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TSST Korea (Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Corporation) announced that it has completed the technical development of its Blu-ray disc drives. These offer a storage capacity up to 25GB at a single layer disc.

In the Blu-ray drive, the blue laser is the core factor that enables the next-generation optical disc format. Current DVDs use a red laser (650nm) to read and write data, while Blu-ray and HD DVD use a shorter-wavelength blue laser (405nm). As a result, the Blu-ray beam can focus more precisely, enabling it to read information recorded in pits that are only 0.16 microns long, which is more than twice as small as the pits on a DVD. Also, the smaller pit length allows for the storing of up to 25GB in a single layer disc -- about five times more than can be stored on a standard DVD disc.

The enhanced design that was first incorporated into Samsung's External DVD Writer is being adapted to the Blu-ray Drive as well. Samsung's Blu-ray Drive has the sophisticated black and silver color design of a high-end A/V product that would look perfect even in a living room. Blu-ray offers 50GB of storage capacity on a double-layer disc (25GB on a single-layer disc). A single-layer Blu-ray disc can hold 25GB, which can be used to record over 2 hours of HDTV or more than 13 hours of standard-definition TV. There are also dual-layer versions of the discs that can hold 50GB.

Like all the other Samsung ODD Drives, the Blu-ray drive is eco-friendly and supports Firmware Live Updates that allow users to ensure they always have the latest Blu-ray firmware version. Samsung Electronics is a member of the Blu-ray Association and will launch internal and external Blu-ray drives simultaneously in 2006 under the Samsung brand through the Samsung Electronics distribution channel.

www.samsung.com