Matsushita Electric - Panasonic - Develops Decoding System For High-Quality Digital Video Distribution Network At The American Museum Of Natural History

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd, best known for its Panasonic brand products, has developed an innovative decoding system to continuously decode and display high quality digital video distributed over a network.The company will install the new decoder this summer in the American Museum of Natural Historyís (AMNHís) ""Hall of the Universe,"" which is a part of the new ""Rose Center for Earth and Space,"" opening on February 19, 2000 at the museum. This will be the first installation in a major museum of a digital video distribution network capable of such high quality video images.The new Rose Center provides visual information about the universe and the earth by using digital technologies to educate museum visitors and broaden their perspectives on the universe and the planet earth. With this aim, the museum has worked with MEI to establish a state-of-the-art digital network distribution and terminal system that delivers high quality video in the 480-line progressive scan format, and in the future, even higher definition video images. This new decoding system enables the AMNH to take advantage of the latest technology to utilize live video and computer graphics to enhance the overall experience.Network distribution systems using this new decoding system are suitable for exhibitions and educational facilities such as museums, galleries, libraries and schools. Matsushita Electric has already developed this type of network distribution concept in a system called Panasonic Video Shower. In the near future, higher quality pictures and lower costs will likely be realized by using this software-oriented approach.""Progressive-scan video is best suited for the live video and computer graphics of this new digital museum display and it will offer a new experience to the visitors to the Hall of the Universe, "" said Mr. Smokey Forester, Science Bulletin Manager of the American Museum of Natural History.""Microsoft is pleased that the cooperation with Matsushita Electric is enabling ongoing advancements in digital museum technology to deliver a more compelling experience for museum goers,"" said Craig Mundie, Senior Vice President, Consumer Strategy at Microsoft. ""The use of progressive scan video, coupled with the power of the PC platform, opens a whole new world of entertainment and learning possibilities and this new exhibit is a good example of how similar technology can be incorporated into PC-based learning experiences.""""Matsushita Electric, in close cooperation with Microsoft, will develop a high-performance personal computer suited to the advanced image-processing demands of the 21st century,"" said Dr. Yoshitomi Nagaoka, Vice President of Matsushita Electrics AVC Company. ""We would like to express our gratitude to the American Museum of Natural History for being the first venue to incorporate the initial version of this technology. Matsushita will continue developing this sophisticated audio visual information technology with the intent of popularizing it for both professional and consumer applications.""MPEG-2 Decoder Powers ExhibitIn this network distribution system, the museums server distributes digital video data and computer graphics through the network to audio-video terminals in the exhibit where audiences can view the high quality MPEG-2 pictures. The core of the system is based on the technology from the ongoing relationship between Microsoft and Matsushita Electric. This new MPEG-2 decoding system features an MPEG-2 decoder/driver with real time PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) transfer and data streaming software.The MPEG-2 decoder card/driver achieves the real time data transfer of the MPEG-2 stream over the PCI interface with newly developed Software-based Predictive Buffer Management (SPBM) system. Because PCI is asynchronous in nature, the conventional PCI transfer method sometimes causes frame drops of the MPEG-2 bit-stream even if buffer memory is used for the PCI bridge device. SPBM is a buffer control method controlled by software to predict hazardous overflow or underflow of the buffer, and to maintain the continuity of the transferred MPEG-2 stream even at a high bit-rate of HDTV. In addition, this technology offers more flexible system design compared with previous hardware approaches.The data streaming software displays the picture in real time, storing and playing back the distributed data onto a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and makes time shifting and special effects possible. The software architecture conforms to Microsoft DirectShow and DirectX API using the Microsoft Windows operating system. In the time-shift and special effects function modes, live video is being recorded as it is being watched on the screens of the terminals. The visitors can pause the live video at the terminal and pick up where they left off, or fast-forward and catch up to the present real time video.About The American Museum Of Natural HistoryThe American Museum of Natural History, in New York, New York, opened to the public on April 6, 1869. It is home to vast collections of insects, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, anthropological artifacts, and more fossil mammals and dinosaurs than any other museum in the world. It has over 200 working scientists and welcomes millions of visitors each year. Founded by a young Harvard graduate named Albert Bickmore, the Museum swiftly outgrew the Arsenal Building in Central Park. On June 2, 1874, President Ulysses S. Grant laid the cornerstone for the Museums permanent home in what would become known as Museum Park. The site now houses twenty-three buildings, including the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial on Central Park West and the Hayden Planetarium, which will reopen in 2000 as part of the new Rose Center for Earth and Space. Visit the Web site at http://www.amnh.org/.On February 19, 2000, the American Museum of Natural History will open the most spectacular addition in its 130-year history - the Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space. Throughout the Center, cutting-edge exhibition techniques will create a thrilling journey for Museum visitors, taking them from the outer reaches of the universe to the inner workings of the Earth.The centerpiece of the facility is the new Hayden Planetarium, presenting the most technologically advanced Space Theater in the world, in which visitors can experience Space Shows of incredible realism. The Planetarium, as well as the ""Big Bang Theater"" - a dramatic re-creation of the first minutes of the origins of the universe - is situated inside a sphere 87 feet in diameter, which appears to float in a glass-walled cube. This awe-inspiring structure also houses the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Hall of the Universe, which examines issues such as how the universe evolved. The Center also includes the Heilbrunn Cosmic Pathway, the Scales of the Universe, and the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth. The Hall of Planet Earth, which opened on June 12, 1999, investigates major questions about Earthís existence and its dynamic processes.About Matsushita Electric/PanasonicBest known for its Panasonic brand products, Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Ltd. (NYSE: MC) is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of digital electronics for the home, office and in between. In North America, Matsushita Electric and its affiliates employ more than 23,000 people. The companyís U.S. digital television laboratory, Panasonic AVC American Laboratories Inc. in Burlington, New Jersey, has been a leader in supporting the nations transition to digital television.

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