Blu-ray Disc Association Welcomes BANDAI VISUAL
to Growing Number of Member Companies
TOKYO--(BUSINESS
WIRE)--Dec. 21, 2004--
Japanese Anime Content Developer Supports Blu-ray Disc's
High-Definition Technology
The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) announced that BANDAI
VISUAL CO., Ltd. (BANDAI VISUAL), a worldwide visual production company, has
joined the consortium that is currently almost 100 members strong and comprised
of consumer electronics and PC manufacturers and content developers. With this
announcement, consumers can expect to enjoy a rich high-definition library of
Japanese animation, or Anime, and movies on a Blu-ray Disc.
In Japan, BANDAI VISUAL is a pioneer of animation software and widely held by
viewers as a high-quality content creator. Currently, the animation movie
industry is working to create a new library of high-definition content, for
which the Blu-ray Disc format will provide the ideal solution.
"BANDAI VISUAL strives to provide the highest quality entertainment to
consumers all over the world," said Shigeru Watanabe, senior managing director
of Bandai Visual Co., Ltd. "Creating high-definition content such as animation
is a very important theme for us. We expect Blu-ray Disc to strengthen our
content technology and enable higher picture quality."
"The BDA is a membership organization comprised of almost 100 industry
leaders all working to create the next generation of high-definition technology
and content. Bandai Visual's decision is the recognition that high-quality
content needs high-quality technology," said Kiyoshi Nishitani, Senior Vice
President, Executive Officer of Sony Corporation, on behalf of the Blu-ray Disc
Association. "We are confident that this trend will continue with more content
companies continuing to join BDA."
About Blu-ray Disc: Blu-ray Disc is a next-generation optical disc format
being developed for high-definition video and high-capacity software
applications. A single-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 25 gigabytes of data
and a double-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 50 gigabytes of data.
About the Blu-ray Disc Association: The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) is
responsible for establishing format standards and promoting and further
developing business opportunities for Blu-ray Disc -- the next-generation
optical disc for storing high-definition movies, photos and other digital
content. BDA's founding members are Dell Inc.; Hewlett Packard Company; Hitachi,
Ltd.; LG Electronics Inc.; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; Panasonic
(Matsushita Electric); Pioneer Corporation; Royal Philips Electronics; Samsung
Electronics Co., Ltd.; Sharp Corporation; Sony Corporation; TDK Corporation,
Thomson, Twentieth Century Fox and Walt Disney Company, almost 100 companies
make up the BDA and play a role in the format creation, technology contribution
and working level of BDA's operation. Additional information about the Blu-ray
Disc Association is available at http://www.blu-raydisc.com/.
Source: Blu-ray Disk Association
