Lucent Digital Video Demonstrates Interoperability With Digital Television Receivers At NAB Show in Las Vegas.

MURRAY HILL, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 16, 1999--

NAB SHOW, BOOTH No. L12146

At this year's National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in Las Vegas, Lucent Digital Video, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU), will stage the most comprehensive public demonstration of interoperability between a (Moving Pictures Experts Group) MPEG-2 encoder and Digital Television (DTV) receivers from several different manufacturers.

The MPEG-2 encoder is the key piece of equipment that enables video signals to be transmitted over broadcast, cable, or satellite networks in digital format.

Lucent Digital Video will demonstrate interoperability between its VideoStar MPEG-2 encoder and the DTV receivers, including rear projection sets and direct-view monitors from several leading manufacturers such as Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, and Thomson.

Interoperability testing between TV set manufacturers and Lucent Digital Video has been an ongoing process. Starting in the fall of 1998, Lucent Digital Video placed its encoder bitstreams on a Web site for set manufacturers to work with. Many of the manufacturers have been to Lucent Digital Video's labs to work directly with the VideoStar encoder.

"We continue to work closely with receiver and decoder manufacturers to ensure that our encoder works flawlessly. We are pleased with the progress we've made, and adjustments continue to be made," said Nelson Botsford, director of systems engineering at Lucent Digital Video. "We believe that, together, we can help the entire DTV industry provide the kind of enriching viewing experience that makes DTV so rewarding."

In the Lucent Digital Video booth, receivers will simultaneously display picture information, closed-captioning, and Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP), or Electronic Program Guide (EPG), information through the VideoStar encoder.

Visitors to the Lucent booth will see a demonstration that will simulate an at-home viewer's DTV experience.

The various Lucent VideoStar demonstrations include servers and authoring, networked multi-generation video, contribution quality and dense multichannel encoding, and the Lucent VideoStar StatMax internal statistical multiplexing feature.

The networked ATM demonstration will use an Ascend ATM switch. The EMC Celerra Media Server will stream video to decoders throughout the booth. All video at the Lucent Digital Video booth will be routed through the Artel UTAL 1500 Full Bandwidth Definition Router and the UTAL 200 Serial Digital Switch.

High-definition (HD) video content will be demonstrated throughout the Lucent Digital Video booth, including the acclaimed Seattle PBS affiliate KCTS-TV documentary "Chihuly Over Venice;" CBS Television's April 1, 1999 HD episode of "48 Hours;" the HD documentary "Frank Lloyd Wright's Windspread," from Milwaukee PBS affiliate WMVS-TV, and HD content from Unity Motion, Inc.

In addition, an animated HD logo for Lucent Digital Video, designed by Pitch Productions, Inc., will be demonstrated at the booth.

UNITY MOTION

At the Lucent Digital Video booth, a satellite feed from Unity Motion, Inc.'s HDTV direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service will be displayed on the Unity Motion UHD-3200 HD monitor. Unity Motion, a leading satellite provider of HDTV programming and consumer equipment has three channels of HDTV programming - HD-1, HD-2, and HD-3 - which carry movies, sports, and entertainment programs that are encoded with the Lucent VideoStar HD encoder. John Turner, president of Turner Engineering Inc., the designer and integrator of Unity Motion's HDTV operations, and a member of Unity Motion's Board of Directors, will be on hand to demonstrate the Unity Motion satellite feed.

"The reliability and picture quality associated with the Lucent VideoStar Encoder HD enables Unity Motion to deliver a new form of video entertainment," said Turner. "Satellite-delivered video, particularly HDTV, requires extremely robust, well-engineered equipment, and Lucent provides that with their VideoStar encoder products."

TERASTREAM

Lucent Digital Video will demonstrate datacasting features for the VideoStar encoder with TeraStream, which uses Internet Protocol (IP) streaming to enable personal computers (PCs) to receive high-quality broadcasts. The TeraStream Server will receive video and data from the Lucent VideoStar encoder and will stream information to a standard 266 MHz PC.

"The DTV era opens up new revenue opportunities for content providers who want to reach niche audiences through datacasting," said L. Sanders Smith, "president of TeraStream, Inc. "The Lucent VideoStar encoder provides an ideal test for our TeraStream Server."

"Customers at NAB '99 have to think about every element in their production and distribution sequences. The Lucent VideoStar product line is designed to operate in virtually any network configuration, whether high-definition or standard-definition, it is more than likely that we have a solution for them," said Arthur Salvadore, vice president of marketing for Lucent Digital Video. "From cable to broadcast to satellite to telecom back-haul and server applications, the Lucent VideoStar encoder encompasses all types of network requirements for digital video and, most importantly, this can be seen at our booth during NAB `99."

LUCENT VIDEOSTAR ENCODER

The Lucent VideoStar product line offers a twenty-one slot chassis - the VS-21 - for large multichannel applications, and a five-slot chassis - the VS-5 - that is designed for applications requiring fewer channel capacities. The VideoStar family also includes small, single-function systems for applications that require only encoding or decoding capabilities in a compact, cost-effective package.

The Lucent VideoStar line offers a wide range of new optional features for customers, including the EVA-200 dual encoder; the QDEC-120 four-program Standard Definition (SDTV) decoder; the HDP-100 HDTV encoder; the VideoStar PSIPplus generator for the Program and Systems Information Protocol (PSIP); and the VideoStar StatMax internal statistical multiplexing software solution.

The VideoStar product family consists of the SDTV VideoStar Encoder SD single-channel MPEG-2 encoder; the VideoStar Encoder 2SD two-channel encoder, and the VideoStar Decoder 4SD four-channel decoder. The HDTV products include the VideoStar Encoder HD - a single-channel HDTV encoder, and the VideoStar Decoder HD, a single-channel HDTV decoder.

All VideoStar systems are based on a high-speed mid-plane databus, which offers customers greater flexibility in multiplexing programs.

The VideoStar allows control of the video coding parameters to deliver high-quality video for all types of sources, from simple, static images to complex, fast-action sports programming. Source video can be compressed at the rate appropriate for the best possible image quality.

The Lucent VideoStar uses sophisticated proprietary compression algorithms for maximum picture quality and optimum bit rate efficiency.

Further product or sales information can be obtained from Lucent Digital Video by calling 877-497-2448 in the U.S. or, outside the United States, by calling [phone]. E-mail may be sent to [e-mail]. Visit the Lucent Digital Video Web site at www.lucent.com/ldv.

Lucent Digital Video conducted the first formal interoperability tests between an ATSC encoder and various HDTV receivers in 1998. In November 1998, Lucent Digital Video conducted the first on-air HDTV closed-captioning demonstrations with WCVB-TV Boston and ULTECH.

Lucent won a Primetime Engineering Emmy Award in 1997 for its pioneering work in DTV as a member of the HDTV Grand Alliance. The company, which contributed to the original MPEG-2 specification, also built the world's first MPEG-2 and digital HDTV encoders.

Lucent Digital Video is one of several new entrepreneurial business ventures formed by Lucent to help bring Bell Labs technologies to market. Leveraging decades of Bell Labs research and development, the group was formed to manufacture and market digital video products, including encoders. Lucent Digital Video markets its product line for cable, wireless cable, fiber optic and satellite back-haul, DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite) and other applications worldwide. For more information on Lucent Digital Video, visit the Web site at www.lucent.com/ldv.

Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and microelectronic components. Bell Labs is the research and development arm for the company. For more information, visit our Web site at www.lucent.com.