Real-time digital video servers give new meaning to breaking news; Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. and Panasonic Partner to Market Advanced Digital Video Editing and Server System

Business Wire, April 15, 1996

LAS VEGAS, Nevada--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 15, 1996--Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. announced today that it had formed a development and marketing partnership with Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Company (PBTSC). The companies will jointly demonstrate an innovative new paradigm of workgroup-based video editing at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show.

Video programs have traditionally been produced using analog methods where physical film clips are edited by "cutting and pasting." Workgroup-based video editing has been limited by the extreme storage, data-transfer and processing demands of video editing. Using Mercury's Digital Video Server (MDVS) video editing server, coupled with Panasonic's DVCPRO camcorders, VTRs and players, the traditional television news operation will now be able to have many news editors and producers working simultaneously on different news topics, and all accessing a common video database.

"Editing video will undergo a radical technical and economic change as a result of this development," said Philip Livingston, Assistant General Manager, Panasonic Broadcast & Television Company. "We now have the means to create complex, multi-segment news items in a fraction of the time it takes today. Late-breaking news takes on a new meaning."

"Mercury is delighted to be at the forefront of the new sea change of workgroup-based non-linear video editing," says James R. Bertelli, President and CEO of Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. "This is an exciting emerging market. When you can deliver better quality productions, in less time with fewer resources, you know you have a winner."

Mercury's MDVS is the first low-cost and scalable video editing server that is optimized to support up to 20 audio/video DVCPRO streams. Based on PCI system modules, Mercury's RACEway technology extends networking and disk I/O performance without stressing the server CPU. Thus, systems can be built to sustain higher data rates to more clients, cost effectively.

Panasonic Broadcast and Television Systems Company, based in Seacaucus, NJ, is a leading supplier of video and audio products for broadcast, post-production, business and industry, education and government markets. Panasonic provides products and systems for a wide array of uses, including image acquisition, recording, production, storage, display and projection.

Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. is a technology company specializing in application-specific image and signal processing solutions for diverse markets ranging from medical diagnostic and commercial image processing to defense and security. Mercury's RACEr series, with its building block approach to hardware and software, allows customers to build the most effective system for their application. Mercury's advanced interconnect fabric, RACEway Interlink, was recently adopted as an ANSI standard. The company is headquartered in Chelmsford, Mass., and has offices throughout North America, Asia and Europe. With more than 30,000 units installed worldwide, Mercury serves customers in 14 countries.

Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. on the WWW: http://www.mc.com

CONTACT: Mercury Computer Systems, Inc., Chelmsford

Gary Olin, 508 256-1300

or

Coltrin & Associates, New York

Krystyna Stachowiak, 212 221-1616