BenQ, a supplier of computer components and peripherals, said Monday it would release its first Blu-ray disc burner in August, 2006. While the company is the fourth maker to unveil such a device, its cost is still very high for the mass market.

The European arm of BenQ said that the BenQ BW1000 burner would be available in late August for €799 ($1023). The company declined to reveal any technical details about the part, but said that the device would be able to playback and record single-layer and dual-layer Blu-ray discs.

The manufacturer also announced that the BW1000 uses a Precision Tilt Control System (PTCS), an extra level of protection against vibration, noisy signals and irregularities in the physical media, in order to avoid users from playback hiccups and failed burns. In addition, SolidBurn technology, which automatically determines and optimizes the writing settings for recordable media to ensure maximum playability and lifespan. Also, the drive features BenQ’s Write Right technology, which provides thorough protection during the writing process which includes Seamless Link (for buffer-under run protection), dynamical jitter calibration (for real-time writing quality consistency) and Walking-OPC (Optimized Power Calibration). Walking OPC dynamically adjusts the power of the laser during the write process to ensure a greater quality consistency.

At Computex Taipei 2006, BenQ demonstrated its internal (BW1000) and USB 2.0/FireWire external (EW100G) drives that can burn both traditional – CD and single- or dual-layer DVD – as well as single- or dual-layer Blu-ray discs.

Earlier Panasonic and Pioneer have already released their LF-MB121JD and BRD-101A Blu-ray disc burners, which cost $900 and $1000, respectively. Plextor also has announced intention to release Blu-ray burner this fall, but without naming the price.