Looking for who said what in the sound world? Well there is no better place to find every audio related press release than 3DsoundSurge.!

Demonstrations Showcase Increased Capacity, Performance and Data Sharing Capabilities

Priced about the same as Panasonic's first-generation 2.6GB/5.2GB DVD-RAM drives and media, the 4.7GB format combines the ease of use and random access of a hard drive with new enabling features that enhance the drive's value and versatility:

-0-

--  A capacity of 4.7GB on a single side -- stores 2-hour
    theater-quality videos and matches the capacity of the DVD-ROM
    standard

-- The availability of media in the more familiar bare disc format

-- New cross-device playback options -- DVD-ROM drives, DVD
   players, and DVD recorders

-- Faster transfer rate -- 22.16MB/sec

-- A storage cost of .005 cents/MB, compared to 2.3 cents for a hard
   drive

According to International Data Corp., DVD-RAM drives sales will grow from 240,000 in 1999 to 3.4 million in 2001. With the drive, businesses, content developers and consumers have a single, cost-effective solution for developing, storing and playing theater-quality DVD videos; adding low-cost, removable storage for presentations and downloads from the Web; and backing up Gigabytes of data and images on highly reliable, rewritable media with a 30-year data life.

Easily connected to a personal computer, workstation or network, the drive reads from and writes to 4.7GB/9.4GB and 2.6GB/5.2GB DVD-RAM discs. Full compliance with the DVD Forum's DVD-RAM format (rewritable format) ensures that when users upgrade to the new high-performance drive, they can access the information previously recorded on MultiRead-compatible CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW and video CDs, as well as DVD-ROM, DVD video, and DVD-R discs.

Price, Availability

Panasonic Industrial Company's 4.7GB OEM DVD-RAM drive is available as an internal drive with a SCSI-2 interface (model LF-D291N) or with an ATAPI interface (model LF-D211N). The Panasonic-branded internal drive, model LF-D201U, is available from Panasonic Document Imaging Company (PDIC) and has an MSRP of $549. DVD-RAM media, which is marketed under the Panasonic brand name, is available from several other leading manufacturers. The double-sided 9.4GB cartridge has an MSRP of $44.95. The 4.7GB single-sided media has an MSRP of $29.95. The 4.7GB bare disc DVD-RAM media has an MSRP of $24.95 and can be played back on the latest Panasonic DVD-ROM drives, as well as Panasonic's new DVD Player and DVD Recorder.

About Panasonic

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.

For more information on the Panasonic DVD-RAM OEM drive and media, contact Panasonic Industrial Company, 1600 McCandless Drive, Milpitas, CA 95035; 408/945-5600, FAX 408/262-4214, E-mail berzind@panasonic.com. Or, visit the company's Web site at www.panasonic.com/oemdvd-ram. For more information on Panasonic-branded DVD-RAM drives and media, contact Panasonic Document Imaging Company, Two Panasonic Way 7D-9, Secaucus, NJ 07030 800/742-8086, www.panasonic.com/storage or E-mail marusicm@panasonic.com. In Canada, contact Panasonic Canada, Ambler Drive, Mississauga, Ontario L4W 2T3, Canada; 905/238-2254, FAX 905/ 238-2414, E-mail rkwong@panasonic.ca.

Note to Editors: All company and/or product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective manufacturers. Features, pricing, availability and specifications are subject to change without notice.

Specifications

-0-

    DVD-RAM Drive

    Optical Pick-Up     Actuator       Three-axis actuator technology
                        Wave length    650nm(DVD), 780nm(CD)
                        NA             0.6(DVD), 0.45(CD)
    Transfer Rate                      4.7GB DVD-RAM  :  22.16 Mbps
                                       2.6GB DVD-RAM  :  11.08 Mbps

    DVD-RAM Disc

    Format                             4.7GB DVD-RAM format
    Recording Layer Material           Phase-change material
    Recording Capacity                 4.7GB (single-sided), 9.4GB
                                       (double-sided)
    Diameter                           120 mm
    Thickness                          0.6 mm x 2 (Bonded)
    Track pitch                        0.615 fum

Contact:

     Marken Communications (for Panasonic)
     Andy Marken, 408/986-0100
     andy@markencom.com