Vista Systems' Spyder Takes National Hurricane Center by Storm

PHOENIX, AZ, Jul 13 (MARKET WIRE) --
With the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season officially underway, the National
Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Hurricane
Center (NHC) at Florida International University (Miami campus) is
closely monitoring tropical weather threats. The NHC is home to the
United States' leading experts in the field of hurricane forecasting and
boasts a full staff of meteorological and computer scientists. In order
to do their job, the NOAA/NHC teams have selected Vista Systems' Spyder
for processing, formatting and displaying high-resolution meteorological
data for media briefings and internal presentations.

"The Vista Spyder gives us the ability to take different wide-aspect
video resolutions, format them to a common high-fidelity video output and
easily configure them via a Graphical User Interface (GUI)," says Salim
Leyva, supervisory IT specialist for the NHC. Leyva also works as an
engineer, designing and implementing different types of systems from
video, EMF satellite/radar ingest to networking, security and
communications. "The Spyder allows us to display wide-aspect resolutions,
in the range of 1920x1200 to professional-style displays, all the while
maintaining video fidelity for viewing the fine details." The
functionality that Leyva describes is crucial to analyzing and
communicating the impact a storm can have on a region.

For the last eight years, the NHC has deployed Vista Systems' Flat Panel
Interactive Display System (FIDS) to display 1280x1024 4:3 meteorological
data for media briefings and internal presentations.

"This model has worked very well from both a systems and user perspective,
so I wanted to maintain the same type of paradigm for our next-generation
system," says Leyva. "When I was doing research for the centerpiece video
formatter that would become part of the new system, I kept coming back to
the Spyder because of its technological abilities, ratings and
reputation. I liked the Spyder so much that it became the building block
for a new system of my design at the University of Maryland. This new
system has been implemented at two media briefing areas of the new
NOAA/National Weather Service/National Centers for Weather Prediction
building at the university campus. The Spyder is also being used in a new
A/V system for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Hurricane
Liaison Team."

Leyva gives kudos to the Spyder's utility and performance. "It's the best
thing since sliced bread," he declares. "It provides us with a great
amount of video processing and user flexibility and has enabled us to
accomplish the NHC's imaging goals for this hurricane season."

About NOAA/NHC

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the
depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages
our coastal and marine resources.

About Vista Systems

Vista Systems was recently acquired by Christie, a global leader in visual
solutions for business, entertainment and industry, to create a
comprehensive source for image processing and projection solutions. The
acquisition combines the power and flexibility of Vista's video switchers
and real-time windowing and composition products with the power,
performance and reliability of award-winning Christie projection systems.
Vista Systems' switchers have become the industry standard for live
multiple-destination video and data mixed signal switching. For more
information on Vista Systems, visit their website at www.vistasystems.net.

Copyright 2009, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

-0-