Samsung Selects Sigma Designs DVD Decoder for New DVD Upgrade Kits; Worldwide Design Win Pairs REALmagic DVD Decoder with 6x DVD Drive.

MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 23, 1999--

Continuing to expand its dominance in the personal computer DVD upgrade market, Sigma Designs(R), Inc. (Nasdaq:SIGM) announced today that Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. has selected its REALmagic(R) Hollywood Plus(TM) playback card for the new Samsung Revolution DVD upgrade kit, which provides a total DVD solution.

Launched for worldwide distribution, the kit combines the Samsung SD 606 6x drive with Sigma's feature-packed EM8300 decoder card to turn a PC into a full-featured DVD player that fully exploits all of the spectacular digital video and Dolby digital surround-sound capabilities of the DVD format. The Hollywood Plus card plays DVD movies at up to 1600 x 1200 resolution without burdening the computer's processor.

Responding to the explosion of the DVD market, Samsung and Sigma Designs have combined to provide consumers with crisp digital sound and video. Designed with robust system silicon, REALmagic Hollywood Plus can handle most of the complex MPEG-2 video and audio streams, thus reducing the burden on the computer's CPU. As a result, the PC runs at maximum performance while multitasking (e.g., having DVD, live TV broadcast feeds, and interactive web browsing open in concurrent windows).

Enthusiasm is building for what executives of the Video Software Dealers Association have billed as the interactive medium for the next century. Film studios have moved swiftly to release the biggest and best-known movies in the DVD format. A selection of DVD titles will be included in the new Samsung DVD upgrade kit, targeted at the installed base of over 100 million Pentium-based PCs.

The Samsung Revolution DVD kit includes four interactive DVD games and two CD games as well as a full-length DVD movie, "Telling Lies in America," featuring Kevin Bacon.

"Sigma's Hollywood Plus offers a high level of video quality among the DVD playback cards on the market today, enabling us to offer a full-featured DVD-ROM solution. We feel that DVD will become the new mass market phenomenon," said H. H. Hwang, DVD manager of Samsung's Strategic Marketing Group. "Now, our DVD upgrade customers can benefit from exciting DVD video technology features with ease and confidence."

"We are pleased that Samsung has embraced our DVD decoding technology," said Silvio Perich, senior vice president of worldwide sales for Sigma Designs. "This is a solid step forward in our penetration of the worldwide PC DVD upgrade market. Samsung, a consumer giant, has global sales channels and could become the number one DVD drive supplier. Partnering with Samsung should drive our DVD sales volume."

Broad Compatibility, Ease of Use

Sigma's Hollywood Plus DVD playback card works with any PC with an Intel(R) Pentium(R) 133 MHz (or faster) processor without requiring a specialized graphics adapter. This capability and full compliance with DVD specifications make it the playback card of choice.

The REALmagic Hollywood Plus DVD card includes device drivers and Sigma Designs' DVD Station, an intuitive, easy to use program for DVD navigation and control. With DVD Station, PC users can take full advantage of every interactive DVD feature, using simple VCR-like controls to choose sound track and subtitle language, select viewing aspect ratios, and change viewing angles. Users can also interact with DVD Station menus to exercise parental control and execute search commands, such as jumping to any point in a movie with the click of a button.

The Samsung Revolution DVD upgrade kit will be available in major electronics stores worldwide. Look for the "REALmagic In It" logo on the box.

About Samsung:

Samsung, with 1997 sales revenues of US $101 billion, is a world leader in the electronics industry. The Korea-based firm has operations in over 60 countries, with 260,000 employees worldwide. Samsung Electronics, which ranks No. 1 in the world in the semiconductor, CDMA cellular, and color monitor markets, consists of three main business units: Information & Home Appliances, Semiconductors, and Information & Telecommunications. For more information, visit the Company's web site at http://www.samsungelectronics.com

About Sigma Designs:

Sigma Designs is an acknowledged leader in the fast-growing digital video market. Sigma specializes in digital video encoding/decoding for the PC DVD market, for video streaming over corporate Intranets and extranets, and for the emerging set-top box/information appliance market. Sigma is a driving force in advancement of digital video technology used in high-speed, high-bandwidth transmission for business, home, and education markets. Sigma Designs' products, marketed under the REALmagic trade name, are sold worldwide through a direct sales force, distributors, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). For additional information, visit the Company's web site at http://www.sigmadesigns.com

Editors and Analysts: For additional information, photographs and interviews, please contact Andy Marken, [e-mail] or 408-986-0100.

Hollywood Plus is a trademark, and Sigma Designs and REALmagic are registered trademarks of Sigma Designs. Other products and companies referred to herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.