TDK is gearing up for the official launch of its Professional Disc in 2005 and will be shipping the first samples to major European broadcasting studios including, BBC, WDR and BskyB in January 2005.

TDK first demonstrated its prototype Professional Disc, incorporating the latest blue laser recording technology, at IBC 2004. Professional Disc is the latest development in recording media, specifically for use in Sony?s XDCAM system. Each disc can store up to 23.3GB of digital data, such as film footage and is rewritable more than 10,000 times. The Professional Disc also has TDK?s unique extra hard coating* which gives unrivalled reliability, durability and protection from scratches as well as providing resistance to smudges and static. Additionally, the disc is rewritable more than 10,000 times.

Some of the main benefits of TDK?s Professional Disc are:

• High speed data transfer rate ? 72Mbps
• Professional Disc holds five times the capacity of DVD
• Images can be transferred electronically to IT systems
• Saves broadcasters time in the editing suite when finding a particular section on the Professional Disc

* DURABIS coating technology ? 100 times more scratch resistant than standard discs.

For more information about TDK Recording Media products, go to http://www.tdk-europe.com