DALLAS, June 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Instruments (TI) (NYSE: TXN) today announced that it had signed an agreement with Imax Corporation (Nasdaq: IMAX; Toronto: IMX), headquartered in Mississauga, Canada, under the terms of which Imax and its subsidiary Digital Projection International (DPI) will develop, manufacture and market projectors based on DLP Cinema(TM) projection technology for both large-format IMAX(R) theatres as well as standard cinema.

"We're delighted by this announcement," said Bob England, Senior Vice President and Manager of TI's Digital Imaging division. "Imax has a worldwide reputation for excellence in showing movies, and Imax's wholly-owned subsidiary, Digital Projection International, is one of our longest-standing customers for DLP technology. With their knowledge of how to get the best from DLP technology, the cinema expertise and experience that Imax brings, and the power of the IMAX brand, we believe we have added great strength to our program to roll out DLP Cinema technology globally."

Terms of the agreement between TI and Imax were not announced. However, TI will make available to Imax DLP Cinema(TM) technology that will form the heart of a new generation of all-digital cinema projectors for both standard and large-format venues. Also as part of the agreement, Imax will be the exclusive licensee of DLP Cinema(TM) technology for large-format venues. The two other licensees for standard format cinema venues, Christie Systems Inc. and BARCO, were announced in March.

"We are very happy to enter into this agreement with TI to develop digital projectors for conventional cinema and IMAX theatres," said Imax co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. "We are excited about the opportunity in d-cinema for conventional theaters given Imax's tradition of delivering the highest quality images and DPI's history with TI in developing high brightness DLP technology. While there are a significant number of technological hurdles to overcome to develop a digital system that meets our standards of image size and clarity for IMAX theatres, we are very happy to be the exclusive provider of this world leading technology once a solution has been developed. This agreement, and our larger relationship with TI, will keep Imax at the leading edge of projection technology and reaffirm our leadership in the large-format cinema market."

Digital cinema or d-cinema refers to conventional movie theaters replacing 35mm film prints and film-based projectors with movies encoded as digital data that are projected using digital projectors. This transformation will allow for a higher quality image to be projected in the theatre and a significant reduction in the cost of producing and distributing film prints. DLP Cinema(TM) projection technology is considered the leading technology to drive this change.

"Our DLP Cinema(TM) technology program continues to gain momentum with this exciting announcement," said Doug Darrow, Business Manager for DLP Cinema(TM). "Beyond this, our field demonstration program is returning impressive results in terms of audience and exhibitor acceptance and in terms of the robustness and reliability of the technology. We continue to announce additional locations and movies as we expand the program to even more worldwide locations. We believe we're on track to see several thousand projectors based on DLP Cinema projection technology installed within the next three years or so."

TI's DLP Cinema(TM) projection technology has already been exposed to over three quarters of a million movie-goers throughout the world. These extensive field demonstrations began in June 1999 with all-digital showings at two North American locations of "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace." This was followed in July when 'Tarzan' was shown at three locations. 'Toy Story 2' opened on six projectors in November in the U.S., and opened on an additional six projectors in February and March in Europe and Japan. 'Bicentennial Man' opened in the U.S. and Canada on six projectors in December, followed by 'Mission to Mars' in March in North America and May in Europe. An additional four projectors were added in the U.S. for the opening of 'Dinosaur' on May 19. Additional DLP Cinema(TM) projectors will be installed in worldwide locations during the second and third quarter of this year to bring the total to around forty.

DLP Cinema(TM) technology is Digital Light Processing(TM) technology specifically adapted for the needs of the movie industry. By comparison with the industry-leading large venue DLP(TM) technology-based projectors on which it is based, it features even higher contrast, together with color processing designed to replicate the visual experience of film: commercial projectors featuring DLP(TM) technology are designed primarily for video and graphics applications. At the heart of TI's DLP Cinema(TM) technology are three Digital Micromirror Device(TM) optical semiconductor chips. The DMD(TM) switch has an array of to 1,310,000 hinged, microscopic mirrors which operate as optical switches to create a high resolution, full color image.

Today, TI supplies DLP(TM) subsystems to more than thirty of the world's top projector manufacturers, who then design, manufacture and market DLP(TM) technology-based projectors. There are now over fifty products featuring DLP(TM) technology in the market. Since early 1996, over 350,000 DLP(TM) subsystems have been shipped. Over the past four years, DLP(TM) technology-based projectors have consistently won some of the audio-visual industry's most prestigious awards, including, in June 1998, an Emmy Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Imax Corporation and its subsidiaries comprise one of the world's leading entertainment technology companies, with particular emphasis on film and digital imaging technologies including giant-screen images, 3D presentations, digital post-production and digital projection. There were more than 210 IMAX theatres operating in 26 countries around the world as of March 31, 2000. Imax's subsidiaries include Digital Projection International, whose primary business is the design and manufacture of high-end digital image delivery devices, and Sonics Associates a designer and manufacturer of high-end sound systems. Imax has forged strategic alliances and relationships with some of the most prominent corporations in the world including Famous Players Inc. (a subsidiary of Viacom Inc.), America Online Inc. and Loews Cineplex Corp. Imax Corporation is a publicly traded company listed on both the Nasdaq and Toronto stock exchanges (Nasdaq: IMAX; Toronto: IMX). More information on the Company can be found at www.imax.com .

Texas Instruments Incorporated is the world leader in digital signal processing and analog technologies, the semiconductor engines of the Internet age. The company's businesses also include materials and controls, and educational and productivity solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and has manufacturing or sales operations in more than 25 countries.

Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information on TI's DLP(TM) technology can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.ti.com/dlp .

Digital Light Processing, DLP, Digital Micromirror Device, DMD and DLP Cinema are all trademarks of Texas Instruments. All other products and names may or may not be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

IMAX(R) is a registered trademark of Imax Corporation.

This press release contains forward-looking statements certain of which are based on Imax Corporation's management's assumptions and existing information and involve certain risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could effect these statements include the timing of theatre system deliveries, the mix of theatre systems shipped, the timing of the recognition of revenues and expenses on film production and distribution agreements, the viability of new businesses and foreign currency fluctuations. These factors and other risks and uncertainties are discussed in Imax Corporation's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999 and in the subsequent reports filed by Imax Corporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission. SOURCE Texas Instruments Incorporated; Imax Corporation

CONTACT: Ian McMurray of Texas Instruments, +44-1604-663075, or i-mcmurray@ti.com, or Lori Kelman-Seely of Rainier Corporation, 978-464-5302, ext. 123, or lori@rainierco.com; or Victoria Dinnick of Imax Corporation, Toronto, 905-403-6366, or vdinnick@imax.com, or Analysts, Stephen Abraham of Imax Corporation, New York, 212-821-0140, or sabraham@imax.com; or Entertainment Media, Al Newman of Newman & Company, Los Angeles, 310-777-5252, or asn@newman-co.com; or Media, Gina Stikes of Edelman Financial, New York, 212-642-7702, or gina_stikes@edelman.com /