Michael Viramontes, Senior Product Marketing Manager
ELSA, Inc.
408-919-9100 ext. 105
michaelv@elsa.com

Courtney Zoog
Focal Point Communications
415-289-0351
courtneyzoog@earthlink.net

ELSA ANNOUNCES 3D REVELATOR SHUTTER GLASSES FOR STEREO VISION GAMING

New 3D Stereo Eyewear Elevates the 3D Gaming Experience

LOS ANGELES -- April 6, 1999 - ELSA, Inc., a world leader in computer graphics add-on and peripheral solutions, today announced new LCD shutter glasses eyewear, ELSA 3D REVELATOR, offering game players an entirely new immersive, stereo 3D display of games action. The ELSA 3D REVELATOR enables standard PCs and monitors playing Microsoft Direct3D-based games to display images with a three-dimensional quality that is comparable to holography. ELSA presents this 3D eyewear featuring ELSA's latest control technology (patent pending) at WinHEC '99.

The combination of ELSA 3D REVELATOR shutter glasses and ELSA graphics boards provides gamers with a uniquely realistic 3D experience. Without the use of 3D eyewear, even games that use graphics boards to generate complex 3D scenes end-up with 2D effects because current state-of-the-art 3D graphics boards only generate a final image in 'pseudo 3D' -- with just one picture for both eyes. The ELSA 3D REVELATOR eyewear supplies each eye with an image from a slightly different perspective in rapid succession. At an imperceptible 120 times per second (min.) this alternating image is merged by the human brain to form a true stereo 3D image experience.

"ELSA 3D REVELATOR glasses take 3D game playing to a whole new level by drawing the player into the environment of a favorite game more intensely than was ever before possible," said Uli Theissen, president of ELSA Inc. "When gamers experience the ultimate 3D sensation that our solution provides, the 3D REVELATOR will become just as indispensable as the gamepad or joystick to discriminating game players everywhere."

The lightweight, fully-adjustable ergonomic design of the large, high-quality LCD shutter glasses offers long-lasting, undiluted three-dimensional games fun at full resolution and color depth. The ELSA 3D REVELATOR eyewear is available in two styles: cabled glasses and wireless, infra-red glasses. Both styles are fully suited to multi-player games. Up to four sets of the cable glasses can be used in a games session. The wireless, infra-red glasses are limited only by the size of the environment, with a range of from eight to 20 sets for group gaming sessions.

The ELSA 3D REVELATOR auto-configures each game for stereo play and also enables users to configure custom settings for each game with its full featured utility for optimizing performance and game play preferences. These settings range from an individually adjustable depth setting to the position of the 3D scenery in relation to the monitor screen. This creates the visual effect that the scenery on the monitor is closing in on the observer.

"We immediately tested the new game 'Superbike World Championship' with the ELSA 3D REVELATOR and were totally impressed," said Jörg Rohrer, marketing director at Electronic Arts Germany. "You can almost smell the rubber in the Ducati 916's burnout -- That's pure driving fun!"

Dyna-Z, a unique new ELSA tool, works unnoticeably in the background and serves to dynamically adjust and optimize the spatial stereo 3D effect. A screenshot hotkey will save the current image as a true 3D screenshot which can be viewed any time in true 3D.

The ELSA 3D REVELATOR currently supports the ELSA ERAZOR II and ELSA VICTORY II graphics boards (ELSA ERAZOR III and ELSA WINNER II pending). You also need a computer with at least a Pentium II or AMD K6-2, and a monitor that can display the desired resolution at a refresh rate of at least 120 Hz.

Product Availability:
The cable version and the wireless infra-red version of the ELSA 3D REVELATOR glasses will be available in May 1999.

ELSA Information:
ELSA, Inc. is a subsidiary of ELSA AG, a German-based publicly listed company, trading on the 'Neuer Markt' trading segment of the Frankfurt stock exchange. Founded in 1980, ELSA has built a world-class reputation in high-performance 2D and 3D graphics solutions for professional workstations, commercial desktop and consumer Pcs. In addition, ELSA offers a wide range of communications products such as modems, ISDN-internet access solutions and PC-based videoconferencing products.


The ELSA logo is a registered trademark of ELSA AG. All names mentioned may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.