DVD-RAM Standard Earns PC Magazine Technical Excellence Award

Business Wire, Nov 14, 2000

Business Editors and High Tech Writers

COMDEX Fall 2000

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 14, 2000

Solid Format Interchange Guidelines, Infrastructure Developed by DVD

Forum, Industry Participants to Ensure Cross-Device Use of

Random-Access Rewritable DVD

PC Magazine presented its Technical Excellence Award to the DVD Forum last evening for its industry-standard rewritable, random-access DVD technology, DVD-RAM. Dr. Koji Hase, president of the DVD Forum and a Toshiba executive, accepted the award on behalf of the DVD-RAM drive and media manufacturers at the magazine's 2000 Awards for Technical Excellence Ceremony the opening evening of COMDEX/Fall 2000 at the Rio Hotel.

Commenting on the award, Dr. Paul Liao, chief technology officer of Matsushita Electric Corporation of America, said, "This year, the DVD Forum has achieved the initial objectives outlined for rewritable DVD by the computer, entertainment and content development industries. Data can be stored on a random-access, rewritable DVD disc and played back on a growing number of DVD-ROM drives, DVD players or set-top DVD recorders that are shipping. The standard eliminates consumer confusion because they don't have to deal with compatibility issues."

DVD-RAM technology has a single standard that reads and writes the DVD media much like a hard drive. Prior to marketing a DVD-RAM drive and media or using the DVD logo, manufacturers submit their products for compatibility verification to one of the 11 format verification labs operated by DVD Forum members around the globe. This ensures media interchangeability of recorded data between devices as well as across both computer and consumer product platforms.

As the industry's only random-access rewritable DVD format, DVD-RAM provides a number of significant advantages over other removable, rewritable storage options including:

-- Read/write capacity of 4.7GB on single-sided bare discs (two hours of video,
4,700 color photos or 10 four-drawer filing cabinets of documents) and twice
the capacity on double-sided 9.4GB discs

-- Extremely low-cost storage - $.005/MB

-- Unprecedented media interchangeability - DVD-RAM drives read discs currently
accepted by CD-ROM, CD Audio, CD-R, CD-RW and CD Video drives as well as
DVD-ROM, DVD video and DVD-R drives

-- More than 100,000 write/overwrite cycles

-- Rapid data transfer - read/write at 22.16Mb/sec

-- Designed for both PC and AV applications, it features robust error
correction and defect management for extremely accurate writing and reading as
well as random access for real-time computer tasks and multiple scenario video
development

Dr. Liao noted that Panasonic began shipping DVD-RAM drives in April 1998 and was the first to deliver a product that was fully compliant with the DVD Forum standard. "By the end of the year, industry-wide DVD-RAM drive sales should exceed 1.5 million units," he noted. "Currently, seven firms are shipping or have announced drives and nearly a dozen media manufacturers have announced product availability. But the real strength of the DVD-RAM standard, which I believe PC Magazine also recognized, is the fact that the technology has such widespread industry support. More than 150 software and system solution providers offer DVD-RAM-based products that enable businesses and consumers to quickly and easily use the drives and media for audio, video and digital data storage."

In January, Panasonic became the first consumer electronics firm to market a DVD-RAM-based video recorder. Shipping since August, the recorder offers consumers exceptional picture quality, multi-disc playback, digital recording and random access when connected to home theater components.

Additional information on Panasonic brand DVD-RAM drives and media is available through Panasonic Document Imaging Company, 201.392-6355, marusicm@panasonic.com. Details on Panasonic DVD-RAM drives and media for OEMs are available from Panasonic Industrial Company, 408.945-5600, berzind@panasonic.com.

Panasonic is the best known brand name of Osaka, Japan-based Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE: MC), one of the world's leading producers of electronic and electric products for consumer business and industrial use. Additional information on Panasonic and Matsushita Electric is available at www.panasonic.com.