New software enables users to revamp legacy web services

SAN FRANCISCO and BERLIN; July 14, 2009: mental images®, a global leader in rendering software and visualization tools, today introduced RealityServer 2.3® -- server-based, highly-scalable 3D Web application services software -- which makes it easier for developers to add Web services to existing solutions, based on Service Oriented Architectures (SOA).

RealityServer 2.3 software includes a new Web-services framework that enables developers to work with their programming language of choice, using pre-existing development tools and workflows, to build 3D Web services and applications. The framework comes with a comprehensive documentation system, reusable client libraries and example applications for both Microsoft Silverlight and Adobe Flash, which are specifically designed to aid new projects using RealityServer.

“We've built the core of our online 3D service around RealityServer,” said Alain Chesnais, chief technology officer of SceneCaster, a web service that enables users to design and share 3D rooms. “Working closely with the mental images team, we were able to quickly take advantage of several of the new features in RealityServer 2.3. We're thrilled to be using it in our ‘My 3D Scenes’ application on Facebook and Friendster.”

Rolf Herken, chief executive officer and CTO, of mental images, said: “A primary goal of RealityServer 2.3 is to strengthen a company’s existing product development and configuration tools by bridging them with web services. This allows for remote access and collaboration among teams. RealityServer provides the platform to create the virtual collaborative environments required to keep developers ahead of the game.”

Additional RealityServer 2.3 software enhancements include:

•        MetaSL 1.0, the universal shader language that is used in mental ray® rendering software, mental mill® Standard Edition, Autodesk 3d Max 2010, and other offerings
•        New Ambient Occlusion and Image Based Lighting techniques for increased realism at faster speeds (including CUDA™ architecture-based acceleration)
•        Faster Progressive Rendering with improved quality
•        Newly added support for various 3D file formats, including COLLADA, DWF, OBJ
•        Support for automated model simplification and merging
•        Improved flexibility for clustering configurations and networking
•        Significantly expanded rendering output options
•        Automatic Exposure control for High Dynamic Range Renderings
•        Rendering textures dynamically within 3D environment

RealityServer software supports the use of multiple NVIDIA® Quadro® graphics cards per server for scalability, highest visual quality and performance of different 3D Web service solutions. These include design review, product configuration and marketing visualization for the aerospace, automotive, architecture, and manufacturing industries as well as social networking and 3D navigation sites.

For a free download of RealityServer Developer Edition, please visit: http://www.mentalimages.com/products/realityserver.html.
About mental images: mental images, founded in 1986, is the recognized international leader in providing component and platform software for the creation, manipulation and visualization of 3D content. Its world leading rendering and other technologies are used by the entertainment, computer-aided design, architecture, scientific visualization, and other industries that require sophisticated images primarily as part of their software products and application services. mental images is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NVIDIA Corporation with headquarters in Berlin, Germany, a subsidiary in the United States, mental images, Inc., and a subsidiary in Melbourne, Australia, mental images Pty. mental images has a multinational staff of top qualified engineers exclusively dedicated to basic research and development in the area of 3D graphics and 3D Web Applications and Services technologies. For more information, visit www.mentalimages.com.
Contact:

mental images:        
Loretta Stevens                
Double Forte Marketing + Communications        
e-mail: Email Contact        
Telephone: +1 (415) 848.8123        

Trademarks: mental images®, RealityServer®, and MetaSL® are registered trademarks of mental images GmbH, Berlin, Germany, in the United States and/or other countries. Other product and company names in this document may be trademarks of their respective owners.

About NVIDIA: NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA) is the world leader in visual computing technologies and the inventor of the GPU, a high-performance processor which generates breathtaking, interactive graphics on workstations, personal computers, game consoles, and mobile devices. NVIDIA serves the entertainment and consumer market with its GeForce® products, the professional design and visualization market with its Quadro® products, and the high-performance computing market with its Tesla™ products. NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. and has offices throughout Asia, Europe, and the Americas. For more information, visit www.nvidia.com.        

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: the benefits, features, and capabilities of RealityServer are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: development of more efficient or faster technology; design, manufacturing or software defects; the impact of technological development and competition; changes in consumer preferences and demands; customer adoption of different standards or our competitor's products; changes in industry standards and interfaces; unexpected loss of performance of our products or technologies when integrated into systems as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Form 10-Q for the period ended April 26, 2009. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on our website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA and mental images disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

© 2009 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, GeForce, Quadro, CUDA and Tesla are trademarks or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.