CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS
WIRE)--June 16, 1999--Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation and its
subsidiary, Verbatim Corporation, announced today the release of
two new media types for recordable DVD drives: DVD+ReWritable
(DVD+RW) -- a rewritable media with a capacity of 3GB -- and
DVD-Recordable (DVD-R) -- a write-once media with a capacity of
4.7GB.
DVD+RW media is a first-generation
product which offers users a large capacity of 3.0GB and the
convenience of rewritability. The media offers a minimum of
100,000 rewrite cycles and is fully compliant with the ECMA 274
and ISO/IEC 16969 specifications.
"MCC is an active member of
the group of companies which developed the DVD+RW standard. The
3.0GB DVD+RW specifications have already been approved by several
international organizations," said Dr. Yoshimitsu Kobayashi,
General Manager of MCC's Information Storage Products Department.
"Applications include
extension to hard disk capacity and desktop backup or archiving,
but DVD+RW is also ideal for multimedia presentations or home
video production."
Offering customers the familiar
look and feel of CD-type media (i.e., no cartridge), DVD+RW media
will ship to OEM customers and development partners in June 1999.
Media will be available to the distribution channel through
Verbatim Corporation in September of this year.
MCC's new DVD-R media has a
capacity of 4.7GB on one disc surface and is designed for use in
DVD-Recordable drives announced by drive manufacturers earlier
this year. Incorporating MCC's proprietary Metal Azo dye, renowned
for protection against stray ultra-violet light, MCC's 4.7GB DVD-R
media is already shipping to OEM customers.
DVD-R media is designed to be
read-compatible in today's DVD-ROM drives and DVD-Video players.
DVD-ROM drive shipments are expected to exceed 20 million units
this year alone, offering a significant installed base of readers
for DVD-R media.
"MCC has installed a monthly
production capacity of 200,000 pieces each of DVD+RW media and
DVD-R media," continued Dr. Kobayashi. "The products will
initially be manufactured at our Singapore facility, and
production capacity will be increased as demand grows."
About MCC
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, a
$13-billion corporation, is Japan's largest chemical company and
the 8th largest chemical company worldwide.
Its Information Storage Products
Department (ISP) is a leading developer and manufacturer of
storage media for use in the computer industry and potentially the
consumer audio/video industry (CD-Recordable, CD-Rewritable,
DVD-Recordable, DVD-ReWritable, Magneto-Optical, and hard disk
media). MCC currently manufactures approximately 13 million CD-R
and CD-RW discs per month.
About Verbatim
Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C.,
Verbatim Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi
Chemical Corporation. Its strategic role is to promote, market and
sell MCC's information storage and imaging products through
distribution sales channels and OEM partners. Verbatim is a
worldwide market leader in DVD, CD-R, CD-RW, Magneto-Optic, tape
and removable magnetic media products.
Contact:
Verbatim
Americas
Tim Clatterbuck, 704/547-6500
[email protected]
or
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
Gerry Kelly, 81-3-3283-6760
[email protected]
or
Marken Communications, Inc. for Verbatim
Andy Marken, 408/986-0100
[email protected]
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