Sharp announces Blu-ray recorder with 1TB hard drive

Japanese consumer electronics maker Sharp has announced plans to launch a Blu-ray high-definition DVD recorder capable of recording 127 hours of high-definition digital programming into a whopping 1 terabyte hard disk drive – the largest storage capacity of any Blu-ray recorder thus far.

Although this 1TB recorder is a first for the Blu-ray camp, Toshiba already offers the same amount of storage with the RD-A1 HD DVD recorder announced back in June.

The Sharp Aquos BD-HDW20 is set to launch in Japan on December 1 for around 300,000 yen (about $2,600). In addition to this high-end model, the BD-HDW15 model with a 500GB hard drive will also be available along with eight new Blu-ray recorders by the end of the year. Features of the new BD-HDW20 and BD-HDW15 include BD-RE/-R 2 layer disc support, 0.8s start-up time, gold-plated HDMI ports, IrSS, DOLBY TRUE HD Sound and i.Link. No release plans for the North American or European market have been announced.