Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company, the first company to show DVD-Audio players in the United States earlier this year, affirms its commitment to this new and exciting audio medium by being the first to announce delivery timing and suggested pricing for two models, the Panasonic-brand DVD-A7 and the Technics DVD-A10.

Beginning this October, both models will be shipped to dealers nationwide. The Panasonic DVD-A7 has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $999.95. The Technics DVD-A10 carries a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $1,199.95.

These next generation audio players can be easily incorporated into your home entertainment system. But while the players will accept and play conventional CDs, future DVD-Audio discs will be reproduced with far greater fidelity then presently available. And DVD-Audio is capable of much more. Attached to a home entertainment’s television or projection TV, a DVD-Audio player can also reproduce video: graphics, text, music videos, and more can be shown. Additionally, since the player is compatible with DVD Video discs, your favorite
DVD movies can be played as well — along with up to 5.1 channels of Dolby Digital® and dts(TM) multi-channel sound.

Conforming to the newly established DVD-Audio standard, and containing an encryption system to prevent unauthorized disc duplication, DVD-Audio takes advantage of the digital technology originally developed for DVD-Video. It uses the advanced format’s vast data storage potential to deliver astounding sound enriched with the nuance, warmth and subtle overtones of a live musical performance.

DVD-Audio is fully multi-channel sound compatible and uses PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) for all channels, presenting a new level of multi-channel sound quality, unprecedented realism in ambience reproduction, and the potential to create radically different sound spaces. Incorporating both Dolby Digital and dts decoders, the players can decode music and soundtracks recorded in up to 5.1 channels (including a subwoofer) to give listeners the ambience and enveloping effect of a live performance.