Blu-Ray Making A Play For The PC

The ongoing format war between Blu-Ray and HD DVD is continuing unabated and the battle has officially spilled over to the PC with the announcement of the $199 Phillips/Lite-On PLDS DH-4O1S internal drive.  The drive may or may not be a direct answer to recent HD players from the likes of Toshiba both for the set top and the PC.

So what kind of a Blu-Ray player does $199 buy you?  Here's the answer:

“Spec-wise, the drive reads either single- or dual-layer BD-R/RE/ROM discs at up to 4X speeds, while single- or double-layer DVD±R or DVD-ROM discs can be read at 12X and single or double-layer DVD±RW discs can be read at 8X speeds. DVD, Single-layer or Double-layer media at 4X maximum. Single Layer DVD ±R or DVD-ROM can be read at 12X max, while Double Layer DVD±R and Single Layer DVD±RW can be read at 8X max. CD-R/RW/ROM has a maximum read speed of 32X.”

Battle lines over the next generation formats have already been drawn in Hollywood and it might take a dual-format player at a bargain price to win wide acceptance.  At least the industry is rapidly moving towards lower price points.
Tags:  Blu-ray, PC, Play, KIN, blu, ray, PLA, King, K