Hitachi Debuts XGA-Compatible 41-Inch Color Plasma Display at Comdex.

BRISBANE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--November 11, 1997--Hitachi America, Ltd., Computer Division today announced that it will debut the 41-inch XGA color plasma display (aspect ratio 4:3) at Comdex/Fall 97. The new display, which is intended for business applications, has more than 2.5 times the pixels of a conventional VGA display.

Color plasma displays are a new technology, increasingly regarded as the optimum way of producing large-screen color displays that are both flat and lightweight. The increased use of multimedia in recent years has fueled the demand for larger, higher-resolution displays.

Large-screen color plasma displays are mainly targeted at business applications such as the system displays for public facilities, traffic information services and related monitoring and control purposes, and are also being used in an increasing number of industrial sectors such as distribution, financial services, medicine and manufacturing, especially for presentations and as a multimedia-based educational and training tool.

Hitachi has already announced that on December 1 it will start shipping samples of a 25-inch XGA color plasma display in Japan. The 41-inch plasma display was developed to meet growing demand for even larger screen sizes.

The XGA capability of the 41-inch plasma display means a resolution of 1,024 by 768 pixels, or 2.36 million on-screen dots, 2.5 times more than a VGA display (640 by 480 pixels). The display is 15 cm deep, weighs around 37 kg, has a wide viewing angle of 160 degrees, both vertically and horizontally, and features excellent brightness and contrast. It incorporates multiscan technology that automatically adjusts to XGA, SVGA and VGA, and also has video input ports.

For the future, 40-inch and larger wide-screen color plasma displays are being planned for the consumer TV market, where multimedia is becoming increasingly popular.

The Computer Division of Hitachi America, Ltd. supplies advanced computer peripherals to the U.S. marketplace, including color plasma displays; CD-ROM and DVD drives; hard disk drives; laser printers; and 3-D graphics subsystems.

Hitachi America, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., Japan, markets and manufactures a broad range of electronics, computer systems and products, and provides industrial equipment and services throughout the U.S.

Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 1996 (ending March 31, 1997) consolidated sales of $68.7 billion. The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment.

*VGA and XGA are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.

*As an integral member of Japans Hi-Vision PDP consortium, Hitachi was an early participant in the development of fundamental PDP.

Main features of the display

1. 41-inch XGA color PDP A fine dot pitch of 0.27 mm and RGB pixel pitch of 0.81 mm made it possible to achieve XGA resolution (1,024 by 768 pixels) in a 41-inch screen size.

2. High contrast ratio A contrast of better than 300:1 (under no ambient light conditions) provides sharp, brilliant colors.

3. Optimized high-speed driver circuitry High-output scan-drive ICs in the form of insulated gate bipolar transistors are used that have twice the drive capabilities of earlier drive ICs.

4. Multiscan capability Hitachi developed special multiscanning circuitry that automatically adjusts to XGA, SVGA and VGA inputs. Video input is also supported.

Main specifications of the display

Effective display dimensions (mm) 829 (W) by 622 (H) (Aspect ratio 4:3) Number of pixels 1,024 horizontal by 768 vertical (XGA) Number of dots 2.36 million (1,024 by 3 by 768) Dot pitch (mm) 0.27 (W) by 0.81 (H) Max. brightness (cd/m2) 250 (panel) Contrast ratio More than 300:1 (no ambient light) Number of colors 260,000 (64 gray levels) Viewing angle 160 degrees External dimensions (mm) 976 (W) by 796 (H) by 150 (D)

(excluding stand) Weight (kg) 37 (with built-in power supply,

and not including stand) Supply voltage AC 100-120 V 50/60 Hz

CONTACT: Hitachi America, Ltd.

Rodney Reed, 415-244-7579

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