Panasonic Chooses Altera FPGAs for New Solid-State Broadcast Camera Recorders

Altera FPGAs Help Broadcast Equipment Leader Design Tape-Free Cameras With Field-Upgradeable Functions

National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Conference, Las Vegas, April 26, 2006—Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) announced today at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Conference that Panasonic leverages the performance and flexibility of Altera^® FPGAs to drive the recording functions in their new Professional Plug-in (P2) camera recorders that rely on solid-state memory cards instead of traditional tape-based storage.

“The price/performance advantage that Stratix^® II FPGAs created for our product was compelling,” said Akihito Nakatsukasa, manager of the component engineering group at the Professional AV Systems Business Unit, Systems Business Group, Panasonic AVC Networks Company. “The Altera solution also enabled us to rapidly deliver several innovative features in our new cameras, including a very cost-effective implementation of multiple recording modes and the ability to upgrade the cameras in the field. In addition, Stratix II FPGAs are valuable because their performance is high enough to support high-definition (HD) video products.”

Panasonic’s DVCPRO solid-state memory camera recorders use P2 memory cards for video recording. Replacing tape transport recording with high-density flash memory storage enhances production team efficiency with simplified media handling and increased mechanical reliability. Panasonic chose Stratix II devices to implement high-speed interfaces that can be upgraded in the field.

“The leaders in broadcast systems design consistently choose Altera’s programmable solutions,” said Todd Scott, senior director of Altera’s broadcast and consumer business unit. “This is the latest Panasonic studio product to use Altera FPGAs, which are helping broadcasters tackle the challenges of digital video production.”

Join Altera at NAB 2006

A photo and board from the Panasonic AJ-SPC700 camera recorder is on display at Altera’s NAB booth C8112 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, April 24-27. Altera’s many broadcast system design innovations, as well as others will be on display.

Panasonic is exhibiting its broadcast products using Altera programmable devices at NAB 2006 in booth C2518.

To learn more about Altera’s broadcast solutions, visit www.altera.com/end-markets/broadcast/bro-index.html. To see how customers have used Altera products in broadcast applications, visit the Broadcast section of Altera’s Customer Showcase at www.altera.com/broadcastsuccess.

About Altera

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) is the world’s pioneer in system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solutions. Combining programmable logic technology with software tools, intellectual property and technical services, Altera provides high-value programmable solutions to approximately 14,000 customers worldwide. More information is available at www.altera.com.