NEC HR-1100A HD-DVD Drive Review

Ilya

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NEC announced the HR-1100A HD-DVD drive at the IFA show last year in Germany.

German CT Magazine did it again and scored a pre-production model of a next generation HD PC drive. As reported they published last week also the first review of a Blu-ray Disc Burner.

The NEC HR-1100A is not a disc writer it only can read HD-DVDs, DVDs and CDs. NEC uses one lens in this drive. CT Magazine finds very slow access times (370 ms for HD-DVD) with this pre-production model. Data transfer rates from HD-DVDs clocked in at 8,7 MByte/s. Error correction is a problem with the HR-1100A. NEC says the final HR-1100A will have those issues fixed.
The NEC HR-1100A is supposed to sell for around $500 in March. A HD-DVD burner is scheduled for a summer release. It is supposed to have a similar price.

Source: I4U News
Full review (in German): http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/68949
 
Translation from German

Here is a quick automatic Google translation:
http://translate.google.com/transla...&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=/language_tools

Hp DVD drive assembly for the first time in the test

Only two days after the first test of a Blu ray burner has the computer magazine c't the first drive assembly for hp DVDs under the magnifying glass to take to be able. As is the case for the BD burner it concerns thereby engineering-SAM-polarizes itself to which the necessary AACS support is missing still. NEC wants to offer the model to Hr-1100a starting from March for 400 euro in Germany. In contrast to Samsungs Sh-b022 it has however no write functions and can CDs, DVDs and hp DVDs only read. The first burner for hp DVD is to follow in July.

(The first hp DVD drive assembly presents itself simply, black and without much Schnickschnack.)

While Samsung in its BD drive assembly blocks two lenses (one for CDs and DVDs, one for the BD), NEC uses a particular in the Hr-1100a only for all three formats. It is however substantially heavier obviously with so a combination lens to select the old CDs and DVDs. The test sample, which corresponds to the level of development of the past summer according to NEC, was noticeable by very high access times, which varied between 142 ms with the CD-r, 370 ms with the hp DVD and 1057 ms with a Dvd-9. NEC promises that this with the final version smaller are to fail.

(In order to save construction unit costs, NEC CDs, DVDs and hp DVDs with only one lens reads. With this it is clearly more difficult to obtain optimal read results for all three formats.)

Hp DVDs reads the drive assembly with double speed and comes thereby on an average transfer rate of 8,7 MByte/s. With a Dvd-9 it reaches 6.2 MByte/s, with an Dvd r 7.4 MByte/s and with an CD-r 3.7 MByte/s – not towering above, but acceptable.

To optimize NEC however still the error correction must, because the Hr-1100a recognized neither our test DVD r with high jitter, still badly pressed Dvd Rome (horror Disc called). A hybrid hp DVD with a DVD Speicherschicht and a hp data processing D-layer did not support the drive assembly yet. In the sales version it is to be problem-free playable however, promised NEC.

With the selection of a music piece of a audio CD, which a 1.2 mm broad scratches exhibited, the Hr-1100a needed over twenty minutes and made thereby numerous errors. With could it heard however convince and played TRACKS with scratch width of 3.0 mm without interferences. Only we could read four of eight tested copy-protected music CDs in the Hr-1100a.

The Hp DVD Rome drive assembly without exhausts gets along, nevertheless is louder it in two of three cases than the Blu ray burner of Samsung. Hp DVDs are played with 3,6 Sone, video DVDs with 1,1 Sone and CDs with 5,9 Sone (measured from 25 cm distance). Compared with current DVD drive assemblies is however still quiet.

Hp DVDs will give it later in three formats. As hp Dvd Rome can store it on a data layer 15 GByte and on two data layers 30 GByte. Just as largely also the once recordable hp Dvd r and the again-recordable hp are to become Dvd rw. Additionally a hp Dvd RAM is planned, with which the data are stored both in the spurrille (Groove) and on the intermediate increases (country). It seizes 20 GByte and 32 GByte in the einlagigen version on two layers.

Parallel to the start of the Hp DVD Rome drive assembly MSI in the second quarter wants to offer diagram maps, which can code the signal at the DVI exit by HDCP. This is possible with ATI chips of the X1000-Serie. The diagram maps must be additionally with a special BIOS chip with a protected storage area for the HDCP keys equipped however. One will not be able to re-tool diagram maps without this BIOS chip with HDCP – and without HDCP one will enjoy hp video films if necessary in dissolutions of standard, since Hollywood a Mitschneiden of the hp material at the exit of the diagram map wants to prevent.

As examples NEC showed some Testfilmchen in the dissolutions 720p and 1080p. As codecs were used H.264/AVC, Vc-1, Mpeg-2 and Nero digital, which were ruckelfrei played with the Nero Player software. There are not finished hp of DVD Rome with Hollywood films yet. The system recommendations are just as high as with Blu ray the Disc: A Pentium 4 with 3 GHz (or Athlon 64 3000+) and a diagram map with at least 128 MByte RAM to be recommended maps, which can accelerate the rendition of H.264 or VC-1-Filmen.

Result : Regarding its technical efficiency the Hp DVD drive assembly limps to the Blu ray burner with the latest state of development afterwards. NECs of engineers must work on the CD and DVD support by the combination lens still somewhat. Samsung has it there by the employment of a second lens in its BD burner more easily.

But on the market not least the costs decide on success. The cost price of 400 euro could fall soon, because was not to become more expensive in the summer the following Hp DVD burners of NEC. Besides Hp DVD blanks are to have clearly more favorable to be had than BD media, placed NEC in prospect: about 10 to 12 euro per hp Dvd r with 15 GByte. With the BD blanks TDK wants to require approximately 20 euro for an Bd-r with 25 GByte.

So the Hp DVD Rome drive assembly is to be offered mainly to PC manufacturers for the installation into hp-able PCS. These might be more favorable to have than appropriate complete PCS with Blu ray support. NEC focuses large numbers of items for the Retail business only with in July the appearing burner. Up to then also the diagram map manufacturers might have appropriate maps with HDCP support in the offer.

The complete test of the Hp DVD drive assembly of NEC the computer magazine brings c't in the coming expenditure to 04/06, those starting from Monday, which is available 6 February in the trade ( hag /c't)
 

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