Panasonic Establishes Panasonic Hollywood Blu-ray Testing Center

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. known for its leading Panasonic brand, today announced that its US subsidiary, Panasonic Corporation of North America, will establish a Panasonic Hollywood Blu-ray Testing Center (PHBTC) within the existing facilities of Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory and start testing services today.

Blu-ray Discs feature strong copyright protection technology, and conducting logical format verification of entertainment content in replicated BD-Video discs requires technical sophistication. Until now there has been no testing service available for content verification before disc replication although many in the motion picture industry expressed the need for a testing center to provide such services, especially in Hollywood area. The new Panasonic testing center, PHBTC, meets this industry’s need and is expected to accelerate the release of BD-Video titles by the motion picture industry.

In addition, Panasonic is inviting the member companies of Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) to install their BD-Video playback products, including Blu-ray recorders and players in PHBTC so that content providers and authoring studios can confirm the interoperability of their titles using these playback products.

The testing services that will be provided include:

1. Format Verification Service for the logical format of BD Video/Live Discs.
2. Playback Testing Service for BD Video/Live Discs with the BD Video playback system.
3. Rental Site Service for Format Verification and Playback Testing.

In addition to the Blu-ray player and forthcoming Blu-ray products, Panasonic is a major contributor to the creation of Blu-ray pre-recorded discs. Established in 2001, Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory is a leading authoring, replication and encoding facility within the industry, as well as a driving force in the research and development of Blu-ray components.

About Panasonic (Matsushita Electric Industrial)
Best known by its Panasonic brand name, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products for a wide range of consumer, business and industrial needs. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated net sales of US$76.02 billion for the year ended March 31, 2006. The Company’s shares are listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and New York (NYSE:MC) stock exchanges. For more information on the company and the Panasonic brand, visit the Company’s website at http://panasonic.net/.

For further information, please visit the Panasonic (Matsushita Electric Industrial) home page at: www.panasonic.co.jp/global/top.html