SIS Electronics Raises Standard in High-Resolution Printing; SIS and Adobe Announce Chip That Offers Dramatic Improvements in High-Resolution Printer Performance.

LONGMONT, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 11, 1995--SIS Electronics today announced a Frame Buffer Compression Chip (SFBC) which will be incorporated into high-resolution printers for significant performance improvements.

To achieve top-rated performance in its new memory compression chip, SIS has licensed a compression design package from Adobe Systems (Nasdaq:ADBE). The SIS chip based on Adobe's tested frame buffer compression (FBC) design package will deliver to customers the benefits of an Adobe PostScript printer standard with the power of the new compression chip. Performance enhancements for end users increase as output resolution increases for both color and monochrome applications.

Using the Adobe print environment, the new SIS memory compression chip can reduce the memory required in printers by over 50%. For example, the memory required for a 600 dot per inch (dpi) monochrome laser printer can be reduced from 6 - 8MB to 3MB or less, with no reduction in performance. SIS' new ASIC provides memory compression for monochrome, bi-level color and multibit color laser printers. With the SIS Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), printers with resolutions up to 1200 dpi and page rates of 20 page per minute (ppm) or more can be supported. The SIS chip is currently designed in printer controllers utilizing AMD 29K processors. Support for additional processors is also available.

"Adobe and SIS are providing a much needed solution for significant improvements in high-resolution printing," stated Bill Burkard, president of SIS. "Increasingly, end users are raising the bar on output demands with image intensive and color applications. In response to these output demands, SIS is offering new technologies to our customers, printer companies. With SIS Technology, printer companies can in turn better respond to end users' high-resolution output needs with powerful products. Adobe, SIS and our development partners together are striving to set the pace in high-resolution printing solutions."

"SIS recognizes the value in offering a solution which is fully integrated into Adobe's PostScript language, the industry standard printer page description language," noted Richard Fall, Adobe manager, ASIC technology. "Together, SIS and Adobe are providing an innovative, powerful technology for users with high-resolution printing needs."

The SIS ASIC provides memory reduction for low-cost, mid-range and high-performance printer products. Enhancements to the Adobe FBC design incorporated into the SIS ASIC permit its use in some grayscale and continuous tone printers. The SIS ASIC provides up to 30:1 lossless memory reduction. A minimum compression ratio of 4:1 is guaranteed by inclusion of a lossy fallback algorithm. The SFBC also has internal SRAM, four DMA channels, 132 MB/see peak burst access, and 50 MHz video data rate. The SFBC complements the SMEMC currently shipping from SIS.

Availability

Samples of the SFBC will be available in the first quarter of 1996. In quantities of 25,000 the SFBC is priced at $23.42. Vendors are expected to announce products based on the SFBC in early 1996.

SIS Microelectronics, Inc. is a leader in the integration of system concepts into silicon. Since 1982, SIS has developed over 400 ASIC designs that are currently in production in commercial and industrial applications. In 1994 SIS introduced its first proprietary products, the SMEMC and SLPC, which are highly integrated Application Specific Standard Products (ASSPs) that provide system solutions for embedded processor applications. The SMEMC and SLPC provide "glueless" memory and peripheral control for high performance laser printers. The SFBC marks a partnership with Adobe to provide low cost memory compression technology to the laser printer market. SIS is based in Longmont, Colorado.

Adobe Systems Incorporated, founded in 1982, is headquartered in Mountain View, California. Adobe develops, markets and supports computer software products and technologies that enable users to create, display, print and communicate electronic documents. The company markets a line of powerful but easy-to-use, products for home and small business users. Adobe has subsidiaries in Europe and the Pacific Rim serving a worldwide network of dealers and distributors. Adobe's 1994 revenue was approximately $598 million.

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Note to Editors: SFBC and SMEMC are registered trademarks of SIS Microelectronics Inc. AMD is a registered trademark of Advanced Micro Devices. Adobe and PostScript are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. All other brand or product names are trademarks of their respective holders.

CONTACT: SIS Microelectronics Inc.

Bill Burkard, 303/776-1667

or

Adobe Systems, Inc.

Jennifer Polanski, 415/962-2197