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   SUN TO DEVELOP HIGH-DEFINITION DISPLAY WORKSTATION FOR DARPA

   Use of High Definition Technology In Computers Expected To Grow

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. --October 26, 1989-- Sun Microsystems, the David
Sarnoff Research Center and Texas Instruments today announced that
their proposal to develop high-definition display computer workstations
has been selected for funding by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA). The workstation will be available in
approximately two years and will be used by other contractors in a
DARPA-funded display technology research program to evaluate
high-resolution systems and video processing techniques.

The workstation to be developed by Sun and Sarnoff will be capable
of displaying multiple text, graphics, image and video windows on the
same screen. Sun will build the system and provide digital image
processing hardware and system-level software, including the window
system and UNIX(R) operating system. Sarnoff, a commercial research
and development company, will write application tools and utilities and
develop a high-speed, programmable video digitizer to convert
high-definition video signals to digital signals to be used by the
workstations. Texas Instruments will act as a facilitator for DARPA
and a central contact for all DARPA-designated U.S. companies involved
in HDTV research and development efforts.

High definition display technology makes possible high-quality images
with nearly twice the resolution of those found in today's computer
displays. With more than double the horizontal and vertical
resolution, high-definition technology gives workstation users image
quality equal to or better than 35mm motion picture film.

Such advanced imaging will be of immediate benefit to a number of
practical applications. The ability to create extremely detailed
images will improve output in satellite image analysis, weather
forecasting, medical imaging and publication graphics.


High-Definition Display Technology To Appear First In Computers

High definition display technology has two major application areas:
broadcast television and computer displays. Eventually,
high-definition display and processing technology will be combined with
transmission systems suitable for VHF/UHF, cable and satellite systems
to deliver advanced television (ATV) services to the general consumer.
Most analysts believe that substantial market penetration of ATV
television receivers will not occur in the commercial television
industry until the 21st century. However, computers can take advantage
of high-definition technology today because they are not restricted to
broadcasting industry standards, such as NTSC, PAL and SECAM.

"Agreement on advanced television transmission standards is not
imminent," said Charles Poynton, staff engineer for Sun's Desktop and
Graphics Development Organization. "But the computer community need
not wait for ATV standardization in order to offer high-definition
display capability to workstation users."

According to Poynton, broadcast standards will eventually have two
effects on computer display technology: smaller size and lower cost.
"As the broadcast industry adopts ATV standards, manufacturers will
begin to produce displays in mass quantity for the consumer market," he
said. "Computer suppliers such as Sun will be able to ride the wave of
manufacturing economies of scale to take advantage of lower-cost
displays with exceptional resolution. In addition, innovations in the
consumer market will drive development of computer displays with
smaller footprints than are available today."

As the price of high-definition display workstations drops, they will
find broad application in the office environment because of their
high-resolution. In addition, the ability to integrate television
transmission into a workstation will make possible desktop video
teleconferencing.

Sun Microsystems, Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., is a
leading worldwide supplier of network-based distributed computing
systems, including professional workstations, servers and UNIX
operating system and productivity software.

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