Philips Selects Sigma Designs' REALmagic Hollywood for DVD Upgrade Kit

Philips Using Low Cost DVD/MPEG-2 Playback Card in Complete, User-Friendly Kit

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 10, 1997-- Continuing to strengthen its position as the leader in DVD MPEG-2 playback cards, Sigma Designs, Inc. (Nasdaq:SIGM) today announced that Philips Electronics has chosen the REALmagic Hollywood DVD MPEG-2 playback card for its recently-introduced DVD-ROM Upgrade Kit for the U.S. Market. Built around Philips' DRD-5200 DVD Drive, the comprehensive kit includes all hardware and software required to play DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, and all popular CD formats. The kit also includes an outstanding collection of DVD multimedia titles.

The selection by Philips Electronics is the latest in a series of design wins for the REALmagic Hollywood card. Currently shipping in high volume, the card brings users state-of-the-art DVD digital video and digital surround-sound.

"Our goal was to create an affordable system that would produce video and audio of such outstanding quality that it would be used with both personal computer and home entertainment systems," commented Cornelis Klik, Project Director for DVD at Philips Electronics. "We selected the Sigma REALmagic Hollywood card because it provided the superior performance and quality that enabled us to meet our goal."

Developed as a complete DVD solution for multimedia and entertainment applications, the upgrade kit offers users a perfect balance of outstanding data storage capacity, spectacular video, and crystal clear audio. The DRD-5200 supports all popular CD formats, including audio CD, CD-ROM, CD-Recordable, and CD-reWritable in addition to DVD-Video and DVD-ROM disks that store up to 17 gigabytes of data.

"We are delighted that a supplier with the reputation for innovation, quality, and performance of Philips has selected our REALmagic Hollywood card," added Prem Talreja, Sigma Designs' Vice President of Marketing. "Philips' selection of our products is an endorsement of Sigma's technology, quality, and market presence."

Available as an OEM product, the Hollywood DVD playback card turns a PC into a full-featured DVD player that fully exploits all of the spectacular digital video and surround-sound capabilities of the DVD format and upcoming MPEG-2 interactive titles. The REALmagic Hollywood DVD/MPEG-2 playback card displays flicker-free video at full-screen resolution, making video watching on a PC truly a new and rich experience.

Sigma's solution works with any standard 133 MHz system without requiring a specialized graphic adapter and fully complies with DVD specifications. This makes it the ideal choice for PC manufacturers and DVD upgrade kit providers. The REALmagic DVD card includes device drivers and Sigma Designs' DVD Station, an 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. The user interface is intuitive and easy to navigate. Users can also interact with DVD Station menus to exercise parental control and execute search commands.

About Philips N.V.:

Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world's largest electronics companies with sales of $41 billion in 1996. Its 262,500 employees in more than 60 countries are active in the areas of lighting, semiconductors and components, consumer products and systems, and software and services. Quoted on the NYSE, London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges, it is a world leader in lighting, color television sets, electric shavers, and recorded music (PolyGram).

About Sigma Designs:

Sigma Designs, headquartered in Fremont, California, is an acknowledged leader in the fast-growing multimedia market. Sigma entered the multimedia market in 1993 with products based on the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) standard for compressing and decompressing digital audio and video signals. Sigma is a driving force in advancement of the MPEG technology used in most multimedia PCs on the market today. Sigma Designs' products, marketed under the REALmagic trade name, include affordable MPEG decoding hardware used in PCs, notebook computers, and networked video applications. Sigma products are sold to PC OEMs and card makers worldwide. For more information, visit the Company's web site at http://www.sigmadesigns.com.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this release are forward-looking statements subject to risks and uncertainties, including the timely introduction and market acceptance of Sigma's MPEG/DVD and related products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, and other risk factors detailed from time to time in the company's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K for the year ended Jan. 31, 1997 and on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July 31, 1997.