Spectra7 DreamWeVR™ Chips Support New Industry Standard Interface for Virtual Reality Headsets

Spectra7 Microsystems Inc. (TSX:SEV)("Spectra7” or the "Company”), a leading provider of high-performance analog semiconductor products for broadband connectivity markets, today announced that the Company’s DreamWeVR™ active cable technology is ready to support the new VirtualLink standard for use in next-generation VR cables.

Spectra7’s DreamWeVR chips are already being embedded in USB Type-C™ cables allowing the copper conductors to be reduced, yielding a cable as small in diameter and weight as a standard ear-bud cable, while still transferring ultra-high-speed video and data.

Spectra7’s innovative DreamWeVR chips are purpose-built for AV, VR, and MR cable applications and deliver industry-leading performance, low power and the tiny footprint necessary to be embedded in wearable cables. The product line includes:

• VR8300 - DisplayPort HBR3 Embedded Cable Processor - Delivers DisplayPort bandwidth of up to 32.4Gbps at 5K resolution for 15 million pixel cinema-grade video.
• VR8200 - DisplayPort HBR2 Embedded Cable Processor - Delivers DisplayPort bandwidth of up to 21.6Gbps at 4K resolution.
• VR8051 - USB 3.2 Gen 2 Embedded Cable Processor - Delivers up to 10Gbps of sensor/camera data for positional tracking and gesture recognition.
• VR8050 - USB 3.2 Gen 1 Embedded Cable Processor - Delivers up to 5Gbps of sensor/camera data for positional tracking, and gesture recognition.

Backed by NVIDIA, AMD, Oculus, Valve, and Microsoft, the new VirtualLink standard is a USB Type-C alternate mode that will be able to supply all of the necessary power, video information, and data over a single USB Type-C cable and connector.

"We are extremely pleased that our products already meet the requirements of the new interface standard,” said Spectra7 CEO Raouf Halim. "We believe our technology will continue to be the preferred solution for VR products utilizing the new interface standard and we look forward to working with market-leading manufacturers seeking to incorporate our chips into cables supporting the new standard.”

About VirtualLink

VirtualLink is an open industry standard developed to meet the connectivity requirements of current and next-generation virtual reality (VR) headsets. VirtualLink is an Alternate Mode of USB Type-C designed to deliver the power, display, and data required to power VR headsets through a single USB Type-C connector.

VirtualLink has been developed as an open standard by an industry consortium of leading silicon, software, and headset manufacturers led by NVIDIA, Oculus, Valve, Microsoft, and AMD. This open industry standard for VR connectivity advances VR interoperability and provides economic benefits to head-mounted display (HMD) makers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), developers, and consumers. It will accelerate the development and implementation of new VR technologies.

For more information, please visit: https://sites.google.com/view/virtuallink-consortium/home

About Spectra7 Microsystems Inc.

Spectra7 Microsystems Inc. is a high-performance analog semiconductor company delivering unprecedented bandwidth, speed and resolution to enable disruptive industrial design for leading electronics manufacturers in virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, data centers and other connectivity markets. Spectra7 is based in San Jose, California with design centers in Markham, Ontario, Cork, Ireland, and Little Rock, Arkansas. For more information, please visit www.spectra7.com.

Cautionary Notes

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements”. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including, without limitation, those regarding the Company’s future financial position and results of operations, strategy, proposed acquisitions, plans, objectives, goals and targets, and any statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words "believe”, "expect”, "aim”, "intend”, "plan”, "continue”, "will”, "may”, "would”, "anticipate”, "estimate”, "forecast”, "predict”, "project”, "seek”, "should” or similar expressions or the negative thereof, are forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only the Company’s expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. Additional factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially include, but are not limited to the risk factors discussed in the Company’s annual MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2016. Management provides forward-looking statements because it believes they provide useful information to investors when considering their investment objectives and cautions investors not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and other cautionary statements or factors contained herein, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by law.

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