Piedmont, Italy, the World's First Region to Broadcast Backward Compatible 3D TV

New 3D Digital Terrestrial Television, Which Everyone Can Enjoy, Demonstrated During a News Conference in Turin

TURIN, Italy, December 1, 2010 - Yesterday, in Turin, at the headquarters of the Piedmont Region, a news
conference was held announcing the implementation, from Piedmont, of the
first 3D HDTV broadcasts, free-to-air, with a system for backwards
compatibility with 2D TV sets.

The initiative, all made in Piedmont, was created through a partnership
between public and private bodies operating in the area, including Sisvel,
Quartarete TV and CSP Innovazione nelle ICT, putting the region, in
northwestern Italy, at the forefront in Europe for developing leading
technology for future years.

With the start of digital terrestrial TV 3D broadcasts within the
Quartarete TV service bouquet, Piedmont also becomes the first region in
Italy to broadcast free-to-air, backward compatible 3D TV content, allowing
those with HD TV sets to watch 2D HDTV, even when the transmissions use 3D
techniques.

This is possible due to an innovative technique for formatting
stereoscopic images, known as 3D Tile Format, which makes it possible to
integrate two 720p frames within a single 1080p frame. The reconstructed
right and left images maintain their original resolution, preventing an
unbalancing of the vertical or horizontal resolution.

The 3D Tile Format improves the quality of the transmission of 3D HD
content, compared to current solutions (Side-by-Side or Top-and-Bottom) and,
due to its backwards compatibility, allows broadcasters to transmit to both
2D and 3D users without having to double the amount of bandwidth required for
transmissions.

Once again — as it was for the first TV transmissions — Piedmont is
leading a process of significant industrial, technological and economic
value, providing a roadmap to be followed over the coming months by other
regions in both Italy and Europe.

Yesterday's news conference involved Massimo Giordano, Councillor for
Economic Development, Research and Innovation; Roberto Dini, Founder of
Sisvel; Giovanni Ferrero, Chairman of CSP - Innovazione nelle ICT; and Davide
Boscaini, Director of Quartarete.

The President of the Piedmont Region, Roberto Cota, commented: "I never
get tired of repeating that Piedmont has to protect and support its
industrial future. The result which we see before us today, an absolute
innovation in the national and international broadcasting scene, is the fruit
of the virtuous cooperation between public and private research. It is a
perfect example of how technological innovation and an entrepreneurial
vocation can act in favour of the local area as a development accelerator. It
is also an industrial initiative which puts Piedmont at the forefront in
Europe, and leading technology, for future years."

Massimo Giordano emphasised how: "Applied research activity, if
well-directed, helps with the development of new products and new business.
3D 'made in Piedmont,' therefore, becomes a model which, by opening a road
which Italy and Europe must travel in the coming months, is developed thanks
to the work of researchers of CSP, a business part owned by the Piedmont
Region. Let's not forget that, because it is a point of pride for us and it
is a model which is totally in line with the strategies put in place by our
Board with the measures specified in the employment and competitiveness
plans. Piedmont has everything it needs for taking on the future, which
necessarily also involves technological innovation and research."

Roberto Dini emphasised the innovative features of 3D Tile Format system:
"With our partners, we have done some great research and development work and
made it tangible. 3D Tile Format technology introduces considerable benefits
for the entire market, from operators to TV producers to consumers, and we
hope that many other national and international players adopt it soon, so we
are already working with them. The standardisation bodies themselves are
assessing the adoption of our system. It is worth emphasising that this is a
project which offers a positive image of the country, as the entire value
chain of the technology, including the set-top-boxes for receiving the
signal, has been developed and produced in Italy."

Davide Boscaini focused on the strategic role of the private broadcaster:
"The involvement of Quartarete as broadcaster is a further demonstration of
the importance of the role of the private local broadcaster within the
Italian TV system. Never before like now is it necessary that local operators
can look beyond the horizon and define new strategies for innovation
excellence."

Giovanni Ferrero emphasised: "Yesterday, we presented the results of a
good model of partnership between research and business and between public
and private. This shows that bringing together research and business is not
just possible and virtuous but is a necessary path for keeping the industrial
profile of our area high, and that CSP is ever-increasingly involved in this
area. It is even more significant that these results have been obtained
thanks to the work and the creative talent of young researchers at CSP and
Sisvel with an avant-garde solution at an international level."

Sisvel Profile

Founded in 1982 in Italy, Sisvel is today an international leader group
in the global promotion of innovation and the subsequent economic
exploitation of results through patents. Since 2008, the Sisvel Group has
been supported by the services of Sisvel Technology, a company dedicated to
research, development and technical consultancy, which provides strategic
advice to other companies in assessing the economic and technical potential
of patents. In addition, Sisvel Technology actively develops its own new
patented technologies. Sisvel Technology is currently working on the
development of new technologies in the 3D TV area in order to facilitate
operators and producers of content with the creation and distribution of 3D
material.

CSP Profile

CSP - Innovazione nelle ICT is a regional research body for IT&C
technologies. It operates at a local, national and international level within
experimental development and industrial research activities in accordance
with European standards on Innovation and R&D. Its partners are: the Piedmont
Region, CSI-Piemonte, Turin Polytechnic, the University of Turin, Turin City
Council, the Turin "Industrial Union" (UIT), SISVEL S.p.A. and IREN Energia
S.p.A.

Quartarete Profile

Quartarete, a regional Piedmont broadcaster with headquarters in Turin,
Novara and Vercelli, thanks to a capillary network of high-frequency systems,
guarantees 91% penetration of the Piedmont region (source: Auditel), also
providing excellent TV coverage in important parts of Varese, Pavia, Lomello
and Milan. 3D technology is an opportunity for radical renovation of the TV
world and has led to the upgrading of the broadcaster's system network,
creating a structure which can produce scalable video content within the
various systems, 3D, Full HD, SD and Internet.

Luis Cabases, Regione Piemonte, +39-011-4323934, luis.cabases at regione.piemonte.it; or Federica Brotto, Sisvel, +39-011-9902301, federica.brotto at sisvel.it; or Maria Costanza Candi, CSP Innovazione nelle ICT, +39-011-4815111, candi at csp.it; or Ottavio Zanotti, Quartarete, +39-011-0015106, ottaviozanotti at quartaretetv.it