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Kopin Awarded U.S. Military Program to Develop World s Highest-Resolution Microdisplay

^{Published on 2008-12-03 08:43:05 - Market Wire}
 

TAUNTON, Mass.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Kopin^® Corporation (NASDAQ: KOPN) today announced that the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), the U.S. Army's RDECOM CERDEC Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD), and the U.S. Army's Product Manager Soldier Sensors and Lasers (PM-SSL) have jointly awarded a 3-year, $3.1 million program to Kopin for the development of the world's highest-resolution microdisplays for use in future vision systems, including integrated day-night weapon sights and solid state image intensifiers.

"The U.S. Government is again relying on Kopin to expand the boundaries of microdisplay resolution and performance by developing an active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) with a 2048 x 2048 monochrome pixel resolution in a 0.99-inch-diagonal form factor," said President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. John C. C. Fan. "This new display will reflect the strategic research and development initiatives we have undertaken over many years, efforts that have resulted in important innovations including low-voltage architecture, integral heaters, small pixel geometry, and specialized and ruggedized LCD processes. The new 8-inch processing line Kopin developed in partnership with the U.S. Government will be critical in the fabrication of such a high-resolution display."

"Kopin has a solid history in the development of microdisplay for the U.S. Army's night vision systems and is a major display supplier for thermal weapon sights and advanced night vision goggles," the U.S. Army said in a prepared statement. "The new high-resolution display will meet the aggressive imaging system requirements of advanced weapon sight and digital image-intensified vision systems which will be tailored for urban and network battlefield environments."

"This new display will provide military personnel with spatial resolution equal to or better than the current image intensifier tube," stated Michael Presz, Kopin's Vice President of Government Programs and Special Projects. "It will allow for target identification at extreme ranges, which will substantially reduce friendly fire incidents. In addition, the lightweight, low-power display architecture will optimize the viewing of digital image intensifierimagery."

About Kopin

Kopin Corporation produces lightweight, power-efficient, ultra-small liquid crystal displays and heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) that are revolutionizing the way people around the world see, hear and communicate. Kopin has shipped more than 30 million displays for a range of consumer and military applications including digital cameras, personal video eyewear, camcorders, thermal weapon sights and night vision systems. The Company's unique HBTs, which help to enhance battery life, talk time and signal clarity, have been integrated into billions of wireless handsets as well as into WiFi, VoIP and high-speed Internet data transmission systems. Kopin's proprietary display and HBT technologies are protected by more than 200 global patents and patents pending. For more information, please visit Kopin's website at [ www.kopin.com ].

Kopin and The NanoSemiconductor Company are trademarks of Kopin Corporation.

Safe Harbor Statement

Statements in this news release about the award from the U.S. government may be considered "forward-looking" under the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.These include statements relating to the potential that the new high-resolution display will meet the aggressive imaging system requirements andallow for target identification at extreme ranges, which will substantially reduce friendly fire incidents; optimized viewing of digital image intensifier imagery with the lightweight, low-power display architecture; and the potential benefits of the new high-resolution display in military systems. These statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that might affect the actual results, performance or achievements include, among other things, the possibility that the award may not be funded beyond the first phase; problems with the design and fabrication of the new high-resolution display; and issues related to the supply or production of non-Kopin components used to demonstrate the new display. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, potential claims or liability that could arise as a result of the Company's restatement of its financial statements; and other risk factors and cautionary statements listed in the Company's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the 12 months ended December 29, 2007, and the Company's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. The Company undertakes no responsibility to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstance occurring after the date of this report.

Kopin - The NanoSemiconductor Company^®