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Monday, November 07, 2005

Photon Dynamics' Next-Generation Inspection Technology Gains Acceptance With Leading LCD Manufacturer

Photon Dynamics' Next-Generation Inspection Technology Gains Acceptance With Leading LCD Manufacturer

Company's PanelMaster(TM) Products Used for Automated Cell Inspection in the Volume Production of LCD TVs

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Photon Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PHTN), a leading global supplier of integrated yield-management solutions for the flat panel display (FPD) market, today announced that a leading liquid-crystal display (LCD) manufacturer has selected its PanelMaster(TM) system as the tool of choice for automated cell inspection in high-volume production of LCD TV panels. Today's announcement signals a major milestone for Photon Dynamics since the company expanded its yield-management portfolio to include inspection, and follows a rigorous, yet successful, evaluation of several PanelMaster tools operating in a 24/7 mass-production environment over the past few quarters. Given its demonstrated success for defect detection and classification under volume-production conditions, this customer has placed repeat orders for additional PanelMaster tools as part of its fab expansion efforts.

According to Charles Annis, vice president of DisplaySearch, an Austin, Texas-based market research company and part of the NPD Group, yield management will become increasingly critical among today's LCD manufacturers in order for LCD TV adoption to become mainstream. "Traditionally, cell and module inspection in LCD fabs has been manual (human operator) rather than automated. However, the explosion of panel sizes and resolution, human subjectivity over quality, the high cost of training and rising labor rates for experienced manual operators all pose formidable challenges. Yield is not just lost revenue. LCD manufacturing is also subject to a high cost of materials. Defective LCDs, especially in larger displays, become quite costly and drive up both panel and end-product costs," said Mr. Annis. "If properly implemented, automated cell and module inspection has the potential to significantly increase quality and yield, while lowering costs -- a win-win situation for both panel manufacturers and consumers alike," he continued.

Incorporating an automated vision system, the PanelMaster operates in a shorting bar or full probe configuration and utilizes structured and organized data to provide process feedback. This allows manufacturers to optimize fab operations and improve margins, which equates to lower price points for today's consumers.

"We are extremely pleased that the PanelMaster has received formal recognition as the inspection solution of choice from this leading LCD manufacturer, and long-standing customer, for their volume production of LCD TV panels. More importantly, it underscores the growing global leadership of Photon Dynamics in delivering the yield-management solutions that enable LCD players' operations to run at benchmark levels-across the entire fab," said Photon Dynamics' President and CEO, Jeff Hawthorne. "Today's announcement signals the strength of our inspection technology that, when coupled with our comprehensive around-the-clock support capabilities, allowed this customer to meet its aggressive volume production ramp timeline with consistent, reliable performance and accurate data for maximum ROI."

About PanelMaster

The company's PanelMaster (PM4012) cell-inspection system is capable of inspecting cell panels from 17- to 65-inches, with up to WUXGA (full HDTV) resolution. These systems are primarily used for detecting dots, lines, dust and mura defects to match the customers' end-of-line quality requirements for panels. After detection, this system also classifies and bins the defects according to customers' specifications. The tool also logs all the data and provides complex, qualitative reporting capabilities -- making it a truly unique inspection system for today's stringent LCD manufacturing requirements.

With the PanelMaster, Photon Dynamics now offers a full suite of yield-management tools, which also includes the industry standard test and repair offerings, dubbed ArrayChecker(TM) and ArraySaver(TM), respectively. The ArrayChecker and ArraySaver are used to identify and characterize defects at the early stages of LCD manufacturing -- minimizing the loss of time and materials. The company's intuitive user interface, graphical tools and utilities can be networked to enable defect data to be stored, analyzed and used throughout the manufacturing process.

About Photon Dynamics

Photon Dynamics, Inc. is a leading global supplier of integrated yield-management solutions for the flat panel display market. Photon Dynamics develops systems that enable manufacturers to collect and analyze data from the production line, and quickly diagnose and repair process-related defects, thereby allowing manufacturers to decrease material costs and improve throughput. Founded in 1986, Photon Dynamics has sales offices and customer support services in San Jose, Calif.; Beijing, Shanghai and Suzhou, China; Bundang, Daejeon and Kumi, Korea; Hsinchu and Taipei, Taiwan; Markham, Ontario, Canada; and Tokyo, Japan. For more information about Photon Dynamics, visit its Web site at www.photondynamics.com.

NOTE: The PanelMaster, ArrayChecker and ArraySaver are trademarks of Photon Dynamics.

Source: Photon Dynamics, Inc.

CONTACT: Mark Merrill of Photon Dynamics, Inc., +1-408-360-3169, or
mark.merrill@photondynamics.com; Marie Labrie of MCAm, +1-650-968-8900, or
mlabrie@mcapr.com, for Photon Dynamics, Inc.

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

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