Panasonic Showcases ASACA DVD Library Capable Of Delivering 18 Days Of Nonstop DVD-Video Playback

ASACA, an award-winning manufacturer of high-density storage for two decades, designed its TeraCart Library series to be configured with 1 to 192 Panasonic DVD-RAM drives and up to 11,600 double-side DVD-RAM discs to provide capacities ranging from 1.3TB to 60.3TB.Available for about the same total system cost as a tape system, the ASACA DVD-RAM Storage Systems bring interactive, broadcast-quality video and audio storage within the reach or business and government agencies for training, sales and marketing presentations, education, entertainment and archiving applications. Unlike tape, DVD-RAM provides random access ñ thereís no waiting while the tape rewinds, and the quality of the videos stored on DVD-RAM doesnít deteriorate over time as it does with tape.With the ability to provide multiple Terabytes of video storage and data, ASACAís DVD-RAM libraries are ideal for the broadcast industry. Library configurations range from 144 hours to 6,702 hours of MPEG-2 video. A standalone ASACA 750-disc (5.2 GB per disc) DVD-RAM library at a rate of 20Mb/sec will provide a total time of 433 hours of video ñ enough for 18 day of nonstop playback. With a transfer rate of 2.7MB/sec and up to 12 rewriteable drives online, the ASACA library enables TV stations to program and edit in advance and to queue-up digital data files to be played in sequence.The broad media interchangeability that the Panasonic DVD-RAM drives provides gives TV stations the option of mixing DVD-Video and DVD-RAM discs within a single library cabinet. As a result, TV stations can play back DVD-ROM discs directly and mixes program content together with spot advertising on the rewriteable DVD-RAM discs. They can even use the ASACA DVL library as a full hardware solution for unattended digital broadcast playback.Technically proven to be ultra-reliable, DVD-RAM media provides more than 100,000 write/rewrite cycles and a data of more than 30 years, making the $.008/MB storage cost a real bargain.""In addition, because DVD-RAM is a disc-based medium, the driveís player mechanism can seek any place on the disc and begin playing,"" explained Jeff Saake, Group General Manager of Panasonic Industrial Companyís Computer Technology Group. ""It can also pause, play in slow motion or fast forward to another part of the disc. These random access features enable applications ranging from multiple endings for a movie, to interactive video games, to multiple camera angles.""Designed for long-term reliability and heavy usage, the libraries have rugged robotics including dual picking for speed and redundancy. This enables the library to reduce the swap time to 3.5-seconds by pre-fetching the next disc.""Many of the same features that make the ASAVA DVD-RAM libraries so attractive to broadcasters and videographers also appeal to businesses that are looking for a cost-effective mass storage, data warehousing, backup and archiving ""noted Chuck Larbie, director of business development for NetSource, Inc., the North American distributor for ASACA.In addition to being compatible with leading video servers such as Microsoftís NetShow Theater and Oracleís iTV, ASAVAís TeraCart Multimedia Storage Systems are so supported by the leading optical library management software packages for network and Internet-based applications.Panasonic DVD-RAM drives are also supported by a broad range of DVD authoring and MPEG-2 encoding, decoding, and video playback software as well as graphics, pre-press, business and back-up/disaster recovery software programs.ASACAís TeraCart DVL systems are available for immediate delivery from leading resellers worldwide. Individual libraries can be configured with 1 to 24 DVD-RAM drives for online capacities ranging from 1.3TB to 7.54TB. Expansion cabinets are available for up to 60.3TB of DVD-RAM storage.Panasonicís OEM DVD-RAM drive model number LF-D101, is available as an internal drive with a SCSI-2 interface. OEMs can purchase the drive from Panasonic Industrial Company. Panasonic-branded internal and external DVD-RAM drives are available from Panasonic Document Imaging Company (PDIC). The internal drive, model number LF-D103U, have an MSRP of $699. The external drives, model number LF-D102U, has an MSRP of $799. DVD-RAM media, which is marketed under the Panasonic brand name, is available from several other leading manufacturers. The removable double-sided 5.2GB disc has an MSRP of $39.95 the 2.6GB single-sided media has an MSRP of $24.95 and is sold with a removable cartridge for playback on the latest Panasonic 5X and 6X DVD-ROM drives.Company ProfilesFounded in 1971, the ASACA/SHIBASOKU Corporation has its US headquarters in Golden, Colorado. A leading developer if high-capacity, high-performance data storage solutions, the company is focused on serving broadcast and data storage markets worldwide. For complete information on the TeraCart DVL system, contract ASACAís Master Distributor, NET Source, Inc, at www.netsource.com or phone 800 653 1326. Visit the ASACA at www.asaca.com.Panasonicís OEM DVD-RAM drive is manufactured by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, Ltd. (MEI) (NYSE/PCX:MC), one of the worldís leading producers of CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives and other digital electronic products. The drives are marketed by the companyís principal North American subsidiary, Matsushita Electric Corp. of America. For more information on Panasonicís OEM DVD-RAM 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 Web site at www.panasonic.com/oemdvd-ram. For more information on Panasonic-branded DVD-RAM drives and media, contact Panasonic Document Imaging Company at 201 392 6355, www.panasonic.com/storage or e-mail truppim@panasonic.com. In Canada, contact Panasonic Canada, Ambler Drive, Mississauga, Ontario L4W 2t3, Canada, 905 238 2254 or e-mail rkwong@panasonic.ca.

For more information on Panasonic-branded DVD-RAM drives and media, contact Panasonic Document Imaging Company at 201 392 6355, www.panasonic.com/storage or e-mail truppim@panasonic.com. In Canada, contact Panasonic Canada, Ambler Drive, Mississauga,