New Ultra-Fast 48X TDK veloCD Drive is Ideal for Digital Photo and Video CD Creation.

Business Editors & Technology Writers

TDK Breaks the CD Burning Speed Barrier Once Again With Introduction

of Industry's Fastest-Ever ReWriter

In a move that redefines CD burner performance, value and functionality, TDK today announced the introduction of its 48X veloCD ReWriter (Model number AI-481648)--the world's fastest CD burner.

The new veloCD internal ATAPI/EIDE drive comes with a versatile software suite including utilities that make creating video slide shows and movies easier and more fun than ever before--and delivers unprecedented 48X read, write, and audio ripping along with 24X rewrite speeds (upon media availability).

Randall Rosenbaum, TDK's Product Manager noted: "As CD burning and digital photography have become well established among computer users, more and more consumers are starting to create more complex projects like photo and video CDs, which can then be played back in VCD compatible DVD players or DVD-ROM drives. The new 48X veloCD makes creating customized CD slide shows and movies super-easy and intuitive--it's the perfect burner for first-time users as well as experienced computer enthusiasts."

Easy Video Slide Show and Movie Creation

The TDK 48X veloCD comes with Nero Express(TM), the easiest to use software package ever offered with a burner. Nero Express makes it a breeze to create "slide show" discs of favorite photographs that can be played on virtually any DVD player or DVD-ROM drive--giving users the power to produce compelling photo presentations that the entire family can watch on TV. It is also ideal for producing video CDs that can also be played on a DVD player or drive, and features simple "drag and drop" operation and intuitive on-screen graphics enable consumers to effortlessly arrange and assemble the images and video clips they want to burn onto CD.

Like all veloCD burners, the latest drive also features a host of multimedia, data and music software for total CD recording functionality, such as TDK's renowned Digital MixMaster software, which handles music management and recording functions including CD and MP3 playback, digital audio extraction ("ripping"), Internet-accessible track labeling, CD recording, and playlist creation.

Advanced Technologies for Fast, Reliable CD Burning

The TDK 48X veloCD dramatically raises the bar in CD burning performance, flexibility and ease of use. It's remarkable 48X write speed enables a full CD-R to be burned in less than two and a half minutes, and because veloCD utilizes the Constant Angular Velocity (CAV) method of writing to disk, unlike drives that use Constant Linear Velocity (CLV) technology, CD recording performance is smoother, with less chance of write errors.

Standard CD burners typically write to a disc in a series of "steps," where the drive writes a section of the disc at one speed, then ramps up to a faster speed for the next "zone," and so on. While standard burners engage buffer underrun protection during these "steps," which can result in a greater frequency of write errors, the 48X veloCD writes to disc in an uninterrupted manner, for a smoother, continuous burn that virtually eliminates CD write errors. As an added benefit, when recording discs that contain smaller amounts of data--which is typical of many recorded CDs--the discs can be burned at a much faster rate compared to using a standard CD drive.

The 48X veloCD sets a new standard in CD-RW burning speed as well. It will deliver 24X rewrite speed, when media is available.

The TDK 48X Internal ATAPI/EIDE veloCD (Model number AI-481648) will be available in July 2002 at a suggested retail price of $109. Underscoring its increased flexibility, the TDK veloCD features bold, colorful new packaging that highlights its digital video and photo CD capabilities and clearly communicates its enhanced performance to retail customers.

veloCD is a registered trademark of TDK Electronics Corporation. Nero Express is a registered trademark of Ahead Software, Inc.