Seven Leading Consumer Technology Companies Promote DVD+RW At 2001 International CES

27-Feb-01

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HWP), MCC/Verbatim, Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG), Sony Corporation, Ricoh Company Ltd. and Yamaha Corporation announced that Thomson Multimedia (NYSE: TMS), manufacturer of RCA entertainment products, has joined the companies supporting DVD+RW to actively support and promote the industryís only two-way compatible rewritable DVD format. DVD+RW is the only rewritable DVD technology that offers seamless media exchange between consumer electronics and personal computing environments. Thomson plans to deliver its first DVD+RW product in the third quarter of 2001.""Compatibility with millions of existing DVD players is one of Thomsonís chief concerns as the industry begins to offer devices that record on digital discs,"" said Greg Bosler, Vice President of Video Product Management, Americas, Thomson Multimedia. ""A product that is two-way compatible is easier to use and easier to sell.""""By the end of 2001, analysts predict there will be 170 million DVD-Video players and DVD-ROM drives used worldwide,"" said John Spofford, Vice President and General Manager, HP Personal Storage Solutions. ""The beauty of DVD+RW is that it allows consumers to take a disc burned in their DVD+RW drive and use it in a variety of PCs and consumer electronic equipment already in their homes. Thatís the essence of compatibility and a key benefit of the DVD+RW format.""In addition to announcing Thomsonís commitment to DVD+RW, the companies showed practical applications for high-capacity data storage and home video copying, editing and playback. With an emphasis on two-way compatibility, the companies demonstrated how DVD+RW discs can be played in a variety of existing DVD-Video players and DVD-ROM drives. The live demonstration at the recent CES highlighted the convergence of entertainment and data from the home office to other areas of the home, such as the living room. The companies shot live footage of the crowd using a standard video recorder and burned the video onto a DVD+RW disc. The newly burned disc was played back in a variety of standard personal computers and standard, off-the-shelf DVD players. To further demonstrate the convergence benefits of the DVD+RW format, the companies conducted another real-time recording using a DVD+RW drive in a PC. This disc was played back in several off-the-shelf PCs and DVD-Video players.""Consumers are not going to widely adopt any new technology until they are certain their current investments are protected,"" said Mary Craig of Dataquest. ""This is why compatibility is so crucial to the competing rewritable DVD format wars.""""Placing the burden of compatibility on the recorder rather than on the player is the only way to ensure DVD technology is compatible with players and drives on the market today,"" said Ken Humphreys, Executive Vice President, Philips Consumer Electronics. ""This makes DVD+RW the first and only true convergence product for digital video, much like CD-rewritable technology was the catalyst for convergence into the world of digital audio. And who better to bring this to the market, than seven major leaders in the areas of CD-rewritable products, personal computing and home electronics."" The event at CES was part of an ongoing series of DVD+RW initiatives. For more information concerning DVD+RW, interested parties may visit www.dvdrw.com.

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