Digital Media Group (President & Chief Executive Officer: Yoshinori Fujimori) of Hitachi. 
Ltd.(TSE: 6501) today announced that on June 11, it will start retail sales of the GF-
1000B2SK, an internal DVD-RAM drive kit that, in an industry first, comes equipped with an 
ATAPI interface, the standard PC data transfer interface specification for internal CD-ROM 
drives.  The GF-1000B2SK will be priced at 69,800 yen (not including tax).

As a leading manufacturer of DVD drives, Hitachi became the first company to start shipping 
samples of a double-speed DVD-ROM drive in March 1997, which was followed by the 
release of an external DVD-RAM drive for PCs released in April 1998.  Now, with the June 
11 retail release of the GF-1000B2SK, Hitachi becomes the first company to market a DVD-
RAM drive that comes equipped with an ATAPI interface and has a retail price of less than 
70,000 yen.

DVD-RAM is a high-capacity storage medium that offers a very low bit cost combined with 
high reliability and high storage density, features that are expected to accelerate the spread of 
multimedia.  DVD-RAM is expected to become the storage media of choice for a growing 
number of applications, including storage and backup of large data downloads from the 
Internet, digital camera still image data, computer graphics data and MPEG video data, and is 
also expected to be increasingly used as a way of distributing data.  The utility and 
usefulness of DVD-RAM drive is further enhanced by its playback compatibility with DVD-
ROM, DVD-Video, CD-ROM and audio CD formats.

The GF-1000B2SK is compatible with Windows(R)95 and Windows(R)98, and since it comes 
equipped with an ATAPI interface, it can be readily installed in a desktop or tower PC without 
any need for a SCSI board.  The kit includes UDF (Universal Disk Format) system drivers, 
"Mediakeeper" backup software, and Software Cinemaster 98TM, a software decoder for DVD 
playback.  Installation of this software provides full DVD functionality (to the extent of the 
compatibility of the software with the operating environment).

As a bridging medium between computers and AV equipment, the number of DVD-RAM 
applications is expected to continue to grow and expand.  As a leading manufacturer of 
DVD-RAM drives, Hitachi will continue to provide products that meet market needs.

Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics 
companies, with fiscal 1997 (ended March 31, 1998) consolidated sales of 8,417 billion yen 
($63.8 billion*).  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.
* At an exchange rate of 132 yen to the dollar.

Specifications of GF-1000B2SK DVD-RAM drive
1.  Disc compatibility
DVD:	DVD-RAM (2.6 GB)			Recording / playback
	DVD-ROM / R, DVD-Video			Playback
CD:	CD-ROM mode 1				Playback
	CD-ROM mode 1, CD-ROM XA / CD-I		Playback
	Audio CD				Playback
	Data / Audio mixed mode			Playback
	Photo CD				Playback
	CD Extra				Playback
	CD-R, CD-RW				Playback

2.  Main specifications
Continuous transfer rate: DVD-RAM	1.38 MB/s
			  DVD-ROM/R	2.76 MB/s (2X speed)
			  CD-ROM/R	1.29 to 3.0 MB/s (mode1, up to 20X speed)
					1.47 to 3.42 MB/s (mode2) 
		  	  CD-RW		1.03 to 2.4 MB/s
Average access time:	  DVD-RAM	210 ms
			  DVD-ROM/R	210 ms
			  CD-ROM/R/RW	150 ms
Buffer memory:		  1MB

3. Interface
Interface type:		Enhanced IDE (ATAPI)
Burst data rate:	ATAPI PIO mode 4	16.6 MB/s
			DMA mode2		16.6 MB/s

4. Environment
Ambient temperature:	During operation	5 to 45 degrees Celsius
			Storage			-30 to 60 degrees Cesius
Relative humidity (No evaporation):	
			During operation	15 to 18% 
			Storage			10 to 90%

5. Other
Size (W x D x H):	146 x 208 x 41.3 (mm)
Weight:			Approx. 1.0 kg	

Trademarks and Abbreviations
Windows is a trademarks or a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and 
other countries.
Other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective 
owners.
The full name of Windows(R)98 is Microsoft(R)Windows(R) 98.
The full name of Windows(R)95 is Microsoft(R)Windows(R)95.