ASACA's Blue Laser Libraries Goes on the Road with Larry Bloomfield; Industry's Largest Blue Laser-Based Library Gets Ready to Travel Nearly 18,000 Miles with 'THE Road Show'.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

NAB2004

Booth #SL4342

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 20, 2004

ASACA Corp. announced today that one of their TeraCart(R) AM80s will travel across the United States with Tech-Notes' "THE Road Show -- A Taste of NAB." Headed by Larry Bloomfield, THE Road Show is in its third year bringing some of the newest broadcast technologies unveiled at the annual NAB tradeshows to many of the engineers who would otherwise miss that opportunity to stay up with the latest advancements in the industry. ASACA will debut the new blue laser-based library during this year's NAB 2004 in their booth, #SL4342. Based on Sony's new Professional Disc for DATA(TM) drives, these new libraries offer more than double the capacity of red laser optical libraries and data throughput speeds comparable to tape-based solutions. While traveling with THE Road Show, the TeraCart AM80 will cover nearly 18,000 miles and 51 venues to meet an estimated 15,000 attendees between April 26 and Aug. 25.

"There are very few opportunities for engineers to see first-hand, what's new in the industry and to have the chance keep up with the latest technologies," said Larry Bloomfield, publisher of Tech-Notes. "Sometimes budgets and schedules can interfere with a station's ability to send at least one engineer to NAB; however, not sending someone can stifle engineering's technical education and prevent the facility from keeping abreast of what's going on in the industry. The Taste of NAB road show," continued Bloomfield, "gives those who couldn't make it to NAB, an opportunity to get some micro-exposure to the technologies and services that were demonstrated at the trade show. ASACA's new blue laser-based library is the perfect example of the kind of revolutionary technology that people in the broadcast and video production industries can't afford to miss."

The new libraries offer familiar optical disc benefits, including virtually instant random access, scaleable capacity and an economical cost per terabyte (TB), giving broadcast and video productions professionals a cost-effective solution for storing and managing video workflow. With the integration of Sony's PDD technology, a single disc can store up to two hours of digital satellite high-definition programming at up to 11MB/sec, or 90 minutes of DVCAM material, or up to 45 minutes of MPEG IMX material recorded at 50 Mbps (55 minutes at 40 Mbps, and 75 minutes at 30 Mbps). As a result, TeraCart users can access up to 800 hours of HDTV content.

"The TeraCart AM series of libraries are specifically designed for today's work environment challenges caused by the growth of content storage requirement and demands for faster bit rates," said Chuck Larabie, vice president of sales and marketing for ASACA/ShibaSoku Corp. "NAB is a big show for us, and the ideal platform for launching this new line of libraries, but including the TeraCart on THE Road Show is a great follow-up and puts the library in front of thousands who might not otherwise have the opportunity to see, first-hand, the economic and performance advantages of the new TeraCart."

Incorporating blue laser technology into the flexible design of the award-winning TeraCart library opens entirely new possibilities in the way video will be managed, yet requires no more than a four-foot square of floor space. Over-sized files can be moved at high speed to facilitate editing and project collaboration, ultimately introducing significant new efficiencies to a station's overall workflow. Blue laser technology with a shorter wavelength than red, can read and store data at much higher densities needed for high-definition recordings. For video recording and playback, the blue laser technology provides far greater recording capacity and bandwidth than conventional red laser. In addition, the media is rated for more than 1,000 rewrites for even greater cost efficiency to the professional user.

Available with SAN and NAS support, the modular library offers the flexibility to start with a single cabinet and expand to as many as eight libraries for capacities reaching hundreds of Terabytes. Using pass-through and infrared communications, the libraries can be easily managed as a single physical unit.

A superior option to tape libraries, a single Professional Disc for DATA media cartridge can hold up to 23GB of data and the libraries can be equipped with one to six Sony Professional Disc for DATA drives. NAB attendees can experience the new TeraCart libraries with Professional Disc for DATA technology this week at ASACA's booth #SL4342. For more information on THE Road Show -- A Taste of NAB, visit www.tech-notes.tv.

Price/Availability

ASACA's expanded line of TeraCart libraries integrating Sony's professional-grade blue laser technology drives and PD media are now available in three scaleable models: the AM80, the AM240 and the AM420 offering up to 1.8TB, 5.5TB and 9.8TB storage, respectively. ASACA's TeraCart AM Series with Sony blue laser and PD technologies are expected to have a starting price of $20,000. Sony's 5.25-inch rewritable and write-once Professional Disc for DATA media stores up to 23GB on a single side and is now available for $45 per disc.

About ASACA

Founded in 1971, the ASACA/ShibaSoku Corp. has its U.S. headquarters in Golden, Colo. A leading developer of high-capacity, high-performance data storage solutions, the company is focused on serving broadcast and data storage markets worldwide. For complete information on the TeraCart AM Series, visit the ASACA Web site at www.asaca.com.

The Road Show -- A Taste of NAB is not affiliated with the National Association of Broadcasters.