Kopin to Develop Advanced Chip to Drive Full-Color SXGA Display for the U.S. Army; Ultra-High-Resolution Display and Driver for Digital Enhanced Night Vision Goggle to Support Soldier of the Future.TAUNTON, Mass. -- Kopin(R) Corporation (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : KOPN), the largest U.S. manufacturer of microdisplays for mobile consumer and military electronics, today announced a $750,000 contract from the Department of Defense (DoD) to develop an advanced display driver chip for its full-color CyberDisplay(R) SXGA (Super XGA) A screen resolution of 1280x1024 pixels. SXGA is commonly used on standard monitors, but provides a 1.25:1 aspect ratio, compared to the more common 1.33:1 (4:3) ratio. SXGA+ has a 1400x1050 resolution, which is an exact 1.33:1 ratio. See PC display modes. Active-Matrix Liquid Crystal Display An active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) is a type of flat panel display, currently the overwhelming choice of notebook computer manufacturers, due to light weight, very good image quality, wide color gamut, and response time. The term was first used in 1975 by Dr T. (AMLCD (Active Matrix LCD) See active matrix. ). The Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) Pronounced "a-sick." A chip that is custom designed for a specific application rather than a general-purpose chip such as a microprocessor. ) is being designed for compatibility with digital interfaces for advanced soldier systems such as the Digital Enhanced Night Vision Goggle, Objective Force Warrior and Future Force Warrior Future Force Warrior is the name of a U.S. military initiative, part of the Future Combat Systems project. The FFW project seeks to create a lightweight, fully integrated infantryman combat system. . The CyberDisplay SXGA is the world's smallest SXGA-resolution display, measuring just 0.97-inch diagonal. With approximately 4 million (1280 x 1024 x 3) color dots, its image quality surpasses that of high-definition television (HDTV (High Definition TV) A set of digital television (DTV) standards that offer the highest resolution and sharpest picture. Although some HDTV sets are available in standard (rather square) screen sizes, the overwhelming majority of sets are wide screen, which eliminates ), and its use of Kopin's patented low-voltage architecture extends battery life for portable applications. A pre-production version of the CyberDisplay SXGA was unveiled in March 2005 as part of a separate DoD contract, and the display samples are scheduled to be available later this year. The display and ASIC will be capable of 24-bit color resolution. "Our full-color SXGA display has been included in the U.S. Army's baseline design solutions for a number of advanced soldier systems - in particular head-mounted and battery operated systems," stated Michael Presz, Kopin's vice president of Government Programs. "These systems have aggressive requirements for miniaturization min·i·a·tur·ize tr.v. min·i·a·tur·ized, min·i·a·tur·iz·ing, min·i·a·tur·iz·es To plan or make on a greatly reduced scale. min and extended battery life. Development of an ASIC allows for a high level of functional integration, minimizes power consumption and reduces the overall weight and size of the system." The full-color driver ASIC being funded is expected to be available in sample quantities in the first quarter of 2006 and to support digital data formats in 3:4, 4:5 and 16:9 (HDTV) aspect ratios at input video rates ranging from 25 Hz to 120 Hz. In addition to driving the CyberDisplay SXGA, this low-power ASIC will support 3D stereoscopic operation of two CyberDisplay SVGA (Super VGA) A screen resolution of 800x600 pixels. Third-party vendors extended IBM's VGA display standard and were the first to use the term. SVGA has also referred to 1,024x768 resolutions. See PC display modes. (800 x 600 resolution) or WVGA WVGA Wide Video Graphics Array (various physical sizes, 16:9 shape; 1.78:1 aspect ratio) WVGA West Virginia Golf Association (Charleston, West Virginia) (854 x 480) color displays, which is ideal for 3D gaming and virtual reality, in a fully integrated solution containing D/A D/A See: Documents Against Acceptance (digital-to-analog) converters, video amplifiers and backlight drivers. This powerful new chip will provide functions such as de-interlacing, horizontal and vertical scaling, color space conversion Changing one type of color-encoded signal into another. Converting from RGB to YUV and back to RGB are common color space conversions when working with video formats (see YUV). Converting from the display color space (RGB) to the printer color space (CMYK) is another common example. , gamma correction and backlight (dimming) control. "The CyberDisplay SXGA ASIC award is yet another endorsement of Kopin as a leading technology developer for the DoD," said Dr. John C.C. Fan, Kopin's president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "It is clear that the Army is relying on Kopin's ability to provide complete display system solutions for their next-generation night vision programs. Our CyberDisplay SXGA is ideal for combining high-resolution night vision and thermal imagery with situational awareness data and full-color digital maps. This display combined with a miniature, low-power driver will provide the DoD with a generic, high-performance display system for a broad range of applications." About Kopin Kopin is the largest U.S. manufacturer of microdisplays to the consumer electronics, industrial and military markets and the world's largest merchant supplier of heterojunction bipolar transistor The heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) is an improvement of the bipolar junction transistor (BJT) that can handle signals of very high frequencies up to several hundred GHz. It is common in modern ultrafast circuits, mostly radio-frequency (RF) systems. (HBT) wafers for power amplifier integrated circuits. Since introducing its award-winning microdisplay technology in 1999, Kopin has shipped more than 15 million CyberDisplays for digital cameras, personal video eyewear, camcorders, thermal weapon sights and head-mounted displays. The Company also has shipped more than 500,000 HBT wafers, which have been integrated into more than 1 billion wireless handsets and into WiFi, VoIP and high-speed Internet data transmission systems. Kopin's technology is protected by more than 200 global patents and patents pending. For more information, please visit Kopin's website at www.kopin.com. Safe Harbor Statement This news release about Kopin's contract to develop an advanced display ASIC for the CyberDisplay SXGA contains forward-looking statements made under "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to: the dollar value of the contract; the ability of the ASIC to allow for a high level of functional integration, minimize power consumption and reduce the overall weight and size of the system; anticipated characteristics and capabilities of the ASIC; Kopin's ability to provide complete display system solutions for the Army's next-generation night vision programs; Kopin's belief that its CyberDisplay SXGA AMLCD is ideal for combining high resolution night vision and thermal imagery with situational awareness data and full-color digital map; the capability of the display combined with a miniature, low-power driver to provide the DoD with a generic, high-performance display system for a broad range of applications; the expectation that sample quantities of the driver ASIC will be available in the first quarter of 2006; and the expectation that the driver ASIC will support digital data formats in 3:4, 4:5 and 16:9 (HDTV) aspect ratios at input video rates ranging from 25 Hz to 120 Hz. These statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could materially affect future results. Among these risk factors are: the potential that the Department of Defense will cancel or delay the program under which the advanced display driver chip is being funded; changes in general economic and business conditions; the potential that Kopin will be unable to achieve specified product manufacturing requirements or to meet development schedules; the impact of competitive products and pricing; difficulty in obtaining third-party components; and the other risk factors and cautionary statements listed from time to time in the Company's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to, the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 and Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 24, 2005. Kopin - The NanoSemiconductor Company(R) |
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