NVIDIA Technology Receives Industry's Highest Video Quality Certification for Home Theater PCs

NVIDIA Technology Receives Industry's Highest Video Quality Certification for Home Theater PCs

NVIDIA ForceWare(TM) Release 72.14 Driver Also Offers New Extensions to Simplify the Process of Configuring HDTVs for Windows Media Center Edition PCs

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), a worldwide leader in graphics and digital media processors, today announced that the NVIDIA GeForce(TM) 6600 and 6800 graphics processing units (GPUs) and the NVIDIA ForceWare(TM) Release 72.14 driver are now Imaging Science Foundation Research Labs (ISF RL) certified, indicating that these products meet ISF's standards for artifact-free film and sports viewing, superb color fidelity, quiet operation, and other home entertainment-based quality parameters. Dedicated to improving the quality of electronic imaging, the ISF has been testing and certifying leading high-end video consumer products since 1994.

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"We've established a very strict set of testing metrics to evaluate Windows XP Media Center Edition components because we feel a strong responsibility to the consumer," said Joel Silver, founder and president of ISF. "In our testing, we found the NVIDIA hardware and software products handily exceeded all of our criteria for certification. When consumers see the ISF logo on these graphics cards, they should feel very comfortable that they are getting an outstanding product with the highest video quality possible for their Media Center Edition 2005 PCs."

Available immediately for download at www.nvidia.com/object/winxpmce_72.14.html, the NVIDIA ForceWare Release 72.14 driver features new Media Center PC extensions, which greatly simplify the process of configuring the consumer's NVIDIA graphics processor for Media Center Edition PCs with a high-definition display. The extensions enable a consumer-friendly set-up wizard controlled by a remote control instead of a PC keyboard. The wizard detects the user's display format, resolution, and connector output type, and guides the user through set-up, offering adjustments to settings such as color correction, PureVideo(TM), and Digital Vibrance Control. For more information on the new ForceWare Release 72.14 driver extensions for Media Center PCs, please visit the Company's Web site at http://www.nvidia.com/object/mce_extensions.html .

In addition to superb high-definition video quality, both the NVIDIA GeForce 6600 and 6800 GPUs feature excellent gaming performance and accelerate video processing through Windows Media Video (WMV) and MPEG video. The NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GPU will be found in many Media Center Edition PCs from systems builders and OEMs this year. For example, NVIDIA PureVideo technology and the NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GPUs were integrated into the HP z555 and z557 Digital Entertainment Centers.

"NVIDIA continues to deliver innovative enhancements to Windows XP Media Center Edition," said Bill Mannion, director of Windows XP Consumer Marketing at Microsoft Corp. "Its new software extensions provide added value to the Media Center consumer, and the ISF's certification of the NVIDIA GeForce 6600 and 6800 GPUs illustrates NVIDIA's commitment to working to deliver exceptional PC video quality to Media Center customers."

Working in close collaboration with Microsoft, ISF opened the Imaging Science Foundation Research Labs (ISF RL) last year to certify Media Center PC hardware for audio/video quality. Since then, the ISF RL determined the metrics and specifications that define the best video performance available for consumers. Hardware and systems that can meet or exceed these criteria are eligible for ISF RL certification so consumers can identify them as best of class video products.

"ISF has established itself as a widely respected, impartial third-party evaluator of video quality," said Scott Vouri, general manager of multimedia at NVIDIA. "The foundation's certification confirms that our investments in programmable video processors, advanced video algorithms, hardware acceleration capabilities, and display processing technology are resulting in the superb picture clarity that our Media Center customers depend on."

About ISF

ISF is in the Display Standards industry, and is dedicated to improving the quality of electronic imaging. ISF has four basic roles in this industry and the PC industry, which include consulting with manufacturers regarding product development, dealer training, media communications, and ISF licensing. They are the co-inventor of the recently launched and patented Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition 2004 Monitor Calibration Wizard.

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA Corporation is a worldwide leader in graphics and digital media processors. The Company's products enhance the end-user experience on consumer and professional computing devices. NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs), media and communications processors (MCPs), and wireless media processors (WMPs) have broad market reach and are incorporated into a variety of platforms, including consumer and enterprise PCs, notebooks, workstations, PDAs, mobile phones, and video game consoles. NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, California and employs more than 2,100 people worldwide. For more information, visit the Company's Web site at www.nvidia.com.

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, the features, benefits, performance and capabilities of the NVIDIA GeForce 6600 and 6800 GPUs and the NVIDIA Forceware Release 72.14, compliance of the NVIDIA GeForce 6600 and 6800 with ISF standards, impact of having the ISF logo on our products, and the date of availability of the 6600 GPU in many Media Center Edition PCs available from system builders and OEMs are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, delays in ramping new products into production, OEMs and systems builders using different GPUs for their Media Center Edition PCs, manufacturing, software or other product defects, changes in ISF standards, use of ISF logo on products that do not meet ISF minimum standards, reliance on third-party manufacturers, the impact of competitive products and pricing alternatives, changes in industry standards and interfaces, our dependence on third-party developers and publishers and other risks detailed from time to time in the NVIDIA reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended May 1, 2005. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

NOTE: All company and/or product names may be trade names, trademarks and/or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability, and specifications are subject to change without notice.

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Source: NVIDIA Corporation

CONTACT: Derek Perez of NVIDIA Corporation, +1-408-486-2512, or
dperez@nvidia.com

Web site: http://www.nvidia.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: If you are interested in viewing additional information on NVIDIA, please visit the NVIDIA Press Room at http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=press_room .

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