February 2001

NEWS & ANALYSIS

Thomson to Offer 50-inch LCOS HDTV
Thomson Multimedia plans to offer a 50-inch, rear-projection HDTV this summer, using an engine with a trio of 
liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOS) panels.  The wide-aspect (16:9) unit, unveiled at January's CES show, will be branded
under the RCA name (model L50000) and will feature 1280 x 720 pixels of spatial resolution.  Pricing is not yet determined,
but will be in the $6,000 to $8,000 range. 

LCD/DLP TVs to Roll in 2001
This wrap-up of what was on dispaly at CES and other news from the month, covers developments from Zenith Electronics,
JVC Professional Products, Sony Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Texas Instruments, Panasonic, Sharp Electronics,
OPtoma and Konka.  Many of these new sets are expected to roll in 2001.  

Wireless Internet Appliance Debuts
January's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was the location for the debut of the first headset-based Wireless Internet 
Appliance (WIA).  The WIA device is a small wearable computer with wireless connectivity, a handheld mouse and a 
monocular headset.  The prototype, developed by Hitachi Ltd.,  Shimadzu Corporation and Colorado Microdisplay (CMD)
is designed to afford mobile access to the Internet.  
   
Corning, Plus Gain Lightware Assets
Projection developer and manufacturer Lightware, Inc. will split the company in two.  In a reverse merger, Plus Corporation
of America will acquire the company's products, as well as 25-30 personnel in sales, marketing, tech support, service and
operations.  Corning Precision Lens will gain the company's 10-person product development team, as well as certain 
intellectual property and assets.

USDC Helps Fund Test Equipment Development, Adds Members
The U.S. Display Consortium (USDC), a public/private partnership chartered with developing the flat panel display 
(FPD) infrastructure, joined Westar Corporation to develop a rugged Microdisplay Test System (MTS) designed for rapid
production testing of microdisplay devices.  Westar and USDC will share equally the cost of the project, which is valued 
at $900,000. 

Displaytech Signs European Distributor 
Ferroelectric LCOS microdisplay maker Displaytech Inc. signed a deal with U.K.-based Densitron Technologies to
exclusively distribute LCOS panels and ASICs in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The agreement strengthens Displaytech's worldwide distribution capability by augmenting a previous distribution 
agreement with Nissho Electronics Corporation.

 
New Push to Make DLP a Consumer Brand
Texas Instruments (Dallas, TX) has decided that the next big push for its DLP technology will be consumer-oriented 
products.  While DLP-based front and rear-projection products are entering the market now for home entertainment,
most cost over $10,000.  TI wants to enable products that are much lower cost, perhaps $2,000 to $4,000.  That should help
kick demand for home entertainment systems into high gear.


APPLICATIONS

Front Projection - News from CES includes two new front-projection products from Zenith Electronics, Canon 
is out with its first microportable LCD multimedia projector and Philips says its new line of XGA poly-silicon cBright Series
projectors are 20% brighter and nearly 30% lighter than previous Hopper models. The XVZ7000-U, announced by Sharp
Electronics at CEDIA, will be ready to ship in March.  Barco's new SLM G5 "Performer" is the first in a new family of 
Light Machine projectors and Lightware introduced a new DLP projector called Traveler for mobile professionals, 
Lightware just sold its technology group to Thomson Multimedia and its products and sales group to Plus Corp. 
(see related story in News & Analysis section).


Digital Cinema--The commercialization of digital cinema may have experienced a needed boost since our last in-depth
report in November.  QuVIS, Miramax, Walt Disney, Boeing, Texas Instruments (TI), EnergyDigital and Williams Communications
teamed up to deliver the first major motion picture via satellite, and perhaps revolutionize the industry. We'll tell you about
that and news from Barco, Christie Digital, Digital Projection, Hughes Electronics, EnergyDigital, AMC Entertainment, 
IMAX, Monarch Studios, SAVVIS Communications, Thomson Multimedia, Technicolor, Carlton Communications, Qualcomm,
DIRECTV, Canal Plus, TPS and Philips.  

CRT-Based Rear Projection -The transition from analog to digital TV is accelerating as manufacturers cut 30-50% of 
analog models from line-ups and lower prices on digital rear-projection sets.  We have more about this and product news from
Toshiba America Consumer Products, Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Thomson Multimedia, RCA, Zenith Electronics,
Marantz, Philips Consumer Electronics and Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company.  

Vis/Simulation - ComView Visual Systems is at work on a marine simulator in Norway, and an air traffic simulator in Germany.
We also report on Evans & Sutherland, Delta, Southwest Airlines, the Czech Air Force, Silicon Graphics, Virtual Reality Media,
Letecke opravny Kbely, MUSE Technologies, Ford, the U.K. Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, L-3 Communications,
Boeing, Fakespace Systems and Barco.

 
MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Over 10 Million DTVs by 2006
Projection Display Market to Double by 2006
LCD Oversupply Plaguing Market
Taiwan Surges Ahead in TFT-LCDs

BOTTOM LINE
Silicon Image Grows 136% in First Year
Photon Dynamics Posts Record Results in Q1
Planar Triples Net Income
SpatiaLight Receives Notice from Nasdaq

MOVERS & SHAKERS
The SpatiaLight Board of Directors has elected not to renew Fred Hammett's employment agreement.  Robert Olins will 
continue to serve as acting CEO, Treasurer and Secretary while the search continues for a permanent CEO. Fred 
Engstrom (formerly vice president of Lightware Engineering) and Arlie Conner (formerly vice president and co-founder 
of Lightware) have accepted positions with Corning Precision Lens (Cincinnati, OH) as director, Portland Design Center 
and Principal Optical Scientist, respectively.  Phil Callahan was recently named Sales Manager for Hitachi's new 
Professional Products Group.  Most recently he served as Director of Princeton Graphic Systems' Program Development 
Convergence and HDTV Products and with Mitsubishi Electronics.  Wendy McCollom was appointed CFO, StereoGraphics.