Introduction

With the price per gigabyte of hard drive storage on an all time low, data backup on optical discs is not the preferred mode as it once was. Introduction of internet data caps and increasing demand for high-definition media content however made the Blu-Ray disc as the most popular medium for distributing HD film and TV content to home theaters everywhere. DVD sales are not entirely gone either and having 4.7GB of storage space, make for a very affordable and disposable media sharing platform.

Most people do not realize that the science behind storing and reading data on a DVD media is different than burning and getting information on a Blu-Ray disc. Both mediums use lasers to read information etched on a surface but differ on the type of laser used. DVDs use a 650nm wavelength laser diode light compared to the shorter “Blue” 405nm wavelength on a BD media. Since both use different methods, a device that can read a Blu-Ray disc and has the ability to burn a DVD media is different from a regular BD-ROM drive.

The ASUS BC-12B1ST drive can read a Blu-Ray disc and has the ability to burn data onto a DVD media. The ASUS BC-12B1ST BD-Combo drive can reach read speeds of 12X for BD-ROM discs and 16X for DVD-ROM discs. As for data burning speed, the ASUS BC-12B1ST BD-Combo drive can burn a DVD+/-R disc up to 16X and store data on CD-R discs up to 48X. Using ASUS’ E-Green technology, the BC-12B1ST BD-Combo drive conserves energy by closing unused drive applications while the Optical Tuning Strategy employed by the BC-12B1ST drive when burning results in excellent error-free burning. Using a SATA interface and being compatible with a Windows operating system, makes the ASUS BC-12B1ST a great addition to your PC-based home theater system.