Z Microsystems Intelligent Displays Chosen for Small Tactical Unmanned Aerial System Program on Amphibious Ships

- Displays with built-in video enhancement improve visual clarity in fog, battlefield haze and dust for better decision making -

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Z Microsystems, a leading provider of mission-ready computing systems, today announced its has been selected by the Naval Surface Warfare Center to supply its Intelligent Display Series for use in the Small Tactical Unmanned Aerial System (STUAS RQ-21A) program onboard amphibious ships (LHD, LHA and LPD classes). This program provides ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) support for the United States Marine Corps using the Integrator UAV supplied by Insitu Inc., a subsidiary of Boeing.

“The Naval Surface Warfare Center selected Z Microsystems’ displays after seeing how well they enhanced situational awareness and decision making with no added latency by clarifying images in fog, dust, sand, battlefield smoke and haze – typical when operating in a littoral or combat environment.”

On February 10, 2013, the US Navy completed its first successful test flight of the STUAS system at sea from the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock. The system also completed three months of land-based trial flights at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, Calif., before launching from a LPD-class ship.

The Z Microsystems Intelligent Display Series (IDS) of flat panel displays offer superior real-time enhanced video (RTEV) capabilities to improve critical tactical surveillance missions. The LCD display panels use a high-powered FPGA to apply image enhancement algorithms to incoming video streams without adding latency. A sophisticated image enhancement algorithm brings out detail in images degraded by poor visibility or atmospheric interference. Operators can turn image functions on or off with the click of a button.

“Z Microsystems’ third generation intelligent video processing engine is ideal for the environment that the Marine Corps will be operating in,” said Bob Kopas, a retired Navy Captain who was the first commanding officer of USS MAKIN ISLAND (LHD 8) and is now VP of Military Programs at Z Microsystems. “The Naval Surface Warfare Center selected Z Microsystems’ displays after seeing how well they enhanced situational awareness and decision making with no added latency by clarifying images in fog, dust, sand, battlefield smoke and haze – typical when operating in a littoral or combat environment.”

Z Microsystems provides a variety of products beneficial to any ISR application that requires video image enhancement. These include the Zview, a system for real time video enhancement that can be easily integrated into programs with displays already in place, and the ZBox, an integrated system for real time video switching, remote routing, video enhancement and stitching designed for command centers or other applications requiring multiple monitors.

For more information on the Z Microsystems Intelligent Display Series, visit Z Microsystems at www.zmicro.com or call at 858-831–7054.

About Z Microsystems

For more than 25 years, Z Microsystems has been supplying superior computing technology to the US military and defense system integrators. Today, Z Microsystems designs and manufacturers mission-ready computing solutions for military, medical, industrial and law enforcement applications. The company’s commercial off–the–shelf (COTS) products include rugged flat panel displays, high-performance computers, flexible storage systems and imaging systems. For more information, visit www.zmicro.com.