Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today added two new drive families to its cast of consumer electronic (CE) optimized hard drives for the digital video recorder (DVR), IPTV set-top-box (STB), video surveillance and emerging hard drive-embedded TV markets.

Targeting high capacity CE needs, the new drives include the 3.5-inch CinemaStar 5K2000 family, which brings 2TB and 1.5TB capacities, and the 2.5-inch CinemaStar C5K750 family with 750GB, 640GB and 500GB capacities.

Hitachi GST continues to focus on advanced developments of its CinemaStar drives with features like SmoothStream Technology, Coolspin Technology, A/V streaming performance enhancements, HiVERT Technology for better power efficiency, and environmental optimization. Hitachi?s System Integration Test (SIT) Lab services, offered to global OEMs, also provide a team of dedicated professionals who perform specialized testing and integration services to further assist in specific HDD design and development requirements for digital entertainment.

Supporting multi-tuner HD streaming requirements, these 2.5-inch drives at 375GB per platter are dedicated high capacity solutions for manufacturers who wish to offer video recording and playback features in small form factor devices such as hard drive-embedded TVs and DVRs. The new CinemaStar C5K750 drives are Hitachi's first CE drives in the market with Advanced Format, which increases the physical sector size on hard drives from 512 bytes to 4096 (4K) bytes.

With its reduced size, 0.5 watts (W) low power idle, 1.5W power during read/write operations, and barely audible 2.3 idle bels, consumers can enjoy smaller, quieter and more power efficient DVR solutions in their bedroom or living room. Its low-power profile also means the drive requires smaller power supplies and less cooling, which helps extend the life of the hard drive and the host product in a typical entertainment cabinet.

With up to 2TBs of capacity, the 667GB per platter, 3.5-inch CinemaStar 5K2000 family with CoolSpin Technology provides A/V performance, low power and large video capacity.

The new CinemaStar 5K2000 drives are nearly silent at 2.4 bels during operation, draw only 4.2W or less idle power, and generate less heat, which are all critical factors when designing environmentally friendly digital video solutions.

The CinemaStar 5K2000 and C5K750 families are now shipping worldwide.