Pioneer today announced the BDR-206MBK, the world's first Pioneer BDXL Blu-ray disc burner for PCs. The BDR-206MBK is able to burn and read 3-layer and 4-layer BD-R XL (100GB and 128GB) and 3-layer BD-RE XL (100GB) discs at 2X/4X and and 2X speeds, respectively.

The drive is aldo compatible with the Blu-ray 3D format and of course is also capable of writing on BD-Rs (6X), BD-R DL (6X), BD-R LtH (6X), BD-RE SL /DL at 2x, DVD recordables (SL / DL) at 8X max, DVD-RW at 6X, DVD+RW at 8X, DVD-RAM at 5X and CD-R/RW at 24X.

The drive has 4MB of buffer onboard and also features Pioneer's dustproof structure, Pioneer's Disc-Resonance Stabiliser technology, the PowerRead and the PureRead 2 functions.

The drive's dustproof structure keeps dust away from the internal of the drive's case. Pioneer's Disc-Resonance Stabiliser technology controls the airflow generated by disc rotation in order to minimize disc warping, which can occur when media rotates at high speed. In addition, the airflow within the unit has been improved, enabling air to easily circulate around the internal chassis, reducing noise caused by the build-up of air. Finally, the drive's design prevents the escape of air, especially through the front bezel, that can create significant amounts of background noise.

There is a difference between how AV and PC handle discs that are difficult to read. In a standard PC environment, DVD-Video is treated as 1 type of data; therefore, if a section is deemed unreadable, playback will stop. With PowerRead, the user-experience is similar to the AV side, making it possible to play the remainder of the disc. Note that with PowerRead, unreadable DVD or Blu-ray disc contents remain unreadable. PowerRead skips to the next readable address. PowerRead can be used for BD/DVD media that have been recorded in the BDMV/BDAV and DVD video/VR formats.

In addition, the drive features the "PURE READ 2" function, to compensate the digital noise introduced when a scratched or dusty audio CD is reproduced. The idea behind PURE READ is to try and correct damaged sectors, which are read from the Audio-CD. The feature re-reads damaged sectors to see if it can recover them. When these damaged sectors are read in a normal scenario, the sector may well be read without any serious error, but sometimes pops or crackles can be heard in the final ripped file. When a sector that is difficult to read is detected, the laser tries to re-read the damaged sector. Not just re-reading the sector, but the drive will actually adjust its read parameters (I.E. higher or lower laser power and the angle of the laser beam are adjusted) to try and get the best possible read-back from that damaged sector. An algorithm calculates the "best" or "average" result it achieves, and that information (I.E. the best-possible result) is then used as part of the final file.

The drive will be available in Japan with a complete set of software. The PowerDVD10 (CyberLink Corp.) software supports playback of BD/DVD/CD and Blu-ray 3D.

PowerProducer v5 (CyberLink) supports creation of BD-MV and AVCHD video discs, Power2Go v7 supports the PURE READ feature as well as BDXL burning. Other software bundled with the drive include Cyberlink's InstantBurn v5 for packet writing, PowerBackup v2, Medi @ Show 5, LabelPrint v2 for disc labelling and finally Pioneer's BD drive utility for adjusting the drive's reading speed when reading damaged audio CDs.

The SATA BDR-206MBK drive will be available in Japan in the middle of November for about 30,000 JYen ($371).

Specifications

Discs compatible for burning	BD	BD-R (Single / Dual / Triple (BD-R XL)/ Quadruple layer (BD-R XL)) BD-RE (Single / Dual / Triple layer (BD-RE XL))
	DVD	DVD-R , DVD-R DL, DVD-RW, DVD + R, DVD + R DL, DVD + RW DVD + RW, DVD-RAM
	CD	CD-R, CD-RW, HS CD-RW, US CD-RW, US + CD-RW
Discs compatible for playing	BD	BD-ROM (Single / Dual layer), BD-R (Single / Dual / Triple / Quadruple layer), BD-RE (Single / Dual / Triple layer)
	DVD	DVD-ROM (Single / Dual layer), DVD-Video, DVD-R, DVD-R DL, DVD-RW DVD + R, DVD + R DL, DVD + RW, DVD-RAM
	CD	CD-ROM (Mode 1 & 2), CD-ROM XA, Photo CD (Single / Multi-session) Video CD, CD-DA, CD-Extra, CD-R, CD-RW
Interface	Serial ATA Revision 2.6
Write speeds	BD	-R	2x, 4x, 6x
		-R DL	2x, 4x
		-R Triple layer	2x, 4x, 6x
		-R Quad Layer	2x, 4x
		-R (LtH)	2x, 4x, 6x
		-RE	2x
		-RE DL	2x
		-RE TL	2x
	DVD	-R	1x, 2x, 4x, 6x, 8x
		-R DL	2x, 4x, 6x, 8x
		-RW	1x, 2x, 4x, 6x
		+R	2.4x, 4x, 6x, 8x
		+R DL	2.4x, 4x, 6x, 8x
		+RW	2.4x, 4x, 6x, 8x
		-RAM	2x, 3x, 5x
	CD	-R	4x, 10x, 16x, 24x
		-RW	4x, 10x, 16x, 24x
Read Speed	BD-ROM (single layer)		6x Max
	BD-ROM (double layer)		6x Max
	DVD-ROM (single layer)		8x Max
	DVD-ROM (double layer)		8x Max
	CD-ROM		24x
Buffer size	4MB
Installation position	Horizontal / Vertical
Dimensions and weight	148 mm x 42.3 mm x 180 mm (W x H x D) 750 g