BBC Purchases RT-SET Virtual Studio System.

SHEFAYIM, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 14, 1998--RT-SET, the world leader in virtual studios, announced today (7/14) that The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has purchased a multi-camera Larus(TM) Virtual Studio System.

Currently installed at the BBC's virtual studio facility in London, the Larus system has been integrated successfully with the BBC's new "free-d" technology, a major advancement in virtual studio systems camera tracking. In addition RT-SET and the BBC are cooperating on mutual research and development to advance virtual studio technology.

The announcement was made by Alon Carmeli , RT-SET Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

"We are pleased to add RT-SET's Larus system to our roster of virtual technology equipment," said Danny Popkin, BBC Resources Technical Development Manager. "RT-SET has been an innovator in this emerging area of video technology. By making its creativity-oriented system technology available to our creative staff, we believe we are advancing the possibilities for new and more sophisticated uses of this burgeoning production tool. At the same time, we look forward to continuing efforts by both companies to continue the advancement of the virtual technologies and methodologies for the betterment of virtual production."

"We are proud that the BBC, known worldwide for both trend-setting programming and innovations in broadcast television technology, has given this high recognition to RT-SET's virtual studio technology," said Carmeli. "Their choice of our Larus system is a major landmark in the development of our company and will further speed the acceptance of virtual studio technology as a mainstream production tool throughout the world. We look forward to a long and fruitful collaboration with them."

Acquisition of the Larus system follows a brief test period last May during which RT-SET's virtual technology was integrated successfully with free-d. RT-SET is among the first 3D virtual studio manufacturers to successfully demonstrate its compatibility with the new BBC virtual studio camera position measurement system, which improves optical tracking in the virtual world. The result is a truly flexible hand-held camera movement tracking option not bound by the limitations known to be associated with other optical tracking systems.

Popkin noted that the integration is a significant step forward for tracking technology. "The compatibility of our free-d system with RT-SET technology is a further indication of the maturing of virtual studio technology. The ability to merge our system, with RT-SET's widely installed VSS technology, gives a production team the ability to produce visually original television imagery with the least restrictions."

Free-d uses a number of markers or targets placed in the studio lighting grid which are viewed by a small tracking camera attached to the studio camera. Images from the tracking camera are processed by the free-d unit, which accurately calculates the position and orientation of the studio camera. This information is used to calculate the appropriate view of the background or virtual set.

With the free-d technology, camera operators and talent can now move freely in any direction within a virtual set instead of remaining in a small patterned area as is the case with some other systems. There are no limitations or loss of tracking during close-ups or zoom.

"The frame delay rate from image capture to output is much improved over the first generation of optical tracking systems," Popkin added. "As a result, it causes less difficulties for talent to see and position themselves in the virtual world using a studio monitor to reference themselves."

"Physical objects often used to enrich the virtual set can be used, without fear of obstructing a pattern on the blue screen background, which is often used for camera reference. Studios can remain a uniform blue, which helps maintain the best possible chromakey."

The free-d system can be purchased from RT-SET and from Radamec Broadcast Systems, a UK company.

BBC Resources Virtual Studio Development is located in London. The BBC has been involved with research into Virtual Studio's since 1992 and in full production with both 2D and 3D systems since 1996.

RT-SET systems are the most widely installed virtual studio systems in the world. In 1998 alone, broadcasters in the United States, China, Mexico, Chile, India, France, Italy, Brazil and, now, the UK have acquired RT-SET systems for daily production including news, sports, children's programming and special events.

RT-SET Ltd. is the creator and developer of the Larus and Ibis turnkey Virtual Studio Systems. Virtual Studio Systems (VSS) enable real-time computer-generated virtual sets and environments to be used in live and taped broadcast and cable television, post-production, interactive programming, and other content-intensive video production. RT-SET is a subsidiary of BVR Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:BVRTF), a leader in the development of sophisticated flight simulators and training systems.

International headquarters are located in Shefayim, Israel. Phone: [phone]; FAX: [phone]. Website: www.rtset.co.il.

Sales offices for RT-SET America are located at 22 W. 21st Street, New York, NY 10010. Phone: [phone] (toll free). FAX: [phone]. E-mail: [e-mail].

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