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SILICON GRAPHICS TEZRO VISUAL WORKSTATIONS MAKE NBC DEBUT

To create new and differentiated eye-popping broadcast graphics throughout its coverage in Athens, NBC, for its fifth Olympic Games broadcast in a row, has chosen SGI visualization systems, including Silicon Graphics Tezro, the most powerful visual workstation Silicon Graphics has created to date. For more than a year and a half, 3D and graphic artists at NBC headquarters in New York have been using SGIsystems to create the interstitial content, including show opens and closes, intros/outros and a huge variety of graphic treatments, including the building of massive amounts of 3D models for technical animations, slated to explain many events and detail the equipment used by the athletes. NBC has used SGI IRIX OS-based workstations and servers for pre- build and on-site broadcast graphics creation since the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games and on through Atlanta, Sydney, and Salt Lake City.

"We continue to use SGI hardware because it delivers the consistency and performance, the tremendous power, speed and efficiency in building our broadcast graphic elements," said Dr. Philip Paully, director of graphics, engineering and operations for NBC Olympics. "I've been working with SGI hardware since Barcelona, and there have been no failures, no downtime. If we ran these programs on other platforms, we wouldn't be finished in time. To create the complexity of the 3D modeling that we do, you need a computer as powerful as an SGI system. Another key issue: SGI equipment integrates so well with the existing graphics network for all the other devices -- we do a lot of work with character generators and still stores, too -- that we have no problems with file interchange between any of them."

The same SGI systems used to pre-build NBC's Olympics broadcast graphics are now up and operational in the International Broadcast Center (IBC) in Athens, for use throughout NBC's coverage, which begins August 13. NBC selected SGI equipment because of its open system file-format compatibility and superior high-speed performance for creating visual effects, animation and rendering. The systems include: two 4-processor Silicon Graphics Tezro visual workstations running Discreet flame software, configured with SGI VPro.

V12 graphics and SGI DMediaPro DM2 and DMediaPro DM5 graphics options; two 2- processor Silicon Graphics Octane2 visual workstations, one Silicon Graphics Octane2 running Discreet flame and one running Alias Maya software. A 4- processor SGI Onyx2 visualization system for rendering output from Discreet flame and Alias Maya and four compact, 2- processor SGI Origin 200 servers for Maya remote rendering, clustered together using SGI NUMAlink cables into two 4-processor systems.

The addition of the SGI VPro V12 graphics on the Silicon Graphics Octane2 visual workstation provides NBC with unsurpassed 3D texturing, visual precision and exceptional value. The Silicon Graphics Tezro visual workstation, which comes equipped with SGI VPro V12 graphics, supports a full suite of SGI DMediaPro options. These options provide NBC with the highest quality, high-definition and standard-definition multi-format real-time video input and output. The graphics quality and system bandwidth of Silicon Graphics visual workstations plus the HD capabilities of DMediaPro products, also available on Octane2, create today's most powerful desktop HD solutions for visual effects, editing, and compositing applications. Using the Tezro equipped with DM2 and DM5, NBC already has already created the on-hand HD graphics to compliment the planned HD broadcasts and has the ability to easily create new HD/SD broadcast graphics for air during the Games. The Athens Olympics marks the first time NBC is adding Silicon Graphics Tezro visual workstations and the first time they are using Discreet's high-end SD/HD flame.

"We are very pleased with the Tezro," said Paully. "At NBC, we have the latest and greatest at all times. Silicon Graphics Tezro is an extremely fast, incredibly well built machine; the processing speed is just tremendous. For example, when we used the old SGI Power Series workstation in Barcelona in 1992, it took 45 seconds a frame to be rendered; we are now chugging through at 25 frames-per-second (which is real-time PAL) the standard we use. We've also done quite a lot with high-definition. Much of the footage we incorporate into our 3D design and graphics elements was originally either 720p or 1080i/50. The nice thing about having these format-independent resolution machines and software, including the Discreet flame, is that we're able to build our elements in the highest possible quality that there is. So, even though we might be sending it out as 625 SDI serial digital in PAL, the integrity of it -- from its HD source material -- is incredible."

"NBC has consistently relied on the power of SGI systems to enable their artists to efficiently deliver graphics that rivet Olympics' viewers to their seats, graphics almost as dazzling as the athletes' performances themselves," said Chris Golson, senior director, Market Strategy, Media Industries, SGI. "We are especially pleased that our high-performance Tezro visual workstation is proving invaluable to their SD and HD efforts. We look forward to Tezro thoroughly meeting and surpassing expectations in Athens, as well as for the Winter Olympics in Turin. SGI invites all broadcasters to take a good look at Tezro, as well as the growing number of SGI designed and implemented digital broadcast infrastructures throughout the U.S. and Europe, especially as the superior quality and efficiencies of digital and HD broadcasting rapidly becomes the norm."

SILICON GRAPHICS | The Source of Innovation and Discovery

SGI, also known as Silicon Graphics, Inc., is a leader in high-performance computing, visualization and storage. SGI's vision is to provide technology that enables the most significant scientific and creative breakthroughs of the 21st century. Whether it's sharing images to aid in brain surgery, finding oil more efficiently, studying global climate, providing technologies for homeland security and defense, or enabling the transition from analog to digital broadcasting, SGI is dedicated to addressing the next class of challenges for scientific, engineering and creative users. With offices worldwide, the company is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., and can be found on the Web at http://www.sgi.com.