Grass Valley Gear Shines on Academy Awards Night; Servers, Switchers, and Cameras from Thomson's Grass Valley Brand Bring Inaugural HD Broadcast to Air.

Entertainment Editors/Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

NAB2003

PARIS & NEVADA CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 26, 2003

Grass Valley(TM) digital production equipment from Thomson played a major role in televising the 75th Annual Academy Awards(R) telecast last night, the first delivered in a high-definition format.

The telecast also marked the first live simulcast -- in standard- and 720p high-definition formats (SD and HD) -- of a network entertainment show.

From on-air bumpers and film clips to the production itself, Grass Valley servers, switchers, and multi-format cameras were omnipresent in and around the Kodak Theatre.

"The most prestigious awards program in the world broadcast its ceremonies in high definition. I can't think of a stronger indicator that HD programming is poised for dramatic growth in the U.S. market," said Marc Valentin, president of Thomson Broadcast & Media Solutions. "We are proud and honored that our Grass Valley servers, switchers, and cameras were part of this historic broadcast."

Handling the graphics-intensive production of the Oscars(R) telecast in both SD and HD was the mobile company NEP Supershooters. NEP had three production units on site containing two Grass Valley XtenDD(TM) HD switchers, three GVeous HD digital video effects systems, two HD PVS 2000 Profile(R) XP Media Platform servers, several SD PVS 1000 Profile XP Media Platform servers, and at least 19 Grass Valley LDK 6000 mk II WorldCam multi-format cameras.

On board one of the NEP mobile units, the newly completed SS20 HD production truck, a single crew produced the SD broadcast in the 4:3 aspect ratio and the HD version in 16:9 widescreen. All of the HD material was acquired in native 720p resolution. The PVS 2000 server's ability to handle any HD format natively was critical to maintaining the award show's high production values.

"The multi-format capabilities of the Grass Valley equipment were crucial for handling the simulcast requirements for the ceremonies," said George Hoover, senior vice president of operations and engineering for NEP Supershooters, LP.

Hoover cited the LDK 6000 mk II WorldCam in particular. It is the only camera that can capture true progressive HD images, natively, and switch instantly between multiple formats and frame rates. The camera supports all recognized worldwide HD formats, including 24p, and provides pristine, oversampled SD acquisition and output. Hoover said the number of LDK 6000 mk II cameras was the largest ever used on a U.S. production.

Handling the random-access playback of the on-air bumpers, key signals, presenter titles, virtual sponsor billboards, and dozens of film clips on awards night was the A/V services company ProQue Industries. ProQue used four PVS 2000 Profile XP Media Platform servers and at least that many PVS 1000 servers.

Rick Edwards, a principal at ProQue, said the flexibility, reliability, and easy upgrade path of Grass Valley servers has made his company a long-time Profile user. In fact, Edwards mortgaged his house to buy his first Profile PDR 100 server in 1995.

"I can't say enough about the reliability of the Profile servers," Edwards said. "It's always a comfort to us knowing that when we pull up at the venue, the Profile servers are going to work under the most demanding circumstances. There's nothing more demanding than a network awards show."

The Profile PVS 2000 servers used by ProQue were recently converted from the company's existing PVS 1000 servers; a simple board swap enabled them to distribute 720p HD files, said Edwards. The same servers were used in February to produce the Grammy Awards broadcast in the 1080i HD format.

Set up on site in temporary facilities outside the theater in Hollywood, Edwards and his team operated the Profile systems with approximately seven hours of attached storage per server, enough space to utilize both pre-built effects and to create live effects from separate elements.

Due to the Profile line's frame-accurate cueing capability with key signals, Edwards said his crew could maintain a consistent high-resolution look for the graphics throughout the 720p HD ceremonies, even though the original material came from a variety of sources.

New Profile XP Media Platform Supports SD/HD in Same Server, Timeline

Leveraging the success of the Emmy(R) award-winning Profile line, the new PVS 3000 Profile XP Media Platform can play out SD and HD material from the same server and on the same timeline. To be unveiled at NAB 2003, the PVS 3000 is available as a standalone system or as an upgrade package for existing PVS 1000 and PVS 1100 customers. It offers HD vertical ancillary data support for captioning and interactive TV applications, as well as new enhancements that expand the platform's channel count, storage capacity, and bandwidth. More information about the PVS 3000 is available at http://www.thomsongrassvalley.com/products/servers/pvs3000/.

Certain statements in this press release, including any discussion of management expectations for future periods, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements due to changes in global economic and business conditions, consumer electronics markets, and regulatory factors. More detailed information on the potential factors that could affect the financial results of Thomson is contained in Thomson's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Thomson

With sales of 10.2 billion Euros (U.S. $ 9.6 billion) in 2002, Thomson (Euronext Paris:18453); (NYSE:TMS) provides a wide range of video (and enabling) technologies, systems, finished products and services to consumers and professionals in the entertainment and media industries. To advance and enable the digital media transition, Thomson has four principal divisions: Content and Networks, Consumer Products, Components, and Licensing. The company distributes its products under the Technicolor, Grass Valley, THOMSON and RCA brand names. For more information: http://www.thomson.net/

As part of Thomson Digital Media Solutions division, the Broadcast and Media Solutions activity delivers products and solutions for broadcast and TV/Film professionals under its Grass Valley brand. These open, integrated digital products that work together along the entire digital video chain to support a variety of workflows, from content capture and acquisition through production, post production, and transmission. With a proven track record in broadcast, including 17 Emmy(R) and multiple industry awards, it offers an award-winning, robust product portfolio that touches more high-quality content than any other; product and systems expertise that has yielded hundreds of patents and a number of industry standards; and worldwide software engineering expertise and customer support teams that are second to none.

For information about Grass Valley products from Thomson please visit www.thomsongrassvalley.com.