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RCA Press Release for May 7, 1982

INDIANAPOLIS, May 7 -- RCA formally broke ground today for a new $19 million facility capable of supplying an essential material used in the manufacture of "CED" video discs to other manufacturers on a worldwide basis.

The establishment of a separate facility to produce compounding material will also enable RCA to support expanded disc manufacturing at the company's Rockville Road plant which produces all RCA-branded "CED" video discs, as well as other brands of discs.

"In the space of some 11 months, RCA has nearly tripled the video disc pressing capacity in support of strong consumer demand for discs, " said Dr. Jay J. Brandinger, Division Vice President and General Manager, RCA "SelectaVision" VideoDisc Operations.

In addition to the new 55,000 square foot compounding facility, RCA has completed a new power plant here with a planned capability of handling energy requirements for 60 disc presses.

The compounding facility will consist in part of special mixing equipment which blends the plastic, carbon and other additives that are used in pressing the conductive RCA discs. The blended material takes the form of pellets, which are formed into a mass and then placed between the two stampers of an automatic compression molding press to make the final disc.

In the RCA "CED" system, the disc provides up to 60 minutes per side of sound and pictures for display on a television receiver using the VideoDisc player. RCA plans to introduce stereo discs and players in June, thus significantly broadening its VideoDisc line to provide wider appeal to more segments of the consumer market.

Dr. Brandinger said the new compounding facility, which will replace a smaller in-plant operation, will be "a totally closed system that is computer-controlled and environmentally clean. " Stainless steel equipment will be used extensively in the compounding system that will be able to process some 50,000 pounds of raw material on a daily basis.

The facility will be the most modern system in the world for supplying the essential compound material for the disc manufacturers worldwide, Dr. Brandinger said. Completion date will be in the early part of 1983.