Microsoft Announces Development Agreement With Truevision For ActiveMovie 2.0

Delivers Advanced DVD, MPEG 2 and M-JPEG Support to Application Vendors

REDMOND, Wash. - Dec. 3, 1996 - Microsoft Corp. today announced it has selected a key development company, Truevision Inc., to extend the ActiveMovie™ API into the burgeoning desktop digital video and multimedia authoring market. The collaboration with Truevision is the first in a series of relationships planned by Microsoft that will help establish ActiveMovie 2.0 as a leading cross-platform application programming interface for digital video and multimedia developers.

ActiveMovie is a key component of Microsoft's strategy to bring professional media authoring applications to the Windows® operating system and Microsoft® Internet Explorer. It will provide the system services for the next generation of digital media authoring tools used to create compelling audio, video and 3-D graphics content for broadcast, CD-ROM, DVD and the Internet. ActiveMovie 2.0 was previewed under nondisclosure agreement by more than 25 such developers at a recent meeting in Redmond.

"We chose Truevision to work with because of its leadership in open-systems digital video technology," said Brad Chase, vice president of the Internet platform and tools division at Microsoft. "We have been impressed by Truevision's ability to deliver professional digital video solutions supported by the leading video and multimedia authoring applications. Microsoft believes this development agreement with Truevision will help accelerate the adoption of Windows NT® and ActiveMovie by video professionals worldwide."

As part of the business relationship, Truevision will contribute to the design of the ActiveMovie 2.0 specification as well as furnish certain component modules to the Microsoft code base. Truevision will also implement and support ActiveMovie 2.0 on its line of TARGA products for professional video production on Windows NT. ActiveMovie 2.0 will be designed to support high-performance dual-channel M-JPEG and DV/DVCPRO codecs as well as digital interface through IEEE 1394.

According to Lou Doctor, president and CEO of Truevision, "Windows NT with ActiveMovie 2.0 and Truevision's TARGA hardware will be a compelling combination for digital video professionals looking for superior price/performance and seamless integration into client/server environments. By working with Microsoft on ActiveMovie 2.0, Truevision will be able to offer its development partners and customers early access to an open video authoring platform designed for the powerful Microsoft Windows NT operating system."

Truevision (NASDAQ "TRUV") is the leader in desktop video for business and broadcast and offers a full range of video graphics products for personal computers. The company pioneered the video graphics industry in 1984 and remains a market technology leader. For additional information, contact Truevision, 2500 Walsh Ave., Santa Clara, CA 95051, (800)
522-8783. Truevision product information is available on the Web at (http://www.truevision.com/) and via Truevision's fax-back system at (800) 522-8783. The phone number for the company's international fax-back system is (317) 577-8788.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

Microsoft, ActiveMovie, Windows and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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