Panasonic Establishes Panasonic Hollywood Blu-ray Testing Center

JCN Newswires, Feb 2, 2007

Tokyo, Japan, Feb 2, 2007 - (JCN Newswire) - Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. known for its leading Panasonic brand, today announced that its US subsidiary, Panasonic Corporation of North America, will establish a Panasonic Hollywood Blu-ray Testing Center (PHBTC) within the existing facilities of Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory and start testing services today.

Blu-ray Discs feature strong copyright protection technology, and conducting logical format verification of entertainment content in replicated BD-Video discs requires technical sophistication. Until now there has been no testing service available for content verification before disc replication although many in the motion picture industry expressed the need for a testing center to provide such services, especially in Hollywood area. The new Panasonic testing center, PHBTC, meets this industry's need and is expected to accelerate the release of BD-Video titles by the motion picture industry.

In addition, Panasonic is inviting the member companies of Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) to install their BD-Video playback products, including Blu-ray recorders and players in PHBTC so that content providers and authoring studios can confirm the interoperability of their titles using these playback products.

The testing services that will be provided include-

1. Format Verification Service for the logical format of BD Video/Live Discs.

2. Playback Testing Service for BD Video/Live Discs with the BD Video playback system.

3. Rental Site Service for Format Verification and Playback Testing.

In addition to the Blu-ray player and forthcoming Blu-ray products, Panasonic is a major contributor to the creation of Blu-ray pre-recorded discs. Established in 2001, Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory is a leading authoring, replication and encoding facility within the industry, as well as a driving force in the research and development of Blu-ray components.

About Panasonic (Matsushita Electric Industrial)

Best known by its Panasonic brand name, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products for a wide range of consumer, business and industrial needs. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated net sales of US$76.02 billion for the year ended March 31, 2006. The Company's shares are listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and New York (NYSE:MC) stock exchanges. For more information on the company and the Panasonic brand, visit the Company's website at http://panasonic.net/.> Source: Panasonic (Matsushita Electric Industrial)

Contact:

Business Contacts:

From United States/European countries
Mr. Yoshihiro Mori
E-mail: moriy@research.panasonic.com
Panasonic Hollywood Blu-ray Testing Center
Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory
10 Universal City Plaza,
T-100 Universal City, CA 91608, U.S.A.
TEL:  1-818-301-1850

From Japan/Asian countries
Mr. Asaichi Akagi
E-mail: akagi.asaichi@jp.panasonic.com
Format Verification Laboratory of Panasonic

Media Contacts:

Akira Kadota,
International PR
Tel:  81-3-3578-1237
Fax:  81-3-3436-6766

Panasonic News Bureau
Tel:  81-3-3542-6205
Fax:  81-3-3542-9018

Copyright [c] 2007 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Japan Corporate News Network K.K.