Planar Advance and dpiX Awarded Flat-Panel Display Production Order for U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Program.

BEAVERTON, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 23, 1998--Planar Advance, Inc., a division of Planar Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:PLNR), and dpiX, a Xerox (NYSE:XRX) New Enterprise company, jointly announced today that they have been selected by Kaiser Electronics to provide production quantities of the Eagle-6 multipurpose color display for the United States Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter program.

An industry leader in military vision systems, Kaiser Electronics of San Jose, California, is under contract with the U.S. Navy and the Boeing Company of St. Louis, Missouri, to provide the Multi-Purpose Color Display (MPCD) system for the F/A-18E/F. Kaiser has placed an initial production order for 38 display units, and has the option to purchase 70 additional units for a contract totaling $2 million.

The Navy is expected to procure between 548 and 785 Super Hornets over the life of the program. Each F/A-18E aircraft uses one MPCD, while each F/A-18F aircraft uses two MPCDs.

Earlier this year, Planar and dpiX were awarded a $1.35 million contract by Kaiser Electronics to develop the new multipurpose flat-panel display subassembly for the program.

"The Planar/dpiX partnership is based solidly on two firms committed to technical excellence, market-share growth and sustainable, long-term success," said Al Herman, vice president and general manager of Planar Advance. "By using the unique strengths of each company, we are able to provide both military and commercial customers with cost-effective, high-performance display solutions. The transition of the Eagle-6 development program to production for the Super Hornet again confirms the success of the Planar/dpiX business model."

Planar Advance and dpiX will share in the production of the new Eagle-6 display, which can also be used in other military platforms. The Eagle-6 AMLCD cell will be designed and manufactured by dpiX. Planar Advance will integrate the drive electronics, thermal management system and ruggedize the display to meet the demanding military requirements.

"As a U.S.-based manufacturer of advanced AMLCDs, dpiX offers an assurance of supply that cannot be secured with a commercial display solution manufactured offshore," said Carl Cobb, general manager of sales at dpiX. "With full control of the core display component, Planar and dpiX can provide peace-of-mind for managing the costs, schedules, and configuration of long-term programs. And, because the AMLCD cell is designed specifically for the cockpit environment, pilots can count on performance and reliability without compromise."

Fighter cockpits present one of the most challenging viewing environments for electronic information displays. For sunlight readability, the Eagle-6 will provide high brightness and contrast with minimal specular and diffuse reflectance. Additionally, the new 6.25-inch square active area display will support full-motion video and will incorporate a quad-green pixel design that displays both color and higher resolution monochrome, forward-looking infrared (FLIR) imagery in the same unit.

The Eagle-6 is the second in a series of high-performance displays from the Planar/dpiX team and is a direct outgrowth of Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funding to bolster U.S.-based research into high-resolution flat-panel displays. Eagle family flat-panel displays are smaller, lighter, and require less power to operate than CRT displays currently used in most military aircraft.

Planar Advance, Inc.

Planar Advance, Inc., the federal displays division of Planar Systems, began designing, developing and manufacturing high-performance displays in 1980 and is currently the largest supplier of qualified display modules for military cockpits in the world, with over 35,000 devices shipped to date.

Planar Systems, Inc. is a worldwide leader in the development, manufacture, and marketing of high performance commercial flat-panel display components, CRTs and flat panel based display products for federal markets, and display systems for specialized applications. The primary market sectors that Planar serves today are medical, industrial, instrumentation, defense, communications, transportation, and business/office. The Company has operations in both the United States and Europe. For more information, visit Planar's web site at www.planar.com.

dpiX, A Xerox New Enterprise Company

dpiX, Inc. (pronounced "depicts"), the advanced technology leader in high-fidelity image collection and viewing, provides flat-panel solutions that enable visual computing professionals to work more effectively, conveniently and productively in the digital realm. Leveraging technologies from the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), dpiX was launched in March 1996 to bring to market revolutionary flat-panel image sensor and display products that deliver sharper, clearer, better pictures than ever before. dpiX is located at 3406 Hillview Ave., Palo Alto, Calif., 94304-1345. dpiX can be contacted at 650/842-9600 or by visiting the dpiX web site at http://www.dpix.com.

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Planar and the Definition Of Quality are registered trademarks of Planar Systems. Inc. dpiX and Eagle are trademarks of dpiX, Inc. Xerox and The Document Company are registered trademarks of Xerox Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.