PANASONIC PRESS RELEASES

PANASONIC ANNOUNCES DEBUT OF BLU-RAY DISC HIGH DEFINITION HOME THEATER SOLUTIONxml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Panasonic Integrates Its Industry-Leading Plasma HDTVs With Cutting-Edge

Blu-ray Technology To Deliver The Ultimate Home Theater Solution

xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />SECAUCUS, NJ (June 22, 2006) – Panasonic, a leader in the development of Blu-ray Disc™ technology, today announced the debut of its first-ever Blu-ray Disc player (DMP-BD10), matching receiver (SA-XR700) and speaker system (SB-TP1000).  Each will be available at retail in September 2006.

While sold separately, these three products are designed to work seamlessly together as a complete high definition home theater system. Each has been designed to optimize the benefits of Blu-ray Disc technology when integrated with Panasonic’s industry-leading Plasma HDTVs.  For high definition entertainment optimization, Panasonic will also debut its first 1080P-capable 65-inch Plasma display (TH-65PX600) in fall 2006.

 “The debut of our first Blu-ray Disc High Definition Home Theater solution, combined with Panasonic’s Plasma TVs, allows us to offer consumers the most advanced and complete integrated home theater solution available,” said Reid Sullivan, Vice President of Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company’s Entertainment Group.  “Panasonic is proud to be a leader in the development of cutting edge Blu-ray technology, which is the most significant technological advance in home entertainment since the arrival of the DVD almost a decade ago.”

Blu-ray Disc technology delivers a significantly richer entertainment experience across a broad range of audio and visual elements including extraordinary image and sound quality.  Blu-ray Disc is supported by more than 170 leading companies in electronics, computers, video games, recording media, music and movies. 

The Panasonic Blu-ray Disc High Definition Home Theater system components feature Panasonic’s proprietary EZ-Sync^TM system.  The system provides HDAVI Control for integrated one-touch operation of 2006 Panasonic Blu-ray Home Theater components.  In addition, the receiver and player components are designed to visually complement the speakers and Plasma TV display.

Panasonic Blu-ray Disc Player (DMP-BD10) – The DMP-BD10, Panasonic’s first Blu-ray Player, with an SRP of $1299.95^**, delivers superior high definition digital image quality.  Key features include:

• Extraordinary Image -- Panasonic’s proprietary P4HD technology performs IP conversion at the pixel level for the finest details.  In addition the DMP-BD10 incorporates a 296MHz, 14bit Video D/A Converter that provides high quality 4x oversampling for 1080i/720p output. Noise shaping video processing shifts the noise component to an unused band to further boost the signal-to-noise ratio. Because of technologies like these, the DMP-BD10 can theoretically reproduce up to nearly 4400 billion colors.
• High Capacity – Blu-ray Discs provide five times more disc capacity than a standard DVD (25 GB* of storage on a single disc and up to 50 GB* on a double layer disc) providing more storage for high definition movies, TV shows, music concerts and other programming, plus additional space for other added-value content.
• Backward Capability -- Plays a variety of optical discs including DVDs and CDs and up-converts video playback from DVDs to 1080P, by using HDMI.

Panasonic Blu-ray Disc Receiver (SA-XR700) – The SA-XR700, Panasonic’s first Blu-ray matching receiver, with an SRP of $999.95, delivers extraordinary sound quality for a dramatic and immersive home theater listening experience.  Key features include:

• Full-Digital Amplifier and Advanced Dual Amplifier with up to 7.1 channels.
•  Powerful Stereo Mode with 100w/channel (20 kHz, 6 ohms, 0.09% THD)

• 192 kHz/24-bit Audio A/D Converter for Analog Input
• DVD-Audio Ready for High Quality Sound (88 kHz Reproduction, S/N 103dB)
• Wireless Ready
• XM satellite-ready
• 3 HDMI connections: 2 in, 1 out
• 6 Channel Discrete Inputs
• Gold-Plated Terminals and high performance components

Panasonic Home Theater Speaker System (SB-TP1000) – Designed to complement and optimize the Panasonic Blu-ray Disc High Definition Home Theater system’s audio capabilities, the SB-TP1000, with an SRP of $2999.95, delivers rich, true-to-life surround sound for movies, concerts and audio CDs alike.  The system includes front speakers, surround speakers and a subwoofer.  Key system features include:

Ø      Twin Center Speaker Technology -- Enables you to accurately hear dialog from the center of the Plasma screen -- regardless of listening position – without a separate center channel speaker.

Ø      Clarity and Range – 32 streams of audio deliver outstanding surround audio that optimizes Blu-ray’s potential.

Ø      Versatility – The SB-TP1000 enables wall mounting or free standing configurations depending on the consumer’s décor and preference.

Ø      Large Speaker Terminals

Ø      DVD-Audio Ready, Wide Frequency Range

 “The launch of our first Blu-ray Disc High Definition Home Theater underscores Panasonic’s commitment to bringing consumers ground breaking home entertainment options,” said Martin Kono, President of Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. “With the debut of our Blu-ray-based components and their integration with our Plasma displays, Panasonic has once again raised home entertainment solutions to a whole new level.”

Panasonic TH-65PX500 1080p Plasma HDTV Announced; Three new basic models are also added to its VIERA TV line

Osaka, Japan, August 25, 2005 - Panasonic, the leading brand for which Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is known, today announced it will launch the world's first 65-inch 1080p (progressive) high-definition (HD) plasma TV TH-65PX500 on November 1 and three new entry-level PX50 series HD plasma TVs with 50-, 42- and 37-inch displays on September 10 in Japan.

Mr. Shunzo Ushimaru, Director of Corporate Marketing Division for Panasonic Brand in Japan, said, "The TH-65PX500 marks a milestone in the development of plasma TVs. We capitalized on our expertise in developing and mass-producing the 65-inch plasma panels featuring 1920 horizontal × 1080 vertical resolution. We also added three basic HD plasma TVs. Now, our VIERA line includes nine plasma models ranging in screen size from 37 to 65 inches, offering more choice for consumers."

"Demand for plasma TVs is growing dramatically and plasma TV shipments in Japan exceeded 340000 units by the end of March 2005. The number is expected to almost triple to one million units in the next two years as digital terrestrial broadcasting reaches more than 10 percent of Japanese households by the end of December 2005. We expect the Winter Olympic Games in Turin next February to also drive the demand."

"We currently have a 70 percent share in the domestic plasma TV market for 37 inches and larger and about a 40 percent share of the overall flat-panel TV market," Mr. Ushimaru said.

The TH-65PX500 delivers spectacular true-to-life images with outstanding detail. The large 65-inch display highlights unique characteristics of plasma display panels such as excellent handling of fast-paced movement, dynamic contrast, bright crisp images and natural colors. The model incorporates the latest 1080p PEAKS (Picture Enhancement Accelerator with Kinetic System) panel drive circuit to optimize performance of the plasma display panel.

The high-end model of the VIERA TV line has two built-in digital and two built-in analog tuners. As it has an SD Memory Card slot, users can watch one digital channel while recording another onto the SD Memory Card (in MPEG4 format) without using a separate recording device. They can watch recorded programs on SD-compatible devices such as D-snap SD Multi Cameras and mobile phones.

While loaded with advanced features, the TH-65PX500 consumes 26 percent less power per year compared to the preceding 65-inch HD plasma display TH-65DX300.

The TH-65PX500 has an HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) port for an easy single-wire digital audio and video connection.

Panasonic has also added a low-cost and energy-efficient VIERA PX50 digital HDTV series. The 50-inch TH-50PX50, 42-inch TH-42PX50 and 37-inch TH-37PX50 feature the same PEAKS System (a plasma panel, processor and driver) as the higher-models in the PX500 series to ensure superb picture quality. The new models use up to 43 percent less power per year on average as compared to the PX300 series. The new PX50 models have realized the compact design, reducing the width by 70 mm with speakers being placed below the PDP screen.

The models have an SD Memory Card slot, providing connectivity with other SD-compatible devices. Photos taken with LUMIX digital still cameras can be displayed in a slide show format on the large VIERA TVs.

All four models incorporate a Deep Black Filter on the surface of the protection glass to suppress external glare and reflection. Panasonic's own Real Black Drive System provides a contrast ratio of 3000:1 in dark areas, achieving exceptionally deep and rich blacks. The panels have a long life of about 60000 hours. All the models come with easy-to-use remote controllers and can access Panasonic's T-Navi portal service.

Mr. Masaaki Fujita, Director, PDP TV Business Unit, Panasonic AVC Networks Company, said, "We are striving to provide consumers with greater value at the lowest cost. Plasma TVs are becoming the global standard for large flat panel TVs. In fact, plasma displays account for over 90 percent of the global flat-panel TV market for 37 inches and larger."

Panasonic Develops A 103-inch 1080p
Plasma Display Panel

Las Vegas, NV (January 4, 2006) — Panasonic, the leading brand for which Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE: MC) is best known, today announced it has developed a prototype of a 103-inch plasma display panel (PDP) with 1080p (progressive) HDTV resolution.  The prototype can deliver more than two million pixels (1,920 x 1,080) of performance.  Panasonic will show this super-large-size prototype at its booth at the 2006 International CES to be held in Las Vegas from January 5 to 8.

In flat panel displays, plasma has technical advantages over other technologies, including LCD, when it comes to making larger size panels.  Nevertheless, there are numerous technical challenges in making plasma panels that are larger than 100 inches measured diagonally while maintaining stable discharge and high picture quality across the entire surface of the panel.

Panasonic has overcome these technical hurdles by developing a new rib* and phosphor for these super large panels.  The 103-inch 1080p plasma panel, equivalent to four 50-inch panels in size, features consistent and uniform discharge, delivering the same accurate images from the center to every corner of the screen and brightness as the current 50-inch HD model (TH-50PX500).  The panel incorporates Panasonic’s 1080p HD high-speed pixel drive.  The same high-speed pixel drive is used in the TH-65PX500 65-inch 1080p Plasma TV, which has been well received in Japan since its introduction last November, and the 50-inch 1080p Plasma unveiled at CEATEC JAPAN 2005 in October 2005.

“Until now, the market for 100-plus-inch screens was dominated by front projection TVs.  Panasonic now realizes another option in this sector.  Our 103-inch 1080p PDP promises high quality images with high brightness, dynamic contrast, high resolution and excellent color reproduction that projection displays cannot match.  We believe it will create strong demand as a multipurpose display for business, educational and medical applications as well as home theater use,” said Mr. Nagano.

Committed to providing customers with a better visual experience based on its Ideas for Life brand statement, Panasonic continues to accelerate innovation of its unique panel, drive and process technologies for higher quality large-screen plasma displays.

Panasonic owns 21 Japanese and five overseas patents on the product including current applications.

* A “rib” divides each gas cell and prevents interference between adjacent cells to produce clear images.