Planar Systems Expands Reach into  Target Markets with New Color   Displays   
                           (Business Wire; 04/16/99)                           

BEAVERTON, ORE. (April 16) BUSINESS WIRE -April 16, 1999--Planar (Nasdaq:PLNR)  
today announced the expansion of the ColorBrite product line with three new  
full-color high-performance active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs),  
extending the company's presence in the color display sector.

The introduction of these products addresses the increased use of color  
displays for many specialized applications in Planar's core medical,  
instrument, industrial computer, and transportation markets.

"Planar has been successful over the past 16 years by addressing those segments 
 of the display market that require higher performance characteristics than can 
 be found in commodity displays," said Jim Hurd, Planar's president and chief  
executive officer.  "With the new displays, we will be able to provide those  
features in color AMLCD displays and display systems to an increasing range of  
customers."

For outdoor conditions, Planar will offer displays with high brightness and  
contrast for superior image quality even in applications such as information  
kiosks, portable instruments, and emergency medical devices.

The medical instrument market often requires larger displays to handle  
increasing information content along with instant readability in critical  
situations.  Planar's new AMLCDs meet those needs with a wide viewing angle,  
improved contrast, integrated **touchscreen**, and automatic brightness 
adjustment  to operate in a broad spectrum of lighting conditions.

Planar's fastest growing target market is transportation, with recent  
monochrome display wins in inventory logistics and long haul trucks. In  
addition to color options, this sector demands ruggedness and the at-a-glance  
viewability Planar has always offered.  Planar's new color displays handle  
temperatures as low as 40 degrees below zero (F) and as high as 185 degrees  
(F).  The display's wide viewing angle enhances driver safety and its superior  
contrast ratio means the screen is readable even in a sunlit cab.

These three new products add depth to Planar's current color product line.   
Planar now offers a full range of color display capabilities, from custom TFT  
cells for avionics through commercial AMLCDs for our traditional markets.  Over 
 the past year, Planar began shipping color display sub-systems to medical  
customers and recently recorded a commercial avionics cockpit win for its 3ATI  
AMLCD with Smiths Industries.  In the most recent quarter, the company shipped  
the first units of a custom configured color display subsystem to be used in  
Gilbarco gas dispensers.

A full complement of Planar's color products can be seen at the upcoming  
exhibition of the Society for Information Display, in San Jose, May 16-18.

Planar Systems, Inc. is a worldwide leader in the development, manufacture, and 
 marketing of high performance commercial flat-panel display components, CRTs  
and flat panel based display products for federal markets and display systems  
for specialized applications. The primary market sectors that Planar serves  
today are medical, industrial, instrumentation, defense, communications,  
transportation and business/point-of-sale.  The company competes on a global  
basis, with full development, manufacturing and marketing operations in both  
the United States and Europe.  For more information, visit Planar's web site at 
 www.planar.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of  
1995: This press release contains statements that are forward-looking  
statements within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  
 Such statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections  
about the company's business. These statements are not guarantees of future  
performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are  
difficult to predict.  Actual results could vary materially from the  
description contained herein due to many factors, including but not limited to, 
 product demand and market acceptance risk, the effect of economic conditions,  
the impact of competitive products and pricing, product development,  
commercialization and technological difficulties, capacity and supply  
constraints or difficulties, actual purchases under agreements, the effects of  
the company's accounting policies, the ability of the company to effectively  
implement strategies to reduce expenses, and other risks detailed in the  
company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.  The forward-looking  
statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which  
they are made, and the company does not undertake any obligation to update any  
forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of  
this press release.  If the company does update one or more forward-looking  
statements, investors and others should not conclude that the company will make 
 additional updates with respect thereto or with respect to other forward- 
looking statements.

PLANAR and the Definition of Quality are registered trademarks of Planar  
Systems, Inc.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective  
owners.  http://www.businesswire.com/cnn/plnr.htm

  -0- KS/se*

CONTACT:  Planar Systems, Inc.          Jack Raiton, 503/690-6959

                      [email protected]