LEADING DIGITAL CAMERA, IMAGING SOFTWARE COMPANIES
TO IMPLEMENT MPV SPECIFICATION

Industry Powerhouses HP, Nikon, Olympus and Samsung Agree to Incorporate OSTA-Developed Specification for Digital Photo Playlists into Innovative Products

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — February 13, 2004

The Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA), the international trade organization for the promotion of recordable optical technologies and products, today announced that industry-leading digital camera manufacturers and imaging software companies, including HP, Nikon Corporation, Olympus Corporation, Samsung Electronics Ltd. (Samsung Techwin Co., Ltd.) and Software Architects, Inc., have announced plans for implementation of the association’s MPV™ (MusicPhotoVideo™) specification for improved compatibility between and playback of digital media content by PCs and consumer electronic (CE) devices. Consumers with MPV-enabled DVD players, digital video recorders (DVRs) and PC software will enjoy faster and better playback and storing of digital photos and video captured on their MPV-enabled digital cameras.

The announcement, made at the 2004 Photo Marketing Association (PMA) Annual Trade Show and Convention in Las Vegas, Nev., represents a significant milestone for OSTA as HP, Nikon, Olympus and Samsung (Samsung Techwin) are the first companies to utilize the MPV specification to enhance a variety of CE products with the ability to access digital photo playlists that support voice annotation and playback of background music in slideshows.

The MPV specification, which is designed to facilitate the interchange of file-based digital media with DVD video players and recorders and other CE playback devices, was recently extended by OSTA to support digital music playlists of music in any of the popular compressed music file formats, including MP3, WMA, RM, AAC and others. An extension to MPV to define a
standard for portable, updatable archives of personal digital photos and video on recordable CDs and DVDs is under development. A MPV playlist is a control file format that allows easy navigation and improved playback of large collections of personal music, photos, and video files in a standard format that can be used by PCs, DVD players and recorders, digital cameras, and other CE products.

“ In 2003, digital camera sales exceeded sales of 35mm cameras, and sharing and archiving memories captured on digital cameras have become top consumer concerns,” said Pieter van Zee, MPV Working Group Chairman and Senior Architect for Digital Home Solutions, HP. “Today, many consumers organize their digital photos into collections, but there has been no standard way to interchange photo collections from computers to CE devices or between CE devices. MPV provides a simple and standard content management solution for the interchange of media collections, and we are delighted to announce its implementation into products from leading manufacturers.”

HP Adopts MPV for Use in HP Image Zone Software
The MPV specification has been adopted by HP for use in the company’s Image Zone imaging and printing software, which is bundled with most HP Pavilion PCs and notebooks as well as HP’s imaging and printing products. These products and others in development include full support for MPV and seamless integration for taking, viewing, editing, printing, and storing digital photos. With MPV support, HP Image Zone users can unload their digital images to create MPV albums, interactively make MPV albums on their PCs, burn MPV-enabled photo CDs for viewing on DVD players, and upload photos and order prints online from their MPV albums.

“ The combination of MPV support with HP’s innovative Image Zone personal digital photography software solution gives users unprecedented power, flexibility and ease of use in the management of their individual digital image collections,” said Tara Bunch, Vice President of Solutions, Alliances and Program Management, Consumer Imaging and Printing organization, HP. “HP has been a leading contributor to OSTA’s work on the MPV specification for the benefit of the company’s worldwide customer base.”

New Nikon Digital Camera Software to Include Music Profile Video (MPV) Support
Nikon Corporation will include MPV technology in its newly announced PictureProject™ photo management software, designed for use with Nikon’s award-winning Coolpix and digital SLR cameras. MPV will enhance PictureProject giving the dynamic software the ability to create MPV-compliant digital imaging shows, which can include a variety of digital media content. This content will include collections of still images, music, video clips and audio clips, among others, as well as the ability to store and play them on popular recordable DVD and CD media. The PictureProject software will be available bundled with new additions to Nikon popular Coolpix line and much-anticipated D70 digital Single Lens Reflex camera. The new cameras and PictureProject software will be demonstrated at the Nikon exhibit booth during PMA 2004, Las Vegas.

" Nikon's new series of digital cameras, together with PictureProject software with MPV support, will provide users with a creative tool to enrich their digital photography presentations and their enjoyment of personal and professional digital photography,” said Mr. Richard LoPinto, Senior Vice President, Products, Technology and Engineering of Nikon Inc. “Utilizing MPV functionality, together with Nikon's digital camera products and software, is an important part of Nikon’s strategy to deliver growing performance for photographers at all levels."

Nikon customers strive to maximize their enjoyment and practical application of digital photography. Making it easier to prepare digital still-image shows and view them through a DVD player or on a computer provides consumers with a great way of enjoying their photography and sharing it with family and friends.

Olympus Expands Product Capabilities With MPV
Olympus has developed a prototype digital camera that includes MPV. Olympus will demonstrate the benefits of adding MPV to digital cameras at the OSTA press conference at PMA. MPV will enhance the user experience in both PC and non-PC environments, and will support advanced features such as video, burst, and panorama modes. Olympus plans to add MPV functionality to their digital cameras and software in upcoming products.

“ The MPV specification extends the functionality and performance of Olympus’ upcoming digital cameras by enabling users better media management capabilities for storage and playback of their digital photos in albums,” said Toshikazu Hayashi, General Manager, Digital Storage Business Division, for Olympus Corporation. “To further enhance MPV’s digital camera capabilities, Olympus is chairing the OSTA specification group that is defining the use of MPV on digital camera memory cards to allow the MPV data to be updated efficiently with each click of the shutter.”

Samsung DVD Players Support MPV-Based Content
Samsung recently announced their commitment to use MPV technology to improve the interoperability of many of their digital imaging and consumer electronics products. Samsung and Olympus are demonstrating the MPV-enhanced experience of playback of content from an MPV-enabled digital camera in a MPV-enabled DVD player at PMA. “Most consumers will have personal photos and videos on memory cards or on CDs or DVDs, so our MPV-enabled DVD player with multiple memory card compatibility is an excellent example of how consumers can most easily playback and share their digital photo albums with friends and family,” said Young-Yoon Kim, Principal Engineer, Samsung Electronics Ltd.

Konica Minolta Leading Development of Portable Storage Profile
Konica Minolta Photo Imaging is providing the leadership in OSTA to develop an MPV-based specification for storage and update of personal photo and video files on recordable CD and DVD and other types of portable storage media, including memory cards and hard disk drives. Konica Minolta is currently gathering requirements and scoping the specification development work. A recent meeting in Japan attracted participation from Epson, Eastman Kodak Company, Olympus, Sony, Samsung, and Konica Minolta.

“ One of the essentials of photography is to archive photo assets for the future,” said Dr. Po-Chieh Hung, Konica Minolta, Chair of the MPV Portable Storage Working Group. “Digital photography gives us a capability to easily shoot and see, but is currently weak in long-term storage and secure portability. Konica Minolta, as one of the long-established photographic companies, is active in developing a common solution to preserve consumer’s important digital photos, without accidentally erasing and dispersing in exchanges and migration to a new medium. We believe that this solution will provide a true long-term benefit for consumers in the digital photo age.”

MPV CE Playlist Specification, Validation Tools, and Logo License Program
OSTA recently announced development of the MPV CE Playlist specification by OSTA member companies. Software Architects, Inc., a Bothell, Washington-based software development company, is developing validation test tools and a software developer kit to make it easy for manufacturers to create compliant products and ensure consistent and reliable playback on MPV-enabled products. "The CE Playlist profile is the part of the MPV feature set that focuses on standardized behavior for playback" said Robert Zollo, President of Software Architects, Inc.
" Our developer toolkit makes it easy for companies to quickly implement MPV playlists in their products, and the verification tools we are developing for OSTA will help ensure consumers enjoy the benefits of playing their MPV digital slide shows on any MPV-compliant DVD player, recorder, PC or CE device."

Successful implementations that pass the validation tests may complete the OSTA Logo License process and have access to the MPV trademarks and logo. It is expected that the MPV CE Playlist Specification, validation test tools, and logo license program will be available later this year.

About MPV
MPV is a specification for the management of digital music, photo, and video content that works with any file system or operating system by adding an XML metadata file that is recognized by the playback device. Originally designed for CDs and DVDs, MPV is extensible technology which works well in other storage solutions, such as memory cards and hard disk drives, as well as networked digital homes. OSTA manages an open process under which MPV is developed and the specifications are available for free. For more information, a presentation on MPV, and access to the specifications, visit http://www.osta.org/mpv. MPV is a trademark of OSTA. To arrange a briefing during PMA, please contact Keith Pillow, Multipath Communications, 310-558-3955, email keith@multipathcom.com.

About the Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA)
The Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) was incorporated as an international trade association in 1992 to promote the use of recordable optical technologies and products. The organization’s membership includes optical product manufacturers and resellers from three continents, representing more than 85 percent of worldwide writable optical product shipments. They work to shape the future of the industry through regular meetings of DVD Compatibility, Commercial Optical Storage Applications (COSA), Marketing, MultiRead, Planning and UDF committees. Interested companies worldwide are invited to join the organization and participate in its programs by contacting an OSTA representative at (408) 253-3695, by fax at (408) 253-9938, or by addressing its Web site at http://www.osta.org.

# # #