Hitachi America Announces "Finger Vein" Technology Passes CBT Round 6 Evaluation.

BRISBANE, Calif. -- Hitachi America, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT) today announced that Hitachi's "Finger Vein" vascular ID technology has passed evaluation by Comparative Biometric Testing (CBT) Round 6. Hitachi's Finger Vein Biometrics technology uses near-infrared light to capture a finger's vein patterns which are matched to stored data to authenticate an individual's identity.

CBT Round 6 evaluated full biometric systems representative of those utilized in access control, point-of-sale, border management, logical access, and ID systems applications. CBT is one of few biometric testing efforts focused on full-system performance. Biometric comparisons are based on comparison of recognition samples and enrollment templates. There were about 19,000 genuine comparisons and about 25 million impostor comparisons executed.

CBT Round 6 represents the first major independent test inclusive of multiple vascular recognition technologies. Vascular recognition has gained considerable traction in Japan, and is in the process of being introduced into global markets including the U.S.

Hitachi achieved failure-to-enroll (FTE) rates that can be considered exceptionally low for this type of testing. While a typical biometric systems' enrollment time can be approximately one minute, Hitachi demonstrated enrollment transaction duration of 33.3 seconds. Enrollment Transaction Duration includes time required for the Test Subject to align himself with the acquisition device, all presentations required to enroll, time lapsed between enrollment of the first and second instance, and enrollment template generation.

The failure-to-enroll (FTE), false acceptance rate (FAR), and false rejection rate (FRR) generated by the Hitachi system were exceptionally low. Enrollment capabilities are essential to decision-making in large-scale, mass-market systems. The Hitachi system was able to capture a very high percentage of finger vein templates. Hitachi also showed very short Enrollment Transaction Duration (33.3 seconds) and Recognition Attempt Duration (1.32 seconds). This data helps address the question of vascular recognition's usability for a high percentage of the population. Hitachi provided highly robust 1:1 FNMR at various thresholds, and also provided very rapid sample capture. Based on CBT Round 6 results, one might speculate that a highly-habituated population would perform very well on the Hitachi system due to its very low Same-Day FNMR.

Summarizing the results, Hitachi noted that vascular recognition - a modality seen as novel in the U.S. - appears to be a very serious competitor to fingerprint, hand geometry, and certain iris recognition systems used in large-scale 1:1 access control, logical access, and consumer ID applications. The systems tested provided a strong combination of usability and accuracy.

About Hitachi

Hitachi America, Ltd., Security Solutions Group provides a broad portfolio of technology solutions in selected market sectors, including integrating new technologies such as smart cards and RFID into business processes as customized solutions. As a systems integrator the group provides project management / quality assurance, system design, software development, consulting and professional support services, including Help Desk support, system maintenance, Web-based support and system hosting.

Hitachi America, Ltd. a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., markets and manufactures a broad range of electronics, computer systems and products, and consumer electronics, and provides industrial equipment and services throughout North America. For more information, visit www.hitachi.us.

Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE:HIT) (TOKYO:6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 356,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2005 (ended March 31, 2006) consolidated sales totaled 9,464 billion yen ($80.9 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.