Sigma DesignsÆ Silicon In Many New Internet Appliances At Computex

15-Jun-00

Sigma DesignsÆ (NASDAQ: SIGM), a recognized leader in digital video decoder solutions, announced the company's MPEG-2 decoders were featured in many consumer Internet appliances at the Computex trade show in Taiwan.The industry movement toward interactive set top-boxes, or Internet appliances is developing rapidly as indicated by many of the demonstrations held at Computex 2000. Most of these new products have PC-based architecture, and take advantage of the vast range of software available and modular PCI upgradability. Sigma has taken a lead in this market through the immediate availability of ready-made solutions and its reputation for quality as the supplier of REALmagic brand PC-DVD playback and streaming video products. Thinh Tran, Sigma's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer commented, ""We are very excited to see our silicon solutions ready to ship in such a wide variety of Internet appliance designs from such a significant list of set-top box manufacturers. For Sigma, this signals the beginning of returns on the investment we've made over the past two years to position the company and its silicon as a leader in digital and streaming video."" Sigma's MPEG decoders, including its newest EM8400, were featured in several interactive set-top box designs with Web browsing and DVD playback capability, including those provided by Acer, Allwell Technology Corporation, TECO Information Systems, Toptrend Technology, Micro-Star International, Lung Hwa Electronics, Utron Technology and Eagle Wireless. Acer demonstrated its CT 500 set top box featuring Sigma's REALmagic EM8220 decoder silicon providing flicker-free video at full-screen resolution displayed on a 40-inch flat panel. The Acer demo operated with Liberate's TV Navigator interface, and included a digital camera enabling tradeshow attendees to e-mail photos from the exhibit floor. The resulting video was beautifully scaled and clearly displayed on the 40-inch flat screen enabling Acer to ""highlight the 'e' in e-Life,"" Acer's primary theme featured at this show. Another notable demo was in the Rise Technology booth, where Toptrend Technology, Inc. showed its Microsoft Venus 1.0+ set-top box with DVD playback featuring Sigma's EM8220 silicon. Sigma's current line of MPEG silicon solutions offer a PCI bus interface, support for new interactive set-top box operating environments, and advanced features such as progressive DVD display output, full-motion streaming video, and the latest in DVD-Audio standards. Operating environment support includes WindowsCE, Linux, VxWorks, and QNX. Sigma Designs is a leader in the fast-growing digital video market. Sigma specializes in digital video decoding for DVD playback applications as well as for streaming video over corporate intranets and extranets, and for the emerging interactive digital set-top box Internet information appliance market. Sigma's products are designed to advance digital video technology in high-speed, high-bandwidth transmission for business, home and education markets. Sigma Designs' products, marketed under the REALmagic trade name, are sold worldwide through a direct sales force, distributors, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). For additional information, visit the company's Web site at http://www.sigmadesigns.com.

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