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March 3, 1997

Hitachi, Ltd. today announced that it will start shipping samples of the industry's first double-speed DVD-ROM drive on March 21. The GD-2000 is an internal unit that features a data transfer rate of 2.76 Mbytes/s and an average access time of 150 ms. Another feature is a double-lenses, double-laser pickup system mechanism developed by Hitachi, in which a 650-nm red-light laser is used to read DVD discs and a 780-nm infrared laser is used to read CD-ROM and CD-R discs.

Pricing & Shipping Schedule in Japan

Product	Model	Sample Price	Shipping
DVD-ROM drive	GD-2000	90,000 yen	March 21, 1997

Main Features:

1. Industry's first DVD-ROM drive
For a DVD-ROM drive, data transfer rate and access time are the two most important performance specification items. With its data transfer rate of 2.76 Mbytes/s and average access time of 150 ms, the GD-2000 is the first double-speed DVD-ROM drive.

2. Double-lenses, double-laser pickup system
The drive has a 650-nm red-light semiconductor laser for DVD-ROM read functions and a 780-nm infrared semiconductor laser for CD-ROM/CD-R read functions. These are combined with a high-speed actuator mechanism to provide high-speed playback of DVD-ROMs, CD-ROMs and CD-R discs.

3. Compatible with 20-speed CD-ROMs
By using a Constant Angular Velocity (CAV) drive mode the GD-2000 can function as a 20-speed CD-ROM drive. In this high-speed mode, it has a data transfer rate of 3 Mbytes/s and an access time of 100 ms.

4. Focus-Jump technology
Focus-Jump technology provides instantaneous switching between layers of double-layer discs.

5. ATAPI
PIO Mode 4 ATAPI interface compatibility gives the GD-2000 a maximum data transfer rate capability of 16.6 Mbytes/s.

6. Windows compatibility
The drive is fully compatible with the Windows 95 and Windows 3.1 operating system environments.

7. High dust-resistance
The dust-resistant structure for which Hitachi's CD-ROM drives are so well known has been further enhanced to provide even higher reliability.

GD-2000 DVD-ROM Drive Specifications

(1) Main Specifications
Transfer rate (kbytes/s )	DVD-ROM:	2,760
	CD-ROM (max. 20x speed):	1,290 to 3,000 (Mode 1) 1,470 to 3420 (Mode 2)
Burst-mode (ATAPI PIO Mode 4):	16.6 Mbytes/s
Access time	DVD-ROM:	Av. 150 ms
	CD-ROM:	Av. 100 ms
Drive speed	DVD-ROM:	Single-layer disc: 19.2 to 46.3 (1/s) 1,149 to 2,777 rpm) Double-layer disc: 21.1 to 50.9 (1/s) (1,264 to 3,056 rpm)
	CD-ROM:	77 (1/s) (CAV) [4,600 rpm]
Buffer memory	DVD-ROM:	512 kbytes
	CD-ROM:	256 kbytes
(2) Compatible formats
DVD-ROM
CD-ROM	CD-ROM Mode 1
	CD-ROM Mode 2
	CD-ROM XA
	CD-I
	Audio CD
	Data & Audio Mixed Mode
	CD-Extra
	CD-R, CD-RW
(3) Interface
Type of interface	Enhanced IDE (ATAPI)
(4) Environment
Temperature	Operating	5 to 45 C
	Non-operating	-30 to 60 C
Relative humidity	Operating	15% to 85% (no condensation)
	Non-operating	10% to 90% (no condensation)
(5) Reliability
MTBF	100,000 hours
Non-recoverable error rate	10-12
(6) Others
Dimension (W x D x H)	146 x 190 x 41.3 mm (excluding front panel)
Weight	Approx. 1.0 kg

Note:

Windows 95 and Windows 3.1 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

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