Hitachi & DVD.............................
Business Wire
June 18, 1997, Wednesday
DISTRIBUTION: Business Editors & Computer Writers
HEADLINE: Hitachi details strategy for DVD-RAM, DVD-ROM products in computer market; Company executives chart aggressive course to establish new standard for high-capacity, removable data storage
DATELINE: NEW YORK
BODY:
June 18, 1997--At a press briefing held today during PC Expo '97, executives from Hitachi Ltd. and Hitachi America Ltd. outlined the company's strategy to establish DVD drives as a computer data storage standard.
Hitachi, which begins sample shipments of the industry's first DVD-RAM drives this week, expects that systems using the new technology as a principal data storage device will initially be available in the fourth quarter of 1997, and will become common in both corporate network and individual personal computer applications within 12 - 18 months.
Hitachi said that widespread use of DVD-RAM, the fully rewritable version of the high-density successor technology to today's CD-ROM, will speed the computer industry's transition to a single, universal removable data storage standard. By setting an aggressive timetable for DVD-RAM shipments, the company expects to accelerate the adoption of DVD technology in many different markets and end-user applications.
"In the entertainment industry, DVD-Video players and DVD-ROM drives in computers promise to deliver new types of content to the home," said Werner Glinka, director of marketing for the Storage Products Group of Hitachi America Ltd.
"We think there is an even greater potential for rewritable DVD products to become the computer industry's preferred device for removable data storage in both home PC and business environments. The combination of DVD-RAM and DVD-ROM drives will also quickly become a standard for corporate storage applications, with multi-drive jukeboxes and servers used on computer networks."
Hitachi DVD Products
Hitachi is now manufacturing two DVD products for computer data storage applications. The GF-1000 DVD-RAM drive, which begins shipping to Hitachi's OEM customers on June 20, is the industry's first drive compliant with the DVD Form standard for rewritable DVD storage.
There are three drives in the product family. The GF-1000, with an ATAPI interface, is intended for installation in desktop computers. The GF-1050 is an internal drive with a fast SCSI-2 interface, making it suitable for computer workstations, storage jukeboxes and servers. The GF-1055 is an external unit, with its own power supply and SCSI-2 interface, well-suited for attachment to PCs as a portable, removable data storage system.
The GD-2000 DVD-ROM drive, the fastest drive of its type in the industry, is now being shipped to computer OEMs for evaluation and initial design into desktop personal computers. The GD-2000 has a transfer rate of 2.76 Mbytes/second with DVD media, twice the performance of the other drives now on the market.
The GD-2000 also reads CD-ROM and CD-R discs at up to 20X (3.0 Mbytes/second) data rates. These substantial performance improvements, and the ability to read all DVD and CD media, set a standard for all future DVD-ROM drives.
To protect computer owners' existing investments in CD-based products, Hitachi's DVD-RAM and DVD-ROM drives are fully compatible with all currently used CD storage media, including CD-ROM, CD-R and CD-R/W.
This is achieved by using a two-lens/two-laser optical pick-up, Hitachi chip sets that include a high-speed DSP capability, and a high-speed motor mechanism. The DVD-RAM drives also read DVD-ROM media, and Hitachi's next-generation DVD-ROM drive will be capable of reading DVD-RAM recorded discs.
"Hitachi manufactures ten percent of the CD-ROM drives installed in personal computers running the Windows operating system, and we are committed to helping our customers make a smooth transition to DVD technology," said Glinka.
"While initial applications for this technology will include such fields as computer graphics and computer aided-design, we also expect rapid adoption of DVD-RAM for general purpose data storage. We are working closely with computer OEMs, data storage system designers and application developers to develop solutions that fully utilize the enormous potential of DVD for data storage in personal computer and network storage applications."
DVD Background
DVD is a general term for a new family of industry-standard information delivery and data storage products. This family of products, developed as a worldwide standard through cooperation with the entertainment, computer software and electronics industries, includes DVD-Video drives and discs to deliver movies and other content, DVD-ROM drives and discs to deliver computer games and business applications, and writeable DVD products that allow end-users to sort computer data.
All DVD drives use similar, 120 mm (5-inch diameter discs; which are the same size as CD-ROM discs, with much greater storage capacity. DVD-ROM and DVD-Video discs store up to 4.7 Gigabytes (GB) on a single side. This is seven times greater than CD-ROM, and is enough capacity to store a 135-minute, MPEG-2 encoded film or video, with room to spare for multiple soundtracks and sub-titles. The DVD-RAM rewritable discs store up to 2.6 GB on a single side, or 5.2 GB on dual-sided discs.
Hitachi Ltd. is a founding member of the DVD Forum. This group, previously known as the DVD Consortium, is responsible for setting DVD standards and promoting adoption of the technology worldwide. today, Hitachi is working closely with computer and data storage systems manufacturers to design DVD drives into both next-generation personal computers and network storage systems.
The Computer Division of Hitachi America Ltd. sells high-capacity, high-performance hard disk drives, CD-ROM, and DVD drives through its Storage Products Group. The Computer Division is part of Hitachi America's Converging Technologies Group, which markets a broad range of electronic hardware and software products, including semiconductors, storage devices, printers, monitors and flat panel displays.
Hitachi America Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd., Japan, markets and manufactures a broad range of electronics, computer systems and semiconductor products, and provides industrial equipment and services throughout the United States.
Hitachi Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, is the world's leading global electronics company, with fiscal 1996 consolidated sales (ending March 31, 1997) of $ 68.7 billion. The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment.
CONTACT: Hitachi America Ltd.
Werner Glinka, 415/244-7630
or
FS Communications
Matthew Schmidt, 415/691-1488
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