Yamaha to Ship New Super-Fast CD-R/RW Drive Series, the CRW2100.

Business Editors

HAMAMATSU CITY, Shizuoka--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 5, 2000

Offering World's First 16X Write Speed and the Fastest Rewrite and

Read Speeds

Yamaha Corporation, an established leader in digital audio, today announced the shipment of its new, multi-platform CRW2100 CD-R/RW drive series that promises not only the industry's fastest speeds for writing (16X), rewriting (10X), and reading (40X), but also features Yamaha's Pure Phase Laser System for extremely precise recording of digital signals.

The CRW2100 series features a newly developed laser pickup and control chip and new partial CAV recording technology, which in write mode enables writing at speeds up to 16X. Consequently a 79-minute CD-R disc can be written in about five minutes (excluding lead-in and lead-out times). In rewriting mode, as well as the traditional CLV writing method, CRW2100 also supports the 4X-10X CAV mode which enables high speed random writing/reading of data, realizing floppy disk-like ease of use when using High Speed CD-RW discs. The drives also feature a CD-ROM read speed of 40X (max) CAV. In addition, the CRW2100 series allows extraction of digital audio at 40X (max) CAV, extracting a 74-minute audio CD in about three minutes.

High quality as well as high speed writing is ensured by the incorporation of Yamaha's proprietary Pure Phase Laser System that improves jitter level - an indicator of digital recording quality - by 25%. This system, a standard component in CRW2100 series drives, stabilizes the laser power and eliminates unwanted reflections and glare produced when recording a CD, resulting in more accurate recording.

The drives provide enhanced prevention of buffer underrun with 8MB buffer memory, double that of earlier models. They also incorporate features that ensure reliable recording onto a wide range of media, such as Running Optimum Power Calibration (ROPC) to ensure that optimum laser output power is adjusted for each disc, and an Optimum Write Speed Control function.

"Our CRW2100 series of drives is just what the market has been waiting for," said Masami Takeuchi, General Manager of the IT Sales & Marketing Division at Yamaha Corp. "The models in the series offer the fastest write, rewrite and read speeds of any drives currently on the market, and include extra features to ensure there is no sacrifice of quality," he added.

The CRW2100 series features four models. The internal CRW2100E using ATAPI (E-IDE) technology will begin shipping to markets around the world within the next week or so, and the internal CRW2100S using Ultra SCSI (SCSI-3) technology will be available late this month. The external CRW2100SX will begin shipping in mid-November, while the external CRW2100IX using IEEE1394 (FireWire) technology will be available later that same month.

Since the late 1980s, Yamaha has been the leader in CD-recorder development, producing high performance recorders that are considered to be industry standards. The company introduced the first programmable CD-recording system in 1988, followed by the first 2X speed CD recording system in 1990, and the first 4X half-height CD-R drive in 1993. Yamaha also introduced the first 4X speed writing CD-rewritable drive in 1997, the first 4X speed rewriting CD-rewritable drive in 1998, and the first 8x speed CD-rewritable recorder in 2000.

Specifications

Supported formats     CD-DA, CD-G, CD-TEXT, CD-ROM, Mixed Mode CD-ROM
                      (CD-ROM+CD-DA), CD-ROM XA, Photo-CD, Video-CD,
                      CD-i, CD-EXTRA
Interface/Burst
 transfer rate        CRW2100E :
                         ATAPI (E-IDE) / 25MB/sec. (max) Ultra DMA
                         mode 1
                      CRW2100S, CRW2100SX:
                         Ultra SCSI (SCSI-3) / 20MB/sec. (max)
                         synchronous
                      CRW2100IX:
                         IEEE1394 / 400Mbps
Writing methods       Disc-at-Once, Session-at-Once, Track-at-Once,
                      Packet Writing
Writing speed (CD-R)  1x, 2x, 4X, 8x, 12X, 16X (12X-16X Partial CAV)
Writing speed (CD-RW) 2x, 4X, 8x (CLV), 10X (4X-10X Full CAV)
Reading speed         Data: 40X (max), CD-DA: 40X (max) in audio
                      extraction
Usable disc (CD-R)    Orange Book Part 2 Version 3.1 Standard
Usable disc (CD-RW)   2x, 4X: Orange Book Part 3 Volume 1 Version 2.0
                      Standard 4X, 8x, 10X: Orange Book Part 3 Volume
                      2 Version 1.0 Standard
Data capacity         700MB (79 min. disc), 650MB (74 min. disc)
Data buffer size      8MB (3,224 sectors)
Average random
 access time          160 msec. (reading)
Dimension/ weight     W 148.0 x H 42.6 x D 198.1/ 0.9kg (CRW2100E,
                      CRW2100S))
                      W 193.2 x H 61.9 x D 265.1 / 2.4kg (CRW2100SX,
                      CRW2100IX)

Notes

Partial CAV

Writing to a CD-R disc is normally done using the CLV

(Constant Linear Velocity) method. In this method, the disc

rotation speed is adjusted to keep a constant data transfer rate

at any portion of the disc. In other words, the disc rotation

speed will vary in CLV writing.

In contrast, the CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) method uses

a constant disc rotation speed so that the data transfer rate

will vary at any portion of the disc. Because the CAV method has

the advantage of greatly increasing the data transfer rate with

minimum loading on the drive's mechanism (compared to the CLV

method's rotation speed adjustment), many current CD-ROM drives

use the CAV method. CD formats define the constant linear density

of written data (data should be written onto the disc track at

constant pitch) so that the amount of recorded data per disc

rotation will increase as the writing point moves from the inner

to the outer portions. In other words, in CAV writing the outer

portion has an increased data transfer rate.

The CRW2100 series uses the CAV method in the inner portions

as well as the CLV method in the outer portions (Partial CAV) in

order to enable up to 16X-speed writing while pursuing high

quality. The drive will control the disc rotation speed to start

writing at 12X speed in the inner portions, gradually

accelerating up to 16X speed and maintaining this speed in the

outer portions.