Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD) is the name of a next-generation optical disc format.
The format was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as the storing of large amounts of data.
The format offers more than five times the storage capacity of traditional DVDs.
Panasonic has released a Blu-ray recorder it says lets you record two channels at once through Freeview, store favourite HD moments and memories in one place and save the lot to a high definition Blu-ray disc.
Chris Key, of Panasonic New Zealand, said the new release recorders heralded the "true launch" of the Blu-ray platform in New Zealand.
New Zealand was only the fifth country in the world following Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom and France to have those products in stores.
Blu-ray players had been on the market in New Zealand for nearly two years, he said.
"This is the first product outside of MySKY and MyFreeview in New Zealand that will allow you to record in HD.
"But it's the first product that allows you to take the HD content off the hard-drive on to a disc."
The all-in-one unit included a DVD player and writer, a CD player and Blu-ray player and writer.
That made it the only box needed under a television apart from the Sky decoder, Mr Key said.
Viera Cast technology meant owners could access purpose-built YouTube and Picasa, allowing them to view YouTube clips and photos on their television.
The YouTube function included full search functions.
The connection to the internet also allowed for automatic software updates to be installed on the recorder, meaning the software technology was always current.
The content could be stored on the 500GB hard-drive or shared through the new Blu-ray recordable disc capable of storing 25GB - also a new release for the New Zealand market, he said.
Panasonic-produced Blu-ray discs would retail for $19.95 or $29.95 for the rewriteable version.
Specifications
• DMR-XW350 DVD recorder
250GB Hard Drive
High definition recording & playback on to HDD
Twin Freeview HD digital tuners
Viera Cast compatibility (YouTube, Picasa)
Viera Link
Pause live TV
SD card slot
USB terminal
HDMI
Music juke box with Gracenote (CD Database)
Photo slideshow with music and transition effects
$1199
• DMR-BW850 Blu-ray recorder
500GB Hard Drive
High Definition recording & playback on to Blu-ray
Disc and HDD
Twin Freeview HD digital tuners
Viera Cast compatibility (YouTube, Picasa)
Viera Link
Pause live TV
SD card slot
USB terminal
HDMI
Music juke box with Gracenote (CD database)
Dolby 5.1ch stream recording
Photo slideshow with music and transition effects
$1999
