TDK Ships Mass-Production Blu-ray Disc Samples

TOKYO - Dec. 13, 2005 - TDK today announces that is has commenced shipping mass-production samples of its bare-type (cartridge-less) BD-R (write-once type) and BD-RE (rewritable type) Blu-ray Discs. The four new products include:

• BD-R25 (write once, single-side, single-layer, 25GB)
• BD-R50 (write once, single-side, dual-layer, 50GB)
• BD-RE25 (rewritable, single-side, single-layer, 25GB)
• BD-RE50 (rewritable, single-side, dual-layer, 50GB)

To ensure the new discs will be resistant to scratches and dirt even without external cartridges, they will be coated with TDK's new DURABIS 2 hard coating. DURABIS 2 technology has been specifically formulated for Blu-ray Discs.

Mass production at TDK's Chikumagawa Techno Factory, which specializes in optical discs, will commence upon issue of licensing for the bare disc.

The main features of BD-R and BD-RE Blu-ray Discs include:

1. DURABIS 2 coating provides significantly greater resistance to scratches and dirt (particularly fingerprint smudges), ensuring safe use even without a cartridge.
2. Unique high-precision spin coating creates a supremely flat cover layer, resulting in highly stabilised recording and playback.
3. The BD-R disc utilises a recording layer of an inorganic material which is unaffected by exposure to light, thus offering outstanding archivability.
4. The BD-RE disc utilises a highly sensitive phase-change dye in the recording layer that realises stabilised characteristics even after as many as 10,000 rewrites.
5. High-precision stacking technology precisely overlays disc layers, delivering stabilised characteristics on both the upper and lower recording layers in a single-sided, dual-layer (50GB) disc.

About TDK
TDK Corporation (NYSE:TDK) is a leading global electronics company based in Japan. It was established in 1935 to commercialize "ferrite," a key material in electronics and magnetics. TDK's current product line includes ferrite materials, electronic components, wireless computer networking products, magnetic heads for HDD, and advanced digital recording media. For more information about TDK, please visit http:/www.tdk.co.jp/tetop01/index.htm