Ritz Camera Offers YesVideo DVD Transfer Products and Services

YesVideo, Inc. (www.yesvideo.com), the leader in professional digital authoring, is teaming up with Ritz Camera Centers, the largest national camera and photo chain, to bring DVD transfer services to its Ritz Camera and Wolf Camera stores nationwide. The new offering will include a combination of same-day DVD services performed in store from videotape and digital photos at select Ritz Camera stores and transfer of movie film, 35mm slides, all common videotape formats, and photographs to DVDs, with centralized production at YesVideo's Santa Clara, CA, headquarters, offered at all 1,100 Ritz locations.

Now, customers of the Ritz Camera Centers can bring in their precious memories on almost any format for direct conversion to DVD. The DVD format offers the versatility of playback on either a TV (DVD player) or a personal computer. With DVD players in 81% of U.S. households, DVD is the preferred way to view home movie and photo memories. The YesDVD format provides professional DVD features that allow consumers to access, view, and share their personal content easily.

YesDVD authoring adds an array of value-added DVD features:

 --  Chapters automatically detected at the beginning of new scenes
 --  DVD menus with images depicting the content in each chapter
     (chapter thumbnails)
 --  One-minute music video highlights - best scenes from the customer's
     footage set to the beat of three music samples.
 --  Personalized DVD title on the DVD packaging and main menu screen
 --  Chapter thumbnail images printed on the DVD case coversheet
 --  YesVideo Digital Scrapbook multimedia software enables the consumer
     to edit and share their favorite memories by inserting the YesDVD in
     their Windows PC DVD ROM drive. With the editing software embedded
     on the YesDVD disc, Digital Scrapbook eliminates the need for
     complex or expensive editing suites or the need to install any
     software on your PC.

YesVideo Digital Scrapbook offers these valuable features:

 --  Creates multimedia storyboards, complete with transitions, title
     screens, and the user's music
 --  Captures digital photos from videos or old movie film
 --  Edits video (Modify start and end points)
 --  Edits photos (Rotate, zoom, crop, and adjust brightness and contrast)
 --  Prints and e-mail photos and images

YesVideo will install in-store DVD minilabs in 326 select Ritz Camera Center locations. Ritz photo associates will operate the YesDVD Generator minilab systems to produce YesDVD products from VHS, camcorder tapes, digital camera memory cards, and photo CDs. Onsite production allows these locations to offer same-day transfer services to Ritz customers. In addition, centralized DVD production services will be offered at all 1,100 Ritz Camera Center locations for all common media types, including VHS, camcorder cassettes, BetaCam tapes, 8mm movies, super 8 movies, 16mm movies, photo prints, and 35mm slides.

"Home movies stored on VHS tape or camcorder cassettes have finite life and old movie film is very difficult to play back," said Greg Ayres, COO of YesVideo. "Authorities on the subject of magnetic videotape media state that tapes can significantly degrade in as few as fifteen years. Through this relationship with Ritz Camera Centers, we are offering consumers a professionally featured DVD from their home movies that provide a better way to view them, share them, and organize them."

YesVideo services will enhance Ritz and Wolf's existing array of video and photo services. More and more consumers want to protect home videos or recordings against further degradation. Videotape picture quality degrades over time, while film and slide projectors are giving way to digital projectors. Moreover, many consumers are using their PCs or laptops as media centers.

"We are excited to offer YesVideo's in-store and centralized transfer services as an added convenience to our customers," says Rich Tranchida, Executive Vice President, Ritz Camera Centers. "Our customers expect the best products and services from Ritz Camera. YesDVD is a perfect addition to our comprehensive digital media offerings."

About YesVideo

YesVideo, Inc. is dedicated to providing its customers with easy and affordable solutions to preserve and enjoy their video and photographic memories. As the leader in automated digital media authoring, YesVideo develops and utilizes best in class video engineering and state of the art software technology to enable top-quality, on demand DVD and CD video publishing. Founded in 1999 by Sai-Wai Fu, a pioneer in digital video compression Technology, YesVideo is a privately held company, with headquarters in Santa Clara, California. For More information about YesVideo, visit http://www.yesvideo.com.

About Ritz Camera

Ritz Camera Centers, headquartered in Beltsville, MD, is the largest retail camera and photo chain in the United States with approximately 1,100 locations in 45 states and the District of Columbia. The chain of stores now includes Ritz Camera, Wolf Camera, Kits Camera, Inkley's and The Camera Shop. All stores have Big Print Central Departments offering both traditional and digital prints "in minutes." The Ritz Camera Centers, Inc. website, www.ritzpix.com offers customers a one-hour printing and in-store pick-up service. Ritz Camera Centers, Inc. also owns and operates Boater's World Marine Centers, a leading marine specialty retail chain with 125 stores nationwide.

Distributed by Market Wire