Samsung

Samsung "dominated" in Hall 21 with one of the largest booths we have ever seen at CeBIT. The Korean giant demonstrated new TFT and LCD monitors as well as the first working stand-alone Blu-Ray recorder and Blu-Ray player.

In the picture below you see the BD-R1000 Blu-Ray DVD recorder:

Samsung is currently supporting the Blu-Ray group. According to company representatives, Samsung has followed the strategy of entering the "Blue" laser market by directly introducing a recording device, in order to fulfill the upcoming market demand for storing data/movies, at high volumes and capacities.

Entering the market with a -ROM (player) Blu-Ray device would not be a wise decision, according to Samsung. The case is very different than it was in the past, where releasing a reader first, was the normal way to proceed.

Commenting on the HD-DVD format, Samsung said that it has the sufficient resources to additionally support it in the near future. Current target of the company is to be ready for a super-combo recorder, capable of recording on both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD media.

Such a project would be the solution everybody needs, in order to avoid the confusion of different formats . However, the development of such a device and the hardware requirements would possibly make it expensive, at least in the beginning.

The price of the BD-R1000 has not yet been decided. Availability is expected in Q3 for the US market initially, where the demand for storing High Definition content is higher.

Below you can see the loading tray of the recorder. Although the initial idea of the cartridge for the Blu-ray discs has been rejected, the recorder is able to suppport both bare and cartriged discs.

TDK hard-coated media could not be missing from the Blu-Ray stand:

Click to enlarge

The BD-R1000 is "powered" by a Sony Blu-Ray chipset. As for the BD Pick-up unit, it currently uses a dual-laser set, in order to be backward compatible with red laser media (CD/DVD). A single-lense set is planned for the next model.

The BD-P1000 Blue-Ray player is ready and will playback your HDMV content:

For PC use, Samsung plans to release the SH-B022A blu-Ray Disc recorder. Available in 2006, the drive will offer 2x BD-R/RW, 2x BD-ROM and is compatible with CD/DVD media for read and record.

In addition, Samsung released new external DVD burners, with an updated and stylish design.

The front bezel has also changed. All the logos are now placed on the tray: