Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company announces its first
progressive scan DVD player. The DVD-H1000 delivers crisp 480p digital images to recreate the picture quality of the cinema right at home.

Unlike interlaced scanning (the NTSC standard which projects alternating frames of 262.5 lines of picture information every 1/60th of a second), progressive scanning transmits a full 525 horizontal lines (480 of which are displayed) in the same amount of time. With nearly double the number of lines, progressive scanning offers higher picture resolution and eliminates bothersome motion artifacts — those jagged edges on moving objects that are typical of a converted interlaced signal.

The DVD-H1000 can handle both progressive scan and interlaced output. By converting film source signals to “480p“” output, the progressive video processor chip reproduces recorded information in a format that’s more faithful to the original. The processor can also convert from interlaced to progressive scanning by performing critical signal processing tasks with high precision, delivering an exceptionally accurate 480p signal.

To raise image fidelity, the company developed a 10-bit, “4:4:4“” signal processor. This chip not only converts the recorded luminance and color difference (Y, P(B) P®) portions of the video signal from 8 to 10 bits, but, in a first for consumer DVD players, also upsamples the color signal data. Interpolation of P(B) and P® color difference data doubles their recorded 6.75MHz sampling frequencies to match the luminance signal’s 13.5MHz frequency. This 4:4:4 bandwidth delivers striking color reproduction along with flat luminance signal response for high resolution and minimal picture noise.

The DVD-H1000 will be available in October, 1999, at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $2,999.95.