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March 17, 1998

Hitachi DVD-RAM External Unit Debuting in Japan

Product overview

Product:	DVD-RAM external unit kit for personal computers (SCSI-2 interface)
Model:	GF-1055
Price(excluding tax):	Open price
Shipping date:	April 15, 1998 (in Japan)

As a leading manufacturer of DVD drives, Hitachi has aggressively sought to invigorate and expand the market for DVD units by setting industry firsts with the sample shipment of a 2X DVD-ROM drive in March 1997 followed by shipment of DVD-RAM drive samples in June of the same year. Adding to this momentum, it will now introduce the GF-1055 external drive kit for personal computers on April 15 in Japan.

The DVD-RAM is a large-capacity storage disc that far exceeds the capabilities of conventional rewritable media both in reliability (addressing error rate: 10-23) and storage density (2.6 GB per side). The massive 2.6 GB storage capacity is available for efficient, waste-free recording of anything from large-volume, continuous data of video images and the like to finely segmented, non-continuous data. Data rewrites are accurate and fast.
Because of these features, DVD-RAM discs are widely looked to as the low-bit cost, large-capacity storage media needed to accelerate advances in multimedia. A list of potential applications would be almost endless -- storage and backup of computer graphics data including high-volume downloads from the Internet, and storage of video data from Hitachi's industry-first MPEG camera as well as digital camera still image data, distribution of high-volume corporate data, and corporate internal data backup.

The GF-1055, to be available at dealers starting April 15 in Japan, is a DVD-RAM external unit kit for use exclusively with MicrosoftR WindowsR 95 based PCs. The main unit will be bundled with a DVD-RAM disc, UDF (Universal Disc Format) file system drivers and other items needed for quick PC installation and use. The main unit is equipped with a Hitachi 2-lens, 2-laser beam head with a 650nm laser and an LSI chip set with high-speed digital signal processing capability to enable reading of the whole CD family, including DVD-ROM/R discs and CD-ROM / R/RW discs.

As a unit offering low-bit cost data storage for personal computers and providing a bridging media between computers and home AV, the GF- 1055 is expected to find an expanding range of general, business and personal applications.

Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 1996 (ending March 31, 1997) consolidated sales of 8,523 billion yen(68.7 billion dollars*). The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit Hitachi's Web site at http://www.hitachi.co.jp.

Main specifications of GF-1055 external DVD-RAM unit

1. Disc format compatibility

DVD	DVD-RAM	Write/Read supported
	DVD-ROM/R	Read supported
CD	CD-ROM mode 1	Read supported
	CD-ROM mode 2	Read supported
(CD-ROM XA/CD-I)
Audio CD		Read supported
Data & audio mix mode		Read supported
CD extra		Read supported
CD-R, CD-RW		Read supported

2. Main specifications
Continuous data transfer rate(MB/s) and average access time(ms)

DVD- RAM	1.38 MB/s	210 ms
DVD-ROM/R	2.76 MB/s	210 ms
CD-ROM/R/RW	1.20 MB/s(mode 1)	150 ms
	1.37 MB/s (mode 2)	150 ms
Buffer memory:	1 MB

3. Interface specifications

Interface type:	SCSI-2
Burst data transfer:	Fast Sync	10.0 MB/s
	Async:	4.0 MB/s

4. Environment requirement

Ambient temperature:	During operation	5 to 35 C degrees
	During storage	-30 to 60 C degrees
Relative humidity:	During operation	15-85%(provided no dewing)
	During storage	10-90%(provided no dewing)

5. Reliability

Bit error rate:

less than 10-12

6. Other

Dimensions (WxDxH):	180 x 343 x 50 (mm)
Weight:	Approx. 3.0kg (more)

Main features of Hitachi GF-1055 external DVD-RAM unit kit

1. Various CD/DVD discs supported

The 2-lens, 2-laser beam head equipped with 650nm red and 780nm infrared semiconductor lasers extends the capability of the GF-1055 beyond the rewriting/reading of DVD-RAM discs to the reading of various other disc types including DVD-ROM/R and CD-ROM/R/RW.

2. High-speed data transfer

High-speed digital signal processing capability combines with a high- speed mechanism to offer a data transfer rate of 1.38 MB/s for DVD-RAM discs and a double-speed transfer rate of 2.76 MB for DVD-ROM/R discs.

3. High-speed access

The mean access time (time between read instruction and data output) is a fast 210ms for DVD-RAM/ROM/R discs and 150ms for CD discs.

4. Burst transfer

Thanks to the SCSI-2 interface, a maximum data transfer rate of 10 MB/s can be achieved in the Fast SCSI-compatible synchronous transfer mode.

5. Write cache/read-ahead cache for better write/read performance

The write/read system throughput is enhanced by write cache/ read-ahead cache capability utilizing 1 MB of buffer memory.

6. Dust-proof structure

The much-applauded dust-proof structure of Hitachi's CD- ROM drives is applied with additional improvements to provide high-performance protection against dust.

7. Versatile orientation

The tray system allows the GF-1055 to be used horizontally or vertically on either edge.

PC compatibility and bundled items

PC and OS compatibility:

- DOS/V PCs

- WindowsR 95

Comes with:

- One blank DVD-RAM disc (two-sided 5.2GB type)

- UDF file system drivers

- DVD-RAM device driver

- UDF (Universal Disc Format) file system

- UDF format utility

- SCSI terminator

- AC cable (w/adapter for three-to-two pole conversion)

- Stand for vertical use

- Users manual

Notes:

The official name of WindowsR 95 is Microsoft(R) Windows(R) 95 Operating System.

Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation of the United States.

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