Blu-Ray by the Bunch: Primera Announces Professional Burner

by James Murray
Published on Feb 7, 2006 1:00 PM



February 7, 2006 - Primera Technology, Inc. has announced the release of their new Bravo XR-Blu Disc Publisher, the first “professional, automated burn and print disc publishing system based upon Blu-ray Disc technology,” according to Mark D. Strobel, vice president of sales and marketing for Primera Technology, Inc.

This is not a product for the infrequent, maybe-I’ll-burn-a-copy-of-Braveheart crowd, but budding filmmakers and musicians may love it. The Bravo XR-Blu employs a Pioneer Electronics BDR-101A Blu-ray Disc/DVD Recorder along with software written using AuthorScript Data Backup (incorporating Sonic Solutions technology and BD support). It features built-in robotics and a full-color direct-to-disc inkjet printing system. Up to 50 discs may be loaded into the XR-Blu system at once, translating into an impressive total capacity of 2.5 terabytes of data within a single burning session. While this version of the Bravo XR-Blu will only record to single-layer discs, which can hold 25 gigabytes of data, updates will be available in the near future for dual-layer recording.

Andy Parsons, Senior Vice President at Pioneer Electronics (USA), Inc., stated, “Blu-ray Disc technology fulfills the rapidly growing need for massive amounts of storage space in a portable, stable format.” He added, “many business-to-business and industrial applications require automation of the recording and disc printing functions. That’s why Pioneer is so excited to be partnering with Primera to provide a fully automated and integrated solution for burning and printing Blu-ray Discs.”

The disc publishing system, which supports DVD +/-R media in addition to Blu-ray, connects to PC systems with Windows XP/2000 via Hi-Speed USB 2.0.

The Bravo XR-Blu has a slated release date of April 2006 and will retail with an MSRP of $5995. This date coincides roughly with the dates announced by many manufacturers for a massive deployment of Blu-ray products in spring of this year.