NDS wins $10 million MPEG-2 4:2:2 network contract from European Broadcasting Union; major international broadcasting association embraces new digital encoding standard.

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 18, 1997--NDS, a leading provider of end-to-end solutions for digital broadcasting today announced that it has received a contract valued at more than $10 million from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

NDS will supply MPEG-2 4:2:2 broadcasting equipment that will be used to convert the EBU's internal Eurovision transmission network to digital technology. The new digital network will incorporate 55 transmit and receive earth stations, and increase the EBU's network capacity from seven television channels to more than 20.

Eurovision is used for distributing and exchanging programs among EBU broadcasting members. Using transponders located on the Eutelsat II-F4 satellite, the broadcast network reaches all European countries as well as Northern Africa and the Middle East.

"The combination of maintaining contribution quality and bandwidth efficiency has only recently become possible due to the introduction of the new MPEG-2 4:2:2P@ML standards. NDS is the only manufacturer in the world that can offer broadcasters the 4:2:2 capabilities in a true end-to-end system," said Dr. Abe Peled, CEO of NDS.

"NDS has been closely involved in establishing MPEG-2 4:2:2P@ML as the new world standard for transporting professional quality pictures in contribution and distribution networks. Our customers, both producers and broadcasters, want to be sure the video footage they are editing or transmitting is of the highest quality," continued Peled.

"4:2:2 encoding maintains more detail, surpassing standard 4:2:0 encoding in both picture detail and color information. The NDS 4:2:2 solution provides superior quality as far down the transmission chain as possible."

Before the NDS solution, professional contribution and distribution customers have not been able to benefit from the bandwidth efficiencies and low cost of ownership of MPEG encoders because the chip sets to enable development and production of 4:2:2-based encoders have not been available.

NDS is able to deliver its 4:2:2 solution now because it builds its compression and encoding systems using proprietary NDS designed chip-sets. Other equipment manufacturers using off-the-shelf chip-set designs are not expected to deliver product until the end of 1997.

Existing 4:2:0 systems for the Direct-To-Home (DTH) market have been specifically developed to take advantage of the largest possible reductions in bit rate to carry compressed video information. However for non-direct-to-home applications, broadcasters' needs are different.

Contribution and distribution can involve several stages of compression and re-encoding before final delivery to home. To deliver the highest quality all the way through the broadcast transmission chain, it is essential to maintain as much of the original picture information possible in the compression process.

The new MPEG-2 4:2:2P@ML specification provides an industry standard for 4:2:2 encoding that allows broadcasters to achieve studio quality in professional contribution and post-production networks. Picture quality is far superior to 4:2:0 because the process accommodates more chroma information and allows a maximum video bit rate of 50 MBit/s.

MPEG-2 4:2:2P@ML offers major benefits, including: high picture quality; an official accepted standard; future-proof upgradeability; the low cost of ownership associated with using MPEG decoders; interoperability between different manufacturers equipment; and single channel per carrier or multiple channel per carrier flexibility.

NDS 4:2:2 product is based on the company's proven System 3000 MPEG-2/DVB digital video compression system. It enables customers to benefit from a full range of end-to-end digital broadcasting solutions, such as statistical multiplexing, and video, audio and data encoding. The system is able to combine 4:2:0 and 4:2:2 operation in the same multiplex for maximum versatility.

In addition, the system operates in both MCPC and SCPC configurations, incorporates redundancy switching, and offers fully flexible bit rate and GOP (Group Of Pictures) structure for important bandwidth efficiency.

About NDS

NDS is headquartered in the United Kingdom and has U.S. operations based in Newport Beach, Calif. The company provides end-to-end solutions for digital broadcasting through its research, development and manufacturing activities. NDS is a recognized leader in digital video compression, conditional access, and has proven systems integration and global support capabilities.

NDS is providing its advanced technologies, products and services to 18 of the 30 current and planned digital satellite and terrestrial broadcasting systems around the world. Some of NDS' key customers in the Americas include DIRECTV, Galaxy Latin America, NetSat and Innova.

In addition, over 7.5 million customers around the globe use NDS conditional access systems to receive pay TV satellite and cable services. NDS plays a major part in developing open systems and the international standards for the digital broadcasting arena, providing the technology and market know-how to implement standards such as MPEG-2, DVB and DTTV.

NDS is part of the News Technology Group, responsible for News Corporation's high technology companies. NDS has won many awards for technology including an Emmy from The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and two Queen's Awards, one for Technology and one for Export. -0-

Note to Editors: The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), whose activities include Eurovision and Euroradio, is a professional association of national broadcasters with its headquarters in Geneva. It currently has 66 members in 49 countries.

CONTACT: NDS

Margot Field, 44 181 476 8158

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The Benjamin Group

Daniel McKean, 408/559-6090

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