

The result is a series of superbly engineered drives that can shorten the writing time by up to 14% compared with CRW2100 series.

"With our CRW2200 series we have not compromised quality for speed," says Masami Takeuchi, General Manager of Yamaha's IT Sales & Marketing Division. "By adopting Partial CAV we can promise a constant and controlled rotation speed during data writes to the inner tracks on the disc. This reduces vibration that corrupts quality," he explains.

In addition to employing conventional CLV at 2X, 4X, 8X, and 10X in rewriting mode, the CRW2200 also supports the 4X-10X CAV mode. This permits high-speed random writing/reading of data and realizes floppy disk-like ease of operation using packet writing.

CRW2200 series drives also feature a CD-ROM read speed of up to 40X with CAV, expediting the reading of digital audio discs at up to 40X and the extraction of a 74-minute audio CD in about three minutes.

SafeBurn™ features ensure stability and ease of use

CRW2200 series drives are equipped with SafeBurn™ features so that all users - whether professional or novice - can have greater confidence in the final recorded result. SafeBurn™ incorporates Buffer Underrun Protection, generous 8MB buffer memory and Optimum Write Speed Control to make for an easier and more stable and efficient CD-recording experience.

The Buffer Underrun Protection packaged in SafeBurn™ frees users from the inconveniences associated with buffer underrun errors by completely eliminating them. With SafeBurn™, if data transfer is delayed and memory in the buffer drops to a critical level, recording is suspended until the buffer has regained sufficient memory, after which the recording restarts virtually seamlessly from the point at which it was suspended. Buffer Underrun Protection in the new CRW2200 series drives employs Oak Technology's buffer underrun protection method in the DSP and is integrated with Yamaha's own chips to achieve the highest accuracy of highest level of data continuity possible .

Although Buffer Underrun Protection prevents buffer underrun errors, the frequent activation of the system would normally extend the time required for the completion of disc writing. The CRW2200 is equipped with an 8MB buffer memory--two to four times larger than that of its competitors--to ensure stable and efficient recording, and to minimize the incidence of suspension of recording by buffer underrun.

The Optimum Write Speed Control function that automatically adjusts writing speed to the optimum level for each kind of disc, removes user concerns about recording speeds and the CD-R disc's compatibility. Simply by setting the writing speed at 20X, the CRW2200 checks the characteristics and conditions of the inserted disc and automatically selects the maximum optimum writing speed for the disc to ensure data reliability when the disc is read back by CD-ROM drives or CD players. Here again, Partial CAV permits greater flexibility in speed selection in the 12X-20X speed range, considerably enhancing recording efficiency.

High quality writing

High quality as well as high speed writing is ensured with the CRW2200 by the incorporation of Yamaha's proprietary Pure Phase Laser System™ that stabilizes laser power and eliminates unwanted reflections and glare produced when recording a CD, resulting in more accurate recording.

CRW2200 series drives also incorporate features that ensure reliable recording onto a wide range of media, such as Running Optimum Power Calibration (ROPC) to ensure that optimum laser output power is adjusted for each disc.

Wide variety of models

The CRW2200 series features five models to meet users' needs: CRW2200E (internal ATAPI), CRW2200S (internal SCSI-3), CRW2200SX (external SCSI-3), CRW2100IX (external IEEE1394), and CRW2200UX (external USB2.0). The CRW2200E will become available worldwide during the second quarter of 2001 and the release of other models will follow.



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