Display Products Group: Press Release

25. 11. 2007

Barco partners with Hitachi Displays to bring the most advanced LCD technology to the medical imaging market

RSNA Annual Meeting, Chicago, USA, 25 November 2007 ? Barco, a global leader in medical imaging systems, and Hitachi Displays, Ltd., the leading developer of cutting-edge LCD technology, have announced an exclusive cooperation that will bring the latest In-Plane Switching LCD technology (IPS-Pro) to the healthcare imaging market. The world?s first diagnostic display system based on breakthrough IPS-Pro technology is Barco?s brand-new Coronis Fusion 6MP DL. Compared to conventional LCD architectures, IPS-Pro delivers higher brightness, richer contrast and a significantly wider viewing angle.

"We are pleased to partner with the world?s leading expert in medical display technology?, says Yoshiyuki Imoto, President and CEO of Hitachi Displays, Ltd. ?Barco?s selection of IPS-Pro marks a new phase in the acceptance of this superior technology in highly demanding professional applications such as medical imaging, where image fidelity under a wide viewing angle is crucial. We are confident that our collaboration will open a gateway into the healthcare market, which is strategically important and holds substantial growth potential for our company."

?Hitachi has a history of innovation in high-quality Liquid Crystal Display technology and IPS-Pro represents another major breakthrough in diagnostic imaging?, comments Paul Matthijs, Senior Vice President of Barco?s Medical Imaging Division. ?Integrated into our high-grade Coronis Fusion 6MP DL system, IPS-Pro provides radiologists with unprecedented color image quality, a DICOM-calibrated luminance of 800 cd/m², and a contrast ratio of 800:1 over the widest possible viewing angle. This combination of color imaging capabilities with performance characteristics previously only possible on dedicated grayscale LCDs, sets the Coronis Fusion 6MP DL apart as the most effective solution for diagnostic imaging available today,? he concludes.

About IPS-Pro
IPS-Pro features the most advanced viewing characteristics of all LCD architectures on the market. Compared to Hitachi Displays? current IPS technology, IPS-Pro improves light transfer by a factor 1.25 and contrast ratio by a factor 2. More importantly, IPS-Pro has the advantage that it keeps a diagnostic contrast ratio (> 400:1) over a substantial larger viewing cone then any other technology. With IPS-Pro, this angle is 120°, which is nearly twice the value achieved by other technologies. These unique characteristics turn the 30-inch Coronis Fusion 6MP DL into a perfect solution for multi-user viewing.

About Hitachi Displays, Ltd.
Hitachi Displays, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd., is a global display devices technology company involved in the design, development, manufacturing and sales of Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display Modules to a variety of selected customers in the high quality display market. A pioneering innovator of a unique TFT technology called In-Plane Switching (IPS), Hitachi Displays, Ltd., has over 2,100 employees across its headquarters in Tokyo, Mobara (Chiba), at its manufacturing facilities in China and Taiwan and sales offices in Tokyo, Osaka, USA, Europe and Asia. In its fiscal year 2006, Hitachi Displays, Ltd. recorded sales revenues of 200 billion Japanese yen on a consolidated basis.

About Barco
Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops visualization products for a variety of selected professional markets. Barco has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Barco (Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90 countries with about 3800 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales of euro 751 million in 2006.

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