IA Corp. licenses LEADTOOLS imaging compression software from LEAD Technologies.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 15, 1996--LEAD Technologies Inc. announced today that IA Corp. has agreed to license a UNIX version of LEADTOOLS(R), which contains LEAD's image compression technology, on behalf of McDonnell Douglas.

IA Corp. is licensing its DocuVision(TM) III product, an object-based, client-server system to McDonnell Douglas, which provides single enterprise-wide repository for engineering and technical drawings/images, supporting documentation and electronic data. MCDonnell Douglas requested LEAD's imaging compression technology to be incorporated within this Docu Vision application in order to provide the smallest image file size while maintaining the best image quality.

"It was extremely gratifying to learn that after testing and evaluating various compression methods available including JPEG, fractal, and wavelet, LEAD's proprietary compression technology (LEAD CMP) was selected for integration into McDonnell Douglas' documentation/data management system," said Rich Little, president of LEAD Technologies Inc. "We know that our image compression will prove invaluable to IA and McDonnell Douglas."

IA Corp., based in Emeryville, Calif., is a vendor of business-critical, client-server solutions for the financial services and manufacturing industry. Its object-based, client-server systems are distributed and scaleable, and incorporate high-volume workflow, document imaging and multimedia capabilities.

The IA/McDonnell Douglas contract represents the growing number of large companies that have entered licensing agreements with LEAD Technologies Inc. Thousands of developers including Corel Corp. currently utilizes LEAD's image compression, as well as Triplespace(R) (now known as LEADTOOLS DATA Compression Toolkit) to reduce the number of diskettes within their entire suite of software products. Other companies licensing LEAD's imaging compression are AT&T, Canon, Delrina, Intel, Intuit, Kodak, Lockheed, Martin, Logitech, Micrografx, Olympus, Prodigy, Reuters, Rockwell, Sharp Electronics, 3M, Upjohn and Xerox.

LEAD, long known for its image compression and image processing expertise, allows programmers a choice of optimized industry standard compression techniques such as JPEG and CCITT G3/G4, and its acclaimed proprietary CMP compression technology. LEAD's implementation of JPEG is the industry's fastest and supports over 60 "flavors" of the interchange file format. The CMP compression will deliver a smaller compressed file while maintaining more of the original image quality than the industry's standards.

LEAD's imaging toolkits, LEADTOOLS DLL, OCX and VBX follow the company's successful product make-up of offering a comprehensive imaging solution, which supports: scanning, color conversion, displaying, annotation, processing, file formats, compressions options, and printing. Now programmers have access to the rich image processing functions only previously available in high-end image applications, such as PhotoShop or PhotoStyler. The toolkits ship with over 40 demo samples complete with source code to assist the programmer in the development process. The sample code is designed so that in many cases the programmer can simply "cut" code from the examples and "paste" the LEAD code right into their application.

LEADTOOLS can be used as a Windows DLL (WIN16, WIN32s, WIN95, NT-TM) for Microsoft C/C++ and Borland C/C++, Watcom C/C++ compilers, and OS/2 DLL for OS/2 C-Set, Borland C/C++, Watcom C/C++ and any language which supports the calling of a DLL.LEADTOOLS VBX, can be used with earlier version of Visual Basic and any language which supports a VBX. LEADTOOLS OCX is available in a 16-bit version for WIN16, and a 32 bit version for Windows 95 and Windows NT, and is compatible with any applications that can make use of an OCX. A DOS version is also available. The toolkits start at $295. The products are available directly from LEAD Technologies, as well as through authorized distributors and resellers.

LEAD Technologies Inc. is an industry leader in the field of compression, image compression and image processing technology, licensing technology to thousands of developers, software publishers and OEMs, including Corel Corp. for use in CorelDRAW products and Inset Systems for use in HiJaak. Other OEM clients include AT&T, Canon, Delrina, Intel, Intuit, Kodak, Lockheed Martin, Logitech, Micrografx, Olympus, Prodigy, Reuters, Rockwell, Sharp Electronics, Softkey International, 3M, Upjohn and Xerox.

LEAD's products include LEADVIEW 3 for Windows, an image management tool aimed at end-users, LEADTOOLS, a family of imaging software development toolkits and LEADTOOLS DATA Compression Toolkit (formerly TripleSpace), a data compression technology aimed at OEMs. LEAD can be contacted for sales at 1-800-637-4699, 704/332-5532, [e-mail] or by fax [phone]. -0-

LEAD, LEADVIEW and LEADTOOLS are registered trademarks of LEAD Technologies Inc. LEADTOOLS DATA Compression Toolkit is a trademark of LEAD Technologies Inc. Microsoft, Windows and Visual Basic are registered trademarks and NT is trademark of Microsoft Corp. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

CONTACT: LEAD Technologies Inc., Charlotte

Jeanne Desrosiers, 704/332-5532, ext.1235

http://www.leadtools.com/