SGI Brings Rocket Science Technology to Broadcasters and Video/Film Industry with New Open IT Platform

To help broadcasters and post production houses as they transition from analog to digital IT-based facilities, and from SD to HD, 2K and 4K resolution material, Silicon Graphics ( NYSE: SGI ) is introducing an open IT platform designed to bring greater efficiencies to their new digital workflows. Unveiled at NAB Booth SL1943, the Silicon Graphics Prism™ platform for Media employs the same architecture as one of the fastest supercomputers in the world, the SGI® Altix® system at NASA Ames. It also leverages SGI's 20+ years heritage in visualization and management of massive, complex data. Unlike previous generation proprietary systems, the new Silicon Graphics Prism platform delivers the power and performance of multi-pipe visualization using open-source standards and scalable, commodity graphics.

By integrating industry standards-based, 64-bit Intel® Itanium® 2 processors, the 64-bit Linux® scalability found in SGI Altix high-performance server products, and scalable ATI® graphics processors ( GPUs ), SGI offers a system to solve the most demanding content creation and management at a dramatic new price point.

"We envision partnering with non-linear editing, asset management, color grading, video server and other software companies as well as systems integrators to provide the SGI open IT platform as the foundation on which to build their products and solutions," said Chris Golson, senior director, Media Industries, SGI. "This is the same computer architecture used by rocket scientists to analyze super-high definition images of Shuttle launches for ice and debris. For media, Silicon Graphics Prism is a compact, cost-effective open architecture platform that has the I/O capability to handle multiple ingest channels and multiple uncompressed HD and 2K streams, or even the 4K requirements of digital cinema mastering and digital intermediates."

For broadcasters, the SGI platform will offer the possibility of a fully integrated, multi-channel broadcast media gateway for ingest, editing and archiving. In post-production, the Silicon Graphics Prism platform will dramaticaly increase performance in data-intense creative processes, such as special effects based on massive data models, high-resolution finishing, and highly interactive, digital intermediate sessions.

"Digital intermediate projects and the creation and management of broadcast news content place great demands on a processor's computing ability," said Melissa Laird, general manager of Intel's Developer Relations Division. "Intel Itanium 2 processor-based platforms are ideal for meeting these demands. The combination of SGI's high-bandwidth platforms and the raw computing performance of Itanium 2 processors can help film studios, post-production facilities and broadcasters reach new levels of system reliability and scalable performance."

Through the SGI® Global Developers Program, qualified application developers can receive assistance in their porting efforts as well as significant discounts on development systems through a special SGI sponsored developer program designed specifically for SGI Altix and Silicon Graphics Prism systems.

The SGI Platform Architecture
Silicon Graphics Prism is based on open standards: Intel Itanium 2 processors, 64-bit Linux OS, ATI GPUs, OpenML™, MXF, high-speed networking including Infiniband, 10 Gig Ethernet and GSN, and high-speed interconnect to storage with 4Gb Fibre Channel. The platform will also focus on open partnerships as SGI continues its collaboration with companies such as Ardendo, Autodesk, InteractiveFX, Omneon and others.

Silicon Graphics Prism is built on SGI's more than 20 year heritage in developing graphics and D-Media libraries. Leveraging the power of true scalability, Silicon Graphic Prism provides the ability to easily scale resources ( processors, GPUs, storage ) within a system to meet customers' needs. And its world-leading system bandwidth and I/O capabilities enable entire workflows to be accelerated by eliminating time wasted on waiting for data to be loaded, saved, or distributed.

Three primary elements of the Silicon Graphics Prism platform make it unique—giving developers and customers three ways to solve a problem in a single platform:
Itanium 2 processors: 64-bit data processing for higher performance, especially for large data visualization
Scalable graphics with multi-pipe ATI GPUs: multiple HD streams all the way to 4K
Reconfigurable Application-Specific Computing ( RASC ) with Field Programmable Gate Arrays ( FPGAs ). By directly connecting FGPAs to global shared memory in Silicon Graphics Prism, RASC allows application developers to program to the best of three building blocks offered by processors, graphics pipelines, and FPGAs. RASC processors are being programmed for codecs and image processing, watermarking, motion estimation, and data conversion. It gives developers a third path for accelerating key time-consuming filters for DI or transcoding for broadcast.

SGI anticipates that the complete Silicon Graphics Prism open IT platform for Media will be available in the second half of CY05. Systems with 2-8 processors and 2-4 GPUs start at under $US30,000. SGI intends to also make smaller configurations available.

For the latest SGI announcements at NAB, please go to the SGI NAB 2005 Virtual Press Kit posted in the SGI Newsroom at www.sgi.com/company_info/newsroom/virt_presskit/nab05.

This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding SGI technologies and third-party technologies that are subject to risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such statements. The reader is cautioned not to rely unduly on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future or current performance. Such risks and uncertainties include long-term program commitments, the performance of third parties, the sustained performance of current and future products, financing risks, the impact of competitive markets, the ability to integrate and support a complex technology solution involving multiple providers and users, the acceptance of applicable technologies by markets and customers, and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's most recent SEC reports, including its reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q.

SILICON GRAPHICS | The Source of Innovation and Discovery™
SGI, also known as Silicon Graphics, Inc. ( NYSE: SGI ), 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 www.sgi.com.

Silicon Graphics, SGI, Altix, the SGI cube and the SGI logo are registered trademarks and OpenML, Silicon Graphics Prism and The Source of Innovation and Discovery are trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries worldwide. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in several countries. Intel and Itanium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

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