Cypress-based Christie Digital Systems Inc., a maker of digital and film movie projectors, has bought a Phoenix supplier of video processing software and computers for broadcasters.
Christie is buying Vista Controls Systems Corp., whose products help broadcasters and others mix digital video and audio feeds with graphics, music and visual effects.
Terms of the deal, which closed July 3, weren’t disclosed.
Christie bought Vista, which has about 20 workers, so it can offer Vista’s Spyder computer as part of its suite of products, according to Jack Kline, Christie’s chief executive.
“We look for acquisitions where we can add two and two together and get something better than four,” he said.
Spyder, a video processor that looks like a cable set-top box, uses “windowing” software to edit content so images and feeds of differing resolutions are stitched together.
The presentations are staples of Hollywood award shows, sports broadcasts and TV news sets, Kline said.
“It’s like picture-in-picture on steroids,” he said.
Christie and Vista have a history together and share many customers, according to Clark Williams, president of Vista.
The two have teamed up to set up projection displays on the sets of “CBS Evening News” with Katie Couric and another major TV station in France, among others.
Vista’s Spyder is used by NBC Sports, CNN, the Arizona Cardinals’ stadium, Deutsche Telekom AG’s headquarters and the Golf Channel, according to the company.
Christie started in Los Angeles and moved to Cypress a dozen years ago to be near to its parent, Japan’s Ushio Inc., a maker of halogen lights that has its U.S. base nearby.
Ushio, which bought Christie in 1991, makes the lamps that go inside Christie’s projectors.
For 70 years, Christie has been making film projectors used to show movies in theaters.
About seven years ago, Christie bought Canada’s ElectroHome Projection Systems to get into digital projectors.
The nation’s 36,000 movie theaters have been slow to adopt digital projectors, other than for commercials before movies start. But the trend is picking up speed.
Just a few years ago, only about 300 theaters were using digital projectors. Today, that number is about 3,000, Kline said.
“As of two years ago, digital cinema has started to really take off,” Kline said.
Christie ships about 200 digital projectors a month, he said.
The Business Journal estimates Christie at about $400 million in yearly sales.
Vizio Signs Running Back
Irvine’s Vizio Inc., a maker of flat-panel TVs, signed an endorsement deal with the NFL’s 2006 most valuable player, LaDainian Tomlinson.
The multiyear deal lets Vizio use Tomlinson’s name, image, voice and signature for its promotions, according to a company statement.
Tomlinson, a running back for the San Diego Chargers, is set to make appearances for Vizio at events.
“We needed someone that would reflect the company’s emphasis on performance,” said Jeff Schindler, vice president of marketing at Vizio.
Tomlinson, also called “LT,” was named Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2006 by the NFL. He’s set numerous records.
Vizio recently wrapped up the first of a series of commercials starring Tomlinson, which shows him watching a game of his alma mater Texas Christian at home on a Vizio TV.
The company is working on a documentary of Tomlinson’s life that’s set to play online during the upcoming football season.
Vizio has been grabbing market share from top TV makers Sony Corp., Samsung Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.’s Panasonic, among other big names.
Vizio sits squarely among the top 10 makers of flat TVs and saw about $700 million in sales last year.
The endorsement deal is part of Vizio’s push to get sports fans to buy its relatively inexpensive TVs.
Emulex Lease
Costa Mesa-based Emulex Corp., a maker of switches and host bus adapters for data storage networks, is set to expand its latest buy into a bigger office in Roseville, near Sacramento.
About a year ago Emulex paid $180 million for Sierra Logic Inc., a startup that makes chips and circuit boards used to link computers on data storage networks.
The company said it signed a $5.6 million lease for 44,000 square feet in an office park of about 11 buildings. The lease is for five years.
Sierra Logic had about 70 workers in Northern California a year ago.
Emulex said it now has about 150 workers in the area who are set to relocate to the new office in October, developer Shea Properties, part of Walnut-based J.F. Shea Co., said in a statement.
Our Bad
The July 16 column should have said Keith Bradley is president of Ingram Micro Inc.’s North America operation.
