Samsung releases its first dual-function Blu-ray drive

Samsung Electronics Co. announced its first dual-function internal Blu-ray disc player, the SH-B083 Combo, which reads Blu-ray discs and reads and writes to CD and DVD format discs.

The Samsung Blu-ray disc drive for PCs is available with capacities of up to 25GB for a single-layer disc and 50GB for a double-layer disc. The Blu-ray drive reads BD-R and BD-ROMs at up to 8x speeds. The drive also reads CDs at up to 40x and DVDs at up to 16x.

The SH-B083 will be available in November in the U.S. through retailers like Amazon.com and NewEgg.com. Pricing wasn't disclosed.

The Combo drive features an average access speed of 350 milliseconds, which Samsung claims is faster than any other internal PC drive on the market.

Samsung's new Combo internal Blu-ray drive.”With Samsung's new BD drive, users can not only watch HD movies on their PC, but they can also record HDTV broadcasting onto a DVD with the bundled software Cyberlink Powerproducer. They also can record HD camcorder movies to a DVD disc with Powerproducer,” said John Suh, director of Samsung's optimal media solution (OMS) sales and marketing.

The drive is equipped with Samsung's Cyberlink TrueTheater software, which upgrades a DVD resolution movie to full HD resolution, according to the company.

Suh said the Combo drive is equipped with two lenses for more stable reading and writing. One of the lenses is for Blu-ray reads and the other is for CD/DVD reads and writes.

Samsung said that new technology, known as spherical aberration compensation, improves reading quality on a Blu-ray drive whose protective layer does not have a uniform thickness. The drive also has higher resolution in its optical pickup head unit position control system, which helps to transmit the smaller track pitch of Blu-ray discs.

The Combo drive also features low power consumption and an aerodynamic frame design to decrease acoustic noise, Samsung stated in a press release.

The drive's front bezel, or front panel, has an updated look, including a mirror design on the front door and blue LED. The drive is also lighter weight and has a shorter body than previous Samsung Blu-ray drives; that reduces internal heat and helps to make disc loading more efficient, Samsung said.