FREMONT, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 8, 1998–Sigma Designs, Inc.
(Nasdaq: SIGM), a leader in DVD decoder solutions for personal computers,
today announced it has received full Dolby certification for all DVD decoder
products based on Sigma’s EM8300 and EM8220 REALmagic DVD/MPEG-2
decoder chips. This includes playback cards included in third-party DVD
upgrade kits, third-party add-in cards for desktop PCs, and daughter cards
based on the EM8220 REALmagic chip developed in conjunction with Intel as part of the
reference design for Intel i740-based 2D/3D graphics cards.

Sigma and Dolby Laboratories have worked together to speed up the
marketing process for products based on Sigma Designs’ REALmagic DVD/MPEG-2
decoder chips. OEMs and add-in card manufacturers will get instant Dolby
certification if they use the Dolby-approved reference design provided by
Sigma Designs. This means that third-party manufacturers/OEMs interested in
manufacturing and selling products based on Sigma’s reference design get
their products to market more quickly.

“In order to earn Dolby certification, Sigma worked with our licensing
engineers to test and fine-tune the audio quality of its EM8300/EM8220
decoder silicon, and then successfully passed a series of certification test suites provided
by Dolby,” stated Richard Hockenbrock, General Manager, Licensing Services
for Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation.
At the heart of facilitating development of systems based on the
EM8300/EM8220 are complete turnkey reference designs available from Sigma
Designs. A comprehensive hardware and software solution completely ready for
manufacturing, the reference design includes an evaluation board,
schematics, Gerber printed circuit board plots, drivers, and Sigma’s DVD-Station software.

An example of the streamlined Dolby certification program is the Golden
Melody DVD8300 decoder recently announced by Formosa Industrial Computing,
Inc. “Golden Melody DVD8300 has been certified by Dolby Labs,” said Paul
Chain, sales and marketing director of the Multimedia and Communications
division in Formosa Industrial Computing, Inc. “Formosa’s DVD8300 decoder card
bundled with a DVD-ROM drive can provide users home theater experiences with
high-resolution MPEG-2 video and Dolby Digital (AC-3) surround sound. Users
can enjoy Dolby Surround Sound with the Dolby Pro Logic Compatible output
offered by DVD8300. If users have a Dolby decoder amplifier with S/PDIF
input, users can further enjoy multichannel surround sound with up to
5.1-channel soundtracks,” Mr. Chain said.

“We are extremely happy with the PC-DVD reference design procedures we
have established with Dolby Laboratories,” said William K. Wong, Sigma’s
vice president of marketing. “We look forward to working with our customers as
they develop products based on our reference design.”