Analog Devices' Video And Audio Signal Processing Expertise Advances Hard Disk Recorder With High-Definition DVD Capabilities; Toshiba's First Hard Disk Recorder with HD DVD Taps ADI's Full Range of Consumer Electronics ICs.

NORWOOD, Mass. -- Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI), a global leader in high-performance semiconductors for signal-processing applications, today announced that Toshiba Corp. has chosen several of ADI's leading signal processing solutions to power the video and audio signal chains in the industry's first hard disk recorder with high-definition (HD) DVD. The RD-A1 with 1-terabyte (TB) of hard disk space employs multiple ADI data converters, video encoders, amplifiers, SHARC(R) processors and temperature monitors to enable the HD video and audio qualities that consumers are seeking in today's home electronics equipment. Toshiba previously tapped ADI's signal processing expertise by selecting its SHARC processors to power the audio signal chain in the world's first HD DVD players, the HD-A1 and HD-XA1. To view this release, please visit: http://www.analog.com/en/press/0,2890,3%255F%255F106225,00.html

Toshiba is a leader and a pioneer in recordable DVD technology, launching the world's first hard disk drive (HDD) and DVD video recorder in Japan in 2001. The device introduced consumers to a new way of watching TV by allowing them to record programs to a built-in hard disk drive and store them on a DVD disc for anytime viewing. Now, as HDTV broadcasting expands its content and service area, demand is growing for a solution that can handle HD image quality and its larger data capacities. The RD-A1, which is currently available in Japan meets this demand.

"ADI's audio and video signal processing technology plays an important role in the entertainment and convenience experience we create for our customers," said Hiroyuki Tokoro, Technology Executive, Digital AV, Digital Media Network Company, Toshiba Corporation. "ADI's broad portfolio of audio and video signal processing solutions has helped Toshiba realize many of its pioneering ideas."

Despite the stunning clarity of an HDTV video image, more than 80 percent of all TV content is still transmitted and received using standard definition composite analog signals, while VCRs and DVD players require analog interfaces to send video and audio signals out to the TV. The quality of the end user experience is determined by how faithfully the analog content, or signal, is captured, processed digitally and reproduced as something the user sees or hears. ADI signal processing technologies, such as data converters, amplifiers, audio processors and encoders/decoders, ensure that video signals support all prevalent transmission standards, that audio signals match the quality and clarity of the HD picture and that advanced TVs can easily connect with the wide range of consumer electronics.

"The digitization of consumer entertainment is opening a new performance vista for manufacturers of advanced audio/video equipment, but it is also introducing challenges and unforeseen layers of complexity that require an intimate knowledge of analog and mixed-signal technology," said John Hussey, ADI vice president for High-Speed Signal Processing. "At ADI, we are addressing this opportunity with standard analog and emerging digital video interfaces like HDMI(TM), advanced audio and video signal processing, and conversion techniques that ensure unmatched image and sound clarity. Together, these solutions allow Analog Devices to deliver cinema-quality audio and video to groundbreaking products, like Toshiba's RD-A1 hard disk recorder with HD DVD, and redefine the consumers' entertainment experience."

Toshiba's RD-A1 HD audio and video subsystems utilize a variety of ADI innovations, including video encoders with Noise Shaped Video processing and 4x oversampling for HD picture quality; amplification technologies; digital-to-analog converters; SHARC processors for multiple formats of DTS(R) and Dolby Labs decoding, up/down-sampling and extensive on-board bass, delay and channel level management; and devices to monitor the temperature of these high-performance, closely-packed electronics so they all fit into a sleek, consumer package.

About Analog Devices

Innovation, performance, and excellence are the cultural pillars on which Analog Devices has built one of the most long-standing, high-growth companies within the technology sector. Acknowledged industry-wide as the world leader in data conversion and signal conditioning technology, Analog Devices serves over 60,000 customers around the world, representing virtually all types of electronics equipment. Celebrating more than 40 years as a leading global manufacturer of high-performance integrated circuits used in analog and digital signal processing applications, Analog Devices, Inc. is headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts, and employs approximately 8,900 people worldwide. It has manufacturing facilities in Massachusetts, California, North Carolina, Ireland, and the Philippines. Analog Devices' common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and ADI is included in the S&P 500 Index.

SHARC(R) is a registered trademark of Analog Devices, Inc. HDMI(TM) and High-Definition Multimedia Interface(TM) are trademarks of HDMI Licensing, LLC in the United States and other countries.