Panasonic to debut AV hard-drive technology

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. announced that its audio-video hard disk drive technology will roll in a series of AVHDD-based consumer products later this year.

AVHDD will feature conventional PC-type hard disk functions, such as rapid access and large memory capacity, but also multichannel read and write, and sequential data transmission - characteristics it says are vital to the realization of a new full-motion video storage medium for next-generation digital home appliances.

Company officials say the drives will provide a storage medium for the home network environment, where movies, music, games and other types of entertainment or educational programs will be sent to consumers in the form of very large digital data files via digital set top boxes.

The first Panasonic product to incorporate the AVHDD will be a home video editing application with unique functions such as super slow-motion replay, speedy noiseless searching and other image controls that take advantage of the sequential data transmission feature and are accessed via a jog dial.

Some of these technologies will be demonstrated at the National Association of Broadcasters trade show in the Las Vegas Convention Center, which begins April 19.

More information is posted at http://www.panasonic.com .