Optical Disc Corp. comments on high density and its impact on the industry.

SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 8, 1995--Optical Disc Corp., a Los Angeles-area pioneer in the development of compact- disc technology, is pleased to hear that a standard for high-density CDs was announced this week.

DVD, as the standard is called, will provide many opportunities for those in the compact disc business and for consumers.

Optical Disc has been preparing for this standard for many years. Last January, the first high-density disc with video content was played publicly, and that disc was mastered by ODC. Since then, the company also has mastered discs to the preliminary SD and MMCD standards.

Mastering refers to the process of transferring audio, video or multimedia content from raw input to a master disc that's used to replicate copies. ODC mastering systems are used at CD replication facilities around the world.

This past September, when the SD and MMCD coalitions announced their intent to form a single standard, ODC announced high-density models of the DRAW Mastering System.

DRAW Mastering refers to ODC's exclusive dye polymer mastering process.

Now, with a single standard announced and available, ODC can perform the final development work to adapt DRAW Mastering to the DVD format.

Richard Wilkinson, president and chief executive officer of Optical Disc, has the following comments on high density and its impact upon the industry. Please contact the company if you would like to speak with Wilkinson, or feel free to incorporate the information below into your news coverage of the DVD standard. -0-

Q.  Who are the winners and losers in the compromise high-density
    format?

A.  ``Everyone is a winner, but most especially the consumer.  The
agreement on a single high-density standard creates an environment
where everyone in the industry can cooperate.  We can all work toward
introducing a wide variety of players and computer disc drives.  The
industry can rapidly develop entertainment and multimedia programs
for distribution on CD.  The consumer always wins with the adoption
of an industry standard.  It means there are more products available
and the costs for those products are lower.''

Q.  How will this standard affect the CD mastering business?

A.  ``Before the announcement of this standard, we expected to see
20 percent growth in the number of mastering production facilities
installed worldwide during 1996.  This growth is driven by consumer
demand for CD-Audio and CD-ROM.  I don't see high density changing
that estimate much for 1996.  We'll see some of the innovative
manufacturers investing in high-density mastering next year; but
high demand won't start until 1997 or 1998 as consumers purchase
more high-density players and disc drives, creating demand for CDs.''

Q.  How much more will it cost to manufacture a high-density CD than
    a standard density CD?

A.  ``We expect the cost differential to be extremely volume sensitive.
Until consumers buy large numbers of new players and computer disc
drives, the production runs of movie titles and multimedia software
programs will be fairly small, probably between 500 discs for some
software to 10,000 discs for popular movies.  At these low quantities,
the manufactured cost per disc will be, in my opinion, two to three
times today's cost of mass-produced standard density discs.  Because
there are simply fewer discs over which to amortize the costs of
MPEG-II encoding, glass mastering and replication, I think the
manufactured cost will be between $1.50 and $6 per disc.''

Q.  What is the best mastering technology to use for high density?

A.  ``Both the DRAW Mastering System and photoresist process have
been proven capable of producing a master which meets the high-density
specifications as proposed.  Now, each process must prove the
production-worthiness of its equipment and technology.

``We believe DRAW Mastering will be the preferred method, based on
the business issues.  It offers the lowest cost of ownership and the
lowest cost per master.  The ability to control the mastering
process is far greater, resulting in higher yields.  And, we
invented DRAW Mastering to prevent staining, or clouding on the
finished discs.  That promises to be a real problem in manufacturing
high-density discs.''

For More Information

Optical Disc is in the business of supporting manufacturers in efficient and profitable production of high-quality compact discs and supplying WORM (Write Once Read Many) recording systems and media to the professional video industry.

Optical Disc's worldwide headquarters are located at 12150 Mora Drive, Santa Fe Springs, Calif. 90670; telephone [phone], fax [phone]. ODC also maintains sales and customer support facilities in Europe/Amsterdam, telephone [phone], fax [phone]; Asia-Pacific/Hong Kong, telephone [phone] fax [phone]; and North America, telephone [phone], fax [phone]. -0-

Note to Editors: DRAW Mastering is a trademark of Optical Disc

Corp.

CONTACT: Optical Disc Corp., Santa Fe Springs

Pat Busick, 310/946-3050