In-home video transfer by LAN and remote programming by cell phones is now a reality.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., best known for its Panasonic brand products, today unveiled five new models of DIGA DVD recorders. The recorders have 160 to 400 GB hard disk drives, providing massive recording and storage, high-speed dubbing, and superb home and mobile networking capabilities. The new products, DMR-E500H, DMR-E330H, DMR-E220H, DMR-250V and DMR-E87H will be introduced in the Japanese market from September 21.

The DMR-E500H high-end model in the DIGA DVD recorder range, features a built-in 400GB hard disk drive with a recording capacity of 709 hours of video in EP mode. It offers high-speed dubbing from hard disk drive onto DVD-RAM at speeds of 40x and onto DVD-R disc up to 64x in EP mode. This makes the DMR-500H the fastest DVD recorder in the industry as it can record a one-hour program onto DVD-R disc in just 56 seconds.

With its Ethernet port and a broadband receiver, the DMR-E500H offers convenience for home and mobile networking. With Ethernet connection, MPEG4 video and JPEG photos can be viewed by a PC*1 in another room. Using two DMR-E500Hs, MPEG2 video on one can be accessed by the other on the LAN. Broadband Internet access allows users to program recording through such mobile devices as cell phones*2 and PCs while away from home. Users can transfer pictures between the DVD recorder and their mobile device.

The DMR-E500H has an SD Memory Card slot and a PCMCIA card slot to transfer MPEG data at high speeds for storage or use in other devices. Using an SD Memory Card, it's easy to transfer video and still photos recorded by other digital AV products, such as digital still cameras, to the DMR-E500H for editing or storage on the hard disk or DVD discs. It can record MPEG4 image data simultaneously while recording MPEG2 data onto the hard disk. The MPEG4 data can be transferred to an SD Memory Card and played back on a Panasonic D-Snap SD video camera.

Other models in the new DIGA line-up include the DMR-E330H with 250GB hard disk drive, the DMR-E220H with 160GB hard disk drive, the DMR-E250V, a 3-in-1 DVD recorder with VHS recorder and 160GB hard disk drive, and the DMR-E87H with 160GB hard disk drive.

Equipped with two TV tuners, the DMR-E330H and DMR-E220H can record alternate television programs simultaneously onto the hard disk drive. The DMR-E500H, DMR-E330H, DMR-E220H and DMR-E87H, all offer high-speed recording from the hard disk drive to DVD-RAM at speeds of 40x and onto DVD-R disk up to 64x (both in EP mode).

The five new models take Panasonic's DIGA family to nine members, including the DMR-E700BD, BD (Blu-ray)/DVD recorder released on July 31, 2004. Panasonic continues to respond to the diverse needs of consumers and leads the way in the DVD recorder market.