Presently increasing numbers of users are turning to High Definition TV to watch the latest digital TV.  Along with this, the need for recording HD content is increasing as well. However, high definition video consumes a lot of hard drive space.

Blu ray technology has been devised for this purpose.  This technology uses equivalent MPEG-2 compression standard as DTV, thus rendering it hugely compatible with the global standard for digital broadcasting.  A dual-layer Blu-ray disk with 50GB can hold up to six hours of high definition content.  Even though blu ray players are now on sale in the United States and are adequate for playing such HD content, they still are minus the option of recording HD content.

Blu ray recorders have been devised to serve this purpose.  These recorders use a 36Mbps data transfer rate which is adequate to record and playback digital high-definition transmissions while still preserving the original picture quality. A blu ray disc recorder if fully utilized, can playback pre-recorded video on a disc and simultaneously record high-definition video broadcasted on TV.

Blu ray recorders are currently available only in Japan and started off as almost a revolution to digital broadcasting.  Some of the many manufacturers of blu ray recorders include Amex, Hitachi, JVC, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Yamaha and Zenith.

Customers in the USA have been waiting for the blu ray recorders for quite some time now. Though it is always speculated, it has not materialized.  Panasonic however, is expected to release the first freestanding blu ray recorder in the US during the first half of 2009. Though the anticipation for blu ray recorders make the market prospective, blu ray recorders face heavy competition from other existing high definition recording devices like the HD-TIVO and Cable/Satellite HD-DVRs.

Movie studios and other content providers are also demanding certain copy-protection requirements to be met by blu ray recorders.   Additionally, as experienced by Japan, the price of blu ray recorders is very much on the higher side than the price of a standalone blu ray player (by now available in the US) which the US market deems to be quite pricey.  One more thing to be contemplated here is the price of High Definition DVRs.  One twenty-five GB blank BD-R disc is sold for USD eight to ten and it is inexpensive and practical too.

Despite all the negatives, the introduction of blu ray recorders to the US is a much awaited phenomena.

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