Compaq Professional Workstations to Power 3D Graphics and Animation on CBS Television Coverage of the 1998 Winter Olympic Games.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 11, 1998--Furthering its penetration of the digital content creation market segment, demonstrating its ability to help customers get the most out of computing and highlighting its commitment to the 3D animation and visualization and digital design marketplace, Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE:CPQ) -- the industry leader in the Windows NT-based workstation market(a) -- today announced that ReZ.n8, one of Hollywood's leading digital design and computer animation firms, has selected Compaq Professional Workstations to create many of the televised graphics to be included in the CBS television coverage of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

ReZ.n8, a world leader in conceptualizing, designing and producing state-of-the-art computer graphics, animation and special effects, will provide many of the televised graphics and simulations for the CBS Winter Olympics viewers. These simulations will include, in the United States coverage, televised animations depicting intricate figure skating technical requirements and 3D simulations of ski races and bobsled runs.

ReZ.n8's use of graphics- and compute-intensive design applications such as Kinetix's 3D Studio MAX and HyperMatter make it imperative that their workstations deliver optimal power through high-performance graphics, memory and processors. The Compaq Professional Workstations, which support up to two Pentium II processors, are ideal for these multithreaded applications, which take advantage of the power and scalability of Compaq's multiprocessing systems. In addition, Compaq workstations incorporate a Highly Parallel System Architecture which delivers two to four times the memory bandwidth and twice the I/O bandwidth of other Intel processor- and Windows NT-based systems. This increased system bandwidth allows data to move much faster between the CPUs, main memory and high-performance 3D graphics accelerators. As a result, ReZ.n8 can interactively manipulate rendered 3D objects on the screen with fluid, realistic motion.

"Because of the tremendous viewing audience, it was imperative to select the best tools to create the most compelling and realistic graphics," said Paul Sidlo, president and founder of ReZ.n8. "Compaq Professional Workstations will fit in seamlessly with our existing digital design tools and will no doubt contribute to positively enhancing the quality of the viewing experience."

"We are delighted to be collaborating with ReZ.n8 to produce the most visually stimulating and memorable televised graphics the world has ever seen. ReZ.n8 continues their successful formula of using the best tools to create digital content," said Doug Towey, creative director, CBS Sports.

Previously, high-end proprietary vendors dominated the digital design, game creation and 3D animation market. However, since entering the workstation market 15 months ago, Compaq has made significant inroads in these markets as well as the overall workstation marketplace. Reports from Dataquest position Compaq as the leading Windows NT-based workstation vendor with 28.2 percent of worldwide "IA-NT" workstation shipments in the third quarter of 1997(a).

"ReZ.n8's choice of Compaq Professional Workstations for these televised graphics reinforces Compaq's strength in the workstation marketplace. Compaq workstations deliver the uncompromising performance that customers with demanding requirements like ReZ.n8 need with all the benefits of price and flexibility that an industry-standard platform can offer," said David Parsons, Director of Workstation Marketing, Compaq Computer Corporation. "The fact that an industry-leading company like ReZ.n8, whose astounding work will be seen around the world, would select Compaq Professional Workstations for this critical project is further proof that Windows NT is becoming the preferred operating system of choice among creative professionals."

Company Background

Founded in 1982, Compaq Computer Corporation, a Fortune 100 company, is a global information technology company. Compaq is the fifth largest computer company in the world and the largest global supplier of personal computers. With worldwide sales of $24.6 billion in 1997, Compaq develops and markets hardware, software, solutions and services, including industry-leading enterprise computing solutions, fault-tolerant business-critical solutions, networking and communication products, commercial desktop and portable products and consumer PCs. The company is an industry leader in environmentally friendly programs and business practices.

Compaq products are sold and supported in more than 100 countries through a network of authorized Compaq marketing partners. Customer support and information about Compaq and its products can be found at http://www.compaq.com or by calling 1-800-OK-COMPAQ in North America. Product information and North America reseller locations can be obtained by calling 1-800-345-1518.

Compaq North America is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Its products and services are sold and supported through a network of more than 25,000 commercial and consumer marketing partners across the United States and Canada.

Historical financial results have been restated to reflect the pooling of Tandem.

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(a)According to Dataquest's "Advanced Desktops and Workstations Quarterly Statistics--Q3/97"

Compaq, Registered U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

CONTACT: Compaq Computer Corporation

Gary Frazier, 281/514-0484

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Miller/Shandwick Technologies

Sue Vaillancourt, 617/536-0470

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