News Release：Pioneer Introduces two New Plasma Displaysinto the Commercial Market

TOKYO, Japan, July 12, 1999 ----- PIONEER CORPORATION announced that top of the line plasma displays undergo full model changes. The PDP-502MX XGA 50-inch Wide Screen Plasma Display System and PDP-V402 VGA 40-inch Plasma Display System are soon to be introduced into the Japanese commercial market.

< Planning Concept >

Pioneer introduced its first 50-inch wide screen plasma display, the PDP-501HD into the Japanese domestic market late 1997. And then the company expanded its line up, adding PDP-V7, the 40-inch VGA monitor and PDP-501MX, the 50inch wide screen XGA monitor into commercial markets worldwide.
These first generation models have been accepted very well and obtained a good reputation.

The adoptions of Plasma displays have been widely spreading at various sites. For example, they are installed at large public spaces with visual image exhibitions, they are used as tools of presentations at school or in office and they are installed as watching and controlling monitors at places such as power plants, telecommunication facility and firehouses.

The applications of PDP are now expanding further and Pioneer forecasts the market size of PDP in 1999 will grow to 125,000 units. And about 80% of those are for commercial applications. Pioneer replaces the current two models by new generation products with advanced technology to comply with wider applications and to meet the growing demand.

< Main Features of PDP-502MX >

1 ) Newly developed XGA 50-inch wide panel and CLEAR Sub-Field Drive

PIONEER's new plasma display achieves more accurate reproduction at higher color temperature, thanks to the employment of a new phosphor with an improved illumination efficiency balance.
With 7-step adjustment between 5,400K and 11,500K, the PDP-502MX reproduces much clearer and more natural-looking images with improved white color reproduction and sharper contrast.
Also thanks to *CLEAR Sub-Field Drive, the new panel is 1.6times brighter than the previous model and its contrast ratio was improved as much as 2.8times of its precedent.

2 ) PIONEER's Digital Enhancer

This signal processing circuitry achieves clear, high-resolution pictures from all input signals including PC, Video, etc.
To ensure the finest and clearest possible PC screen image reproduction, the PDP-502MX is equipped with PIONEER's exclusive Digital Enhancer Signal Processing Circuitry. This technology has resulted in a 1-dot unit enhancement in both the horizontal and vertical directions, meaning that the model is capable of displaying fine text and graphics images from PC sources with much more clarity than pre-existing plasma displays.
Accordingly, the PDP-502MX is the ideal display for a wide variety of presentation tasks.

3 ) Digital HD Progressive Technology

This feature achieves the ultimate in high-picture quality with 8 times of the normal NTSC signal density.
In this signal processing, the NTSC interlaced signal is first raised by progressive conversion to the VGA level, which is double of the original level. Next, the information content is boosted by 4 times through a process that involves estimating the edge section waveform. These measures are combined to produce an 8-fold increase in signal density, resulting in really smooth picture reproduction that utilizes the full potential of the high-resolution panel screen.
Moreover, in the industry first, PIONEER's HD Progressive Technology compresses the HD signal to twice its normal density, which means the viewers can enjoy superb high-quality pictures at a resolution level even comparable to CRT-based system.

4 ) XGA Full-Specification Display Compatible with SXGA and UXGA

PDP-502MX is equipped with a 980,000-pixel (1,280 x 768 dot) 50-inch high-resolution panel. This full-specification display accepts standard PC signals ranging from VGA (640 x 480 dot) to XGA (1,024 x 768 dot), and is also compatible with SXGA (1,280 x 1,024 dot) and UXGA (1,600 x 1,200 dot)^*1 ultra-high-resolution PC signals.
Furthermore, the 1,280 x 768 dot full display can be used in conjunction with an exclusive video card, and the display can also be made HD TV signal compatible.^*2

5 ) "Layout-Free" Flexible Slim Design

The PDP-502MX's heat discharge system has its efficiency improved so that the noise level of the cooling fans was depressed. This improvement expands the display s installation tolerance and become more flexible for wider applications. Also, in the interests of achieving a truly "layout-free" design despite the large 50-inch screen, this model has been made surprising light in weight and given the slimmest dimensions of any plasma display on the market. Only 98mm in depth and weight 40.3kg (3 Kg reducing from the previous model)

6 ) A Full Lineup of Professional Features and Functions

The PDP-502MX provides a host of invaluable features and functions for professional users.
Such features are;
precise white balance adjustment, an external control interface, the combination terminal that enables package control over plural units, white balance switching function, a variety of input terminals (4 sets of inputs + 2 sets of outputs), an audio amplifier (2W x 2W), and a key lock function.

< Main Features of PDP-V402 >

The PDP-V402 is a 40-inch standard PDP system with aspect ratio 4 : 3. It was designed for commercial usage such as moving pictures advertisement or electronic signboard. The PDP-V402 pursues high brightness required for use under daylight and easy installation.

1 ) High Brightness and High Resolution

• Thanks to the improvement in operating power efficiency, the brightness of the PDP-V402 at white color areas was improved by 10% for video reproductions and by 30% for PC signals. (Comparison with PDP-V7)
• The adoption of black-stripes improves the contrast even at bright picture areas.
• New phosphor material makes white eve whiter.
  PIONEER's new plasma display achieves more accurate reproduction of higher color temperatures thanks to the employment of a new phosphor featuring an improved illumination efficiency

2 ) Easy installation and Layout free concept

• Its slim and light weight design is at the top of the industry standard, with only 88mm depth and 30kg in weight. This gives many choices of installation methods and ways to the customers. Also the improvement in operational conditions and reliability makes installation much easier and expands feasible installation locations.
• The installation kits from the previous models can be commonly used for the new model, therefore additional set-up of PDP-V402 would not cause any troubles.

3 ) Wide compatibility with various input signals

• PDP-V402 reproduces video signal and 640 x 480 pixel PC signals.
• Moreover, together with Pioneer high performance down-converter, it can be also compatible with 1024 x 768 pixel (XGA) PC signal and reproduces letters and lines with clarity.

4 ) A Full Lineup of Professional Features and Functions

The PDP-V402 has functions to meet professional requirements.
Accurate white balance adjustment/ an external control interface (RS-232C)/ Primary Signal Selection Mode/ Operation Self monitoring mode / Key lock function / Switchable White balance/ OSD On·Off mode/ etc.

< PDP-502MX and PDP-V402 Main specifications >

< Optional Speaker System PDP-S03-LR >