SIDT subsidiary Northlight Displays achieves breakthrough in high luminance lighting technology.

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 24, 1996--Northlight Displays Inc., a subsidiary of SI Diamond Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: SIDT), has used diamond-coated cathodes to produce a high luminance lamp without the use of a heated filament, resulting in a more efficient, easier-to-manufacture high intensity lighting source.

"Use of the diamond coating in this way offers the potential to produce a highly manufacturable, low cost source of high intensity lighting that is scalable to large sizes without degrading the quality or luminance of the light source," according to Howard Schmidt, chairman and chief operating officer of SIDT. "We are currently in the process of developing sealed units and evaluating our options for commercializing this technology, while at the same time continuing development of the Diamond Field Emission Display (DFED)."

"This represents an early product opportunity for Northlight, as well as a compelling confirmation of the viability, in a variety of configurations, of field emission technology using diamond films," according to Aris Silzars, president of Northlight Displays. "The applications for this technology are potentially wide-ranging, including very large scale displays, such as those found in stadiums, specialized lighting applications for the avionics and automotive industries, and high performance backlights for liquid crystal displays."

The lamp assembly tested by Northlight Displays exceeds luminance of 20,000 footlamberts. By comparison, a standard fluorescent tube used for room lighting measures 1,000 footlamberts; high intensity lights in specialized applications measure between 1,000 and 6,000 footlamberts.

An important potential application for the technology is improved backlighting for LCD flat panel displays. The flat panel display market, projected to surpass $20 billion by the turn of the century by analysts at both Frost and Sullivan and Stanford Resources Inc., is currently dominated by active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCD).

High luminance backlights using heated cathodes are currently used for avionic AMLCD applications, with light output in the 10,000 footlambert range; however, they are relatively inefficient and have other environmental limitations.

"High intensity lighting is increasingly important to the flat panel display market, as digital displays and multimedia images are rapidly becoming central features in a wide variety of products and applications, including avionics, advanced military applications, and commercial high information density applications," according to Len Zuga and Craig Jaunzemis, research analysts at Frost and Sullivan.

Zuga continues, "A technology that can enable volume production of efficient, high intensity light sources, and that can be adapted to many uses, configurations and sizes, could make significant inroads to that growing market.

"The added reliability and high-brightness of SIDT's new product in wide-temperature variation, high-shock military CRT and FPD applications has the potential to quicken the pace with which flat panel displays displace CRT applications, as well as promote the development of entirely new uses in advance of those anticipated for field emission displays."

Houston-based SI Diamond is engaged in the development and commercialization of specialized products based on advanced materials, including diamond and ceramics. Northlight Displays Inc. is developing and commercializing the DFED, as well as other display technologies.

SIDT's other operating subsidiaries include SIDT Coatings Inc., a provider of coating processes and equipment for the optical, electronic and protective coatings industries; and Diamond Tech One Inc., SIDT's subsidiary engaged in advanced electronic packaging and assembly (Austin, Texas).

SIDT also includes the SIDT Corporate Research and Sponsored Programs Center, which pursues new technology development and opportunities for government funding. In addition to the NASDAQ, the company's common stock is traded on the Pacific and Boston exchanges under the symbol SDI.

CONTACT: SI Diamond Technology Inc., Houston

Trey Fecteau, 713/529-9040