Toshiba Chooses Zoran's Industry-Leading Dolby Digital Audio Processor for Revolutionary New DVD Chip-Set; Chip-set Including Zoran Processor to be Used In Next Wave of DVD Products

Business Wire, Oct 7, 1996

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 7, 1996--Zoran Corp. (NASDAQ:ZRAN), the world's leading supplier of Dolby AC-3 devices, announced today that Toshiba of Japan has chosen Zoran's Dolby Digital and MPEG Audio processor to provide the audio capabilities for their new DVD chip-set.

Zoran's advanced ZR38521 single-chip, two-channel AC-3/MPEG audio decoder provides DVD manufacturers with the superior algorithms and flexible architecture to meet the needs of next-generation of audio and video consumer and multimedia products. The new DVD chip-set will be included in DVD players manufactured by Toshiba -- which are expected to ship later this year -- and will be used by other manufacturers currently developing DVD products.

"We are very pleased to be chosen as the supplier of the Dolby Digital and MPEG Audio decoder for Toshiba's DVD chip-set, as well as the first-generation of DVD players," said Levy Gerzberg, president and chief executive officer of Zoran Corp.

"Zoran's decoders will be included in the majority of the new DVD products. We are fully committed to meeting the needs for the next wave of consumer multimedia products, and plan to leverage this DVD experience and system know-how in future products that will incorporate advanced algorithms and special audio sound effects."

According to Dale Ford of Dataquest, a San Jose-based research firm, the DVD player market, now in its initial stages of growth, is expected to reach 10.3 million units by the year 2000. DVD drives for PCs are expected to reach 24.9 million units by the year 2000.

"Zoran has been working in partnership with Dolby since 1991 when we developed the world's first AC-3 decoder," said Roger Dressler, technology director of Dolby Labs in San Francisco. "We also jointly developed the architecture for the second generation AC-3 device, which has been shipping in volume since 1995. Today, virtually all existing Dolby Digital consumer products use Zoran devices."

About Zoran Corp.

Zoran Corp. (NASDAQ:ZRAN) develops and markets integrated circuits and software for digital video and audio applications enabled by compression. Zoran's product line includes JPEG codecs, MPEG video decoders, and AC-3 and MPEG audio decoders. The company's integrated circuits are used in a variety of video and audio products addressing growing consumer multimedia markets.

Current applications for Zoran products include professional and consumer video editing systems, PC-based and stand-alone video CD systems, DVD ROM and stand-alone players, digital audio systems and filmless digital cameras. Established in 1983, the company is headquartered in Santa Clara and has operations in Haifa, Israel. For more information about Zoran, call 408/986-1314. -0-

Note to Editors: ZR38521 is a trademark of Zoran Corp. AC-3 and Dolby Digital are trademarks of Dolby Labs Inc.

CONTACT: Zoran Corp.

David Anisman, 408/986-1314

davida@zoran.com

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Carey Mitchell, 415/968-8900

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FRB Inc.

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