Sharp launches hybrid HDTV recorder
Japanese consumer electronics giant Sharp enters the next-generation DVD battle with a combined Blu-ray Disc and hard drive recorder.
Japanese consumers are now facing an even greater choice of Blu-ray Disc recorders with the introduction of Sharp's BD-HD100.
The new model offers two different recording options; a built-in hard drive with a capacity of 160 GB that is capable of recording 19 hours of digital high-definition broadcasts (HDTV), and 25 GB Blu-ray discs.
Production of the BD-HD100, which retails at Y320,000 ($3,000), will start at three thousand units per month and ramp up to more than double this figure in 2005, according to Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper.
Sharp claims that the BD-HD100 is equipped with the world's first Twin Blu-ray Disc/DVD Tray, enabling transfer of recordings between hard drive, Blu-ray Disc and DVD. Owners of the BD-HD100 could, for example, copy five DVDs onto one Blu-ray Disc.
Another feature of the BD-HD100 is the high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) output jack, described as a next-generation digital interface that enables output of digital signals exactly as they were recorded from digital high-definition broadcasts.
The BD-HD100 succeeds Sharp's combined DVD and hard drive recorders, such as DV-HRD1 and DV-HRD2, and is up against Blu-ray recorders from Sony and Matsushita Electric (Panasonic).
