NEC Announces First Plasma Television For Under 1 Million Yen

7-Jul-00

NEC Corporation (NEC) (NASDAQ: NIPNY) (FTSE: 6701q.l) will launch the industry's first plasma television with a standard price of under 1 million Yen in Japan on July 21, featuring a 42-inch widescreen display with tuner and speakers and greater brightness and contrast. With this new model, which is aimed exclusively at the Japanese market and others aimed at the commercial market, including new products expected to be launched in autumn of 2000, NEC expects to sell 30,000 units annually. Utilizing the advanced features and picture quality of the new television NEC forecasts an approximate 20 percent share of the overall plasma set market. The PX-42VT1 comes ready for the start of digital broadcasting due to start in Japan in December with digital satellite and digital high definition terrestrial broadcasting services. NEC's plasma television comes equipped with two D4 terminals for the 720p progressive display high definition digital television format, and it can be connected to the dedicated tuners that are expected to appear for these television services. Full use of digital processing in the PX-42VT1 tuner and use of a digital interface to the display unit, also act to boost picture quality, brightness and contrast, as well as achieve significant cost and weight savings. The PX-42VT1 uses 30 percent fewer components and at 29.5kg, it weighs 10kg less than NEC's previous model, the PX-42V5. Another significant achievement of the unit is a reduced power consumption of 365W (current model is 445W) despite the greater brightness and contrast offered by the unit. The PX-42VT1 also offers the multimedia capabilities expected in these next-generation television sets. In addition to supporting analog or digital graphics output from personal computers up to XGA (1024 x 768) resolution, the PX-42 VT1 features a high-speed graphical signal processor, 3D motion adaptive scan converter, and also offers enhanced DVD movie playback functionality in ""cinema mode."" NEC also began sampling of the new plasma module, which forms the key component of the PX-42VT1 television set. The 42-inch plasma module, the NP42B1MF01 will be offered to set manufacturers worldwide at an open price (see attachment for details). More follows Background Plasma monitors have made significant inroads into the information display market for public areas, and commercial applications. But attention has always been focused on plasma monitors as futuristic wall-hanging televisions, and demand has recently been growing for their use at home as awareness grows of the commencement of digital broadcasting. This awareness is leading home users to make the upgrade to a high-definition digital display for the longer term but one obstacle to greater sales growth in this area has been the approximately 1.5 million Yen price tag of these displays until now. As an integrated manufacturer of the panels and sets, NEC has been able to innovate the design of plasma sets and make significant reductions in their costs. About NEC Corporation NEC Corporation is a leading provider of Internet solutions, dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of its customers in the key computer, network and electron device fields through its three market-focused in-house companies: NEC Solutions, NEC Networks and NEC Electron Devices. NEC Corporation, with its in- house companies, employs more than 150,000 people worldwide and saw net sales of 4,991 billion Yen (approx. US$48 billion) in fiscal year 1999-2000. For further information, please visit the NEC home page at www.nec-global.com.

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