Asus announces an external 3D Blu-ray drive

TAIWANESE HARDWARE FIRM Asus has announced its BW-12D1S-U, an external Blu-ray optical writer drive capable of upscaling to high definition and conversion from 2D to 3D.

The main purpose of the drive is for users to convert DVDs to Blu-ray format. The drive is capable of upscaling non-HD DVDs to high definition standards.

The drive also offers full HD 1080p 2D to 3D conversion, a feature that is appearing on TVs and notebooks from companies like LG and Toshiba, respectively. However, the results of 2D to 3D conversion will not equal the quality of native 3D content, of course.

Audio performance for all Blu-ray content supports both Dolby EX and 5.1-channel DTS-HD. A stand is supplied with the drive so it can sit vertically as well as horizontally.

Asus claims the drive is the "world's fastest external 3D Blu-ray writer" This is quite possibly true considering the sparse and rather niche market for this type of drive. The drive is capable of writing speeds of up to 12x via its USB 3.0 interface.

Asus has not quoted a price for the BW-12D1S-U Blu-ray drive or when it will be available. µ