SONY EXPANDS IPELA VIDEOCONFERENCING LINEUP WITH NEW MODELS FOR DESKTOP AND CONFERENCE ROOM USE

LAS VEGAS (InfoComm, Booth #401), June 8, 2005 - Sony Electronics is expanding its IPELA ® line of Internet protocol (IP)-based collaborative communications products with two new videoconferencing systems. The PCS-TL30 system is designed for desktop use and the PCS-G50 is suited to conference room or other permanent installations.

"These new models add depth and flexibility to the IPELA family," said Michael McCausland, vice president of visual communications for Sony Electronics. "The PCS-TL30 realizes the dream of desktop videoconferencing with a fully functioning A/V interface, and the PCS-G50 provides excellent audio and video quality for multipoint calls and fills an important midrange market niche."

The PCS-TL30 is a standalone IP-based videoconferencing system that can also double as a PC display, conserving desktop space by providing "all-in-one" system multi-functionality. With an intuitive graphical interface and mouse-operated one-click dialing, the system integrates a 4x digital zoom camera, high-quality directional microphone, 17-inch (viewable area, measured diagonally) WXGA LCD monitor and speaker.

The system complies with the H.264 standard to deliver high-quality video at up to 2Mbps. Support for MPEG4 AAC audio (14 kHz) also provides excellent sound quality while reducing bandwidth requirements.

Compliance with a range of industry standards enables operation of these products as an endpoint with other standards-based systems. The initial version of the PCS-TL30 supports UPnP. Options for the PCS-TL30 include the Data Solution Module (PCSA-DSM1), a plug-in for Sony group conferencing systems to enable the sharing of PC files while a conference is in progress. Support for the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) will also be available as an option for the PCS-TL30.

The PCS-G50 system is built on the same platform as Sony's successful PCS-1 and PCS-G70 videoconferencing series, but adds the scalability necessary for installation in a range of environments.

The system can be customized with capture, output and display options, and is capable of delivering broadcast-quality video over IP networks utilizing the H.263 standard video codec/4CIF format at a maximum video transfer rate of 4 Mbps. For higher throughput, the PCS-G50 also supports the H.264 standard as well as previous ITU-T standard videoconferencing codecs for enhanced compatibility with legacy systems.

Internal Multi-Control Unit (MCU) enables broad interoperability by bridging mixed calls between ISDN and IP networks, allowing users to match individual speeds rather than drop the performance of the entire system to the lowest rate. The system supports multi-point conferencing with six endpoints or up to 10 endpoints by cascading two PCS-G50s. A "site name" display makes identification of multiple participants easier.

The Remote Commander ® wireless remote control further facilitates system operation, and can immediately connect to any one of three contacts pre-programmed into the launch menu with up to 500 additional contacts stored in the address book.

The Remote Commander unit also features a call log that can store the last 32 inbound and outbound calls. Audio and video can be saved to Memory Stick ® media.

The system incorporates data sharing, QoS support functions to maximize bandwidth efficiency, encryption and digital whiteboard support.

The PCS-TL30 is planned to be available this fall. The PCS-G50 is planned to be available this month at a suggested list price of $5,800.

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