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New X-Card supports high fidelity TV playback of DivX, ISMA, and DVD content

The X-card is a PCI plug-in card for the PC that supports full hardware decoding of MPEG-4 and MPEG-1 or 2 files, as well as high quality audio/video output to your TV and surround sound receiver. The X-Card turns the PC into a client player for content from DivX Networks, DVD or VideoCD discs, and ISMA compliant video streams. Providing home theatre quality output, the X-Card enables users to enjoy their content in standard, wide-screen, high-definition, or progressive formats with high-quality component video and Dolby Digital surround sound. Included with X-Card is a TV-like remote control that mimics the convenience of a DVD player. With plug-n-play set-up under Windows 98SE, Me, or XP, X-Card is expected to be in demand for users that are creating their own PC-based entertainment libraries.

``It's gratifying to be a pioneer in the emerging MPEG-4 industry and enable PC users to enjoy high-quality playback of their content collection on TV,'' said Ken Lowe, vice president of business development, Sigma Designs. ``Moving from a small PC monitor with low-end speakers to a full-screen quality TV with surround sound is a dramatic shift in sensation.''

Sigma is quickly becoming the dominant provider of IP video streaming solutions, based on its new EM8470 series of MPEG-4 decoder chips, the technology behind the X-Card. The new EM8470 series, based on the company's award-winning REALmagic® Video Streaming Technology, is the industry's first, and so far only MPEG-4 chip to support full-resolution (720x576) and streaming video based on ISMA specification 1.0. The EM8470 series provides highly integrated solutions for decoding of MPEG-4, as well as DVD, MPEG-2 and MPEG-1 formats.

MPEG-4 is the next-generation digital video standard, enabling content developers to create sophisticated content containing audio, video, text, graphics and interactivity. The object-oriented environment of MPEG-4 provides for complex scene manipulation at low bit rates, making it ideal for streaming content over today's 300-1500bps broadband connections and more than doubling the capacity of existing MPEG-2 services.

``The proliferation of consumer MPEG-4 content across the internet is a milestone in the expansion of demand for streaming video,'' stated Phil Graham, vice president of ISMA. ``We're excited to see Sigma Designs take a leadership role in support of the ISMA specification with their new products.''

About Sigma Designs, Inc.

Sigma Designs specializes in silicon-based MPEG decoding for streaming video, progressive DVD playback and advanced digital set-top boxes. The company's award-winning REALmagic® Video Streaming Technology is used in both commercial and consumer applications providing highly integrated solutions for high-quality decoding of MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Headquartered in Milpitas, Calif., the company also has sales offices in China, Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. For more information, please visit the company's web site at www.sigmadesigns.com/.

REALmagic® is a registered trademark of Sigma Designs, Inc. Other product and service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

Contact:

     Sigma Designs
     Ken Lowe, 408/262-9003
     kal@sdesigns.com
      or
     Edelman PR Worldwide
     Stephanie Porter, 650/968-4033
     stephanie.porter@edelman.com