Tokyo, Japan and Dallas, Texas -April 27th, 1999: Hitachi, Ltd.(TSE:6501 /
NYSE:HIT) and Texas Instruments (TI) announced today that they have signed an
agreement under the terms of which Hitachi will use Digital Light Processing? (DLP?)
technology to develop the world's first all-digital, large screen high definition (HD) rear
projection television. Hitachi plans to release the new television in Japan and the U.S.
market in the second half of 2000.
The agreement also calls for TI to further develop DLP technology in support of HDTV
applications with 16:9 aspect ratio, and for the two companies to collaborate in the
development of new, higher brightness projection optics, HDTV signal receiving
technology and an image processing LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit).
The two companies will also consider extending future collaboration beyond the areas
announced today.
"We have been extremely impressed with the significant advances in DLP technology
aimed at serving the Home Entertainment market," said Masao Kato,Executive Vice
President of Digital Media operations at Hitachi. "While DLP technology has served the
data projection market with many leading products, recent breakthroughs - focused on
improving video performance - have elevated DLP to a new level. It's this outstanding
video performance that is required to satisfy the demands of Home Entertainment
enthusiasts. This new project represents an exciting opportunity for Hitachi to bring
innovative, premium performance products to the market: we're delighted to have signed
this agreement with TI today."
"Signing this agreement with Hitachi is an extremely exciting milestone in the
development of DLP technology," said Bob England, Senior Vice President and Manager
of TI's Digital Imaging division. "Hitachi's choice of DLP for this new High Definition
product speaks volumes about not only how much the technology has progressed, but
also its extraordinary potential for the future. We're excited that DLP technology will
deliver the first-ever all-digital display to the home entertainment market."
Demand for home theater systems is increasing worldwide: digital terrestrial
broadcasting will begin this spring in ten major cities in the U.S, with satellite high
definition broadcasting starting during the summer. In Japan, BS digital broadcasting
will begin in 2000, bringing high resolution, high image quality movie programming to
every home.
"Texas Instruments demonstrated a prototype of this technology at CES in January and it
was truly awe-inspiring," said David E. Mentley, Vice President of Stanford Resources,
Inc. "It clearly has the potential to raise the performance bar for rear-projection HDTV
displays."
Hitachi has built a substantial business in the projection display market and now has a
broad product line which includes CRT monitors for TV and PC applications, LCD-based
projectors and displays and plasma display panels (PDPs). In the United States, Hitachi
has a significant share of the market for projection televisions under the UltraVision?
brand name. Hitachi's in-house optics technology development enables all its projection
and display products to feature outstanding image quality.
DLP is an enormously attractive technology for the development of next generation
HDTV systems, based on its digital nature, its high resolution, its high contrast and the
fact that it enables the development of uniquely small and lightweight product packaging.
Today, TI supplies DLP subsystems to more than twenty-five of the world's top projector
manufacturers, who then design, manufacture and market DLP-based projectors. Over
the past three years, DLP-based projectors have consistently won some of the audio-
visual industry's most prestigious awards, including, in June 1998, an Emmy Award from
the American Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Since shipments began in early
1996, TI has delivered over 150,000 DLP subsystems to its customers. There are now
over fifty DLP-based products in the market.
At the heart of TI's Digital Light Processing technology is the Digital Micromirror
Device (DMD), an optical semiconductor chip that has an array of microscopic mirrors
mounted on a standard logic device. These tiny mirrors operate as optical switches to
create a high resolution, full color image.
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 U.S. dollar.
Texas Instruments Incorporated is a global semiconductor company and the world's
leading designer and supplier of digital signal processing and analog technologies, the
engines driving the digitization of electronics. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the
company's businesses also include materials and controls, educational and productivity
solutions, and digital imaging. The company has manufacturing or sales operations in
more than 25 countries.
Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN.
More information on TI's DLP technology can be found on the World Wide Web at
http://www.ti.com/dlp.
Digital Light Processing, DLP, Digital Micromirror Device and DMD are all trademarks
of Texas Instruments. UltraVision is a trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. in the United States.
All other products and names may or may not be trademarks or registered trademarks of
their respective companies.
Press Contacts:
Hitachi, Ltd. Japan
Emi Takase
+81-3-3258-2056
emi@cm.head.hitachi.co.jp
Hitachi America, Ltd. USA
Terry Kubo Gerry Corbett
+1-650-244-7900 +1-650-244-7900
tatsuya.kubo@hal.hitachi.com gerard.corbett@hal.hitachi.com
Hitachi Europe Ltd.
Masao Takebayashi
+44-1628-585000
mtake@hitachi-eu.com
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