Note 10. Commitments and Contingencies

Litigation: We are a party to legal proceedings and claims which arise during the ordinary course of business. We review our legal proceedings and claims, regulatory reviews and inspections, and other legal matters on an ongoing basis and follow appropriate accounting guidance when making accrual and disclosure decisions. We establish accruals for those contingencies when the incurrence of a loss is probable and can be reasonably estimated, and we disclose the amount accrued and the amount of a reasonably possible loss in excess of the amount accrued, if such disclosure is necessary for our financial statements to not be misleading. We do not record an accrual when the likelihood of loss being incurred is probable, but the amount cannot be reasonably estimated, or when the loss is believed to be only reasonably possible or remote, although disclosures will be made for material matters as required by ASC 450-20, Contingencies - Loss Contingencies. Our assessment of whether a loss is reasonably possible or probable is based on our assessment and consultation with legal counsel regarding the ultimate outcome of the matter following all appeals.

As of October 29, 2016 and April 30, 2016, we did not believe there was a reasonable probability any material loss for these various claims or legal actions, including reviews, inspections or other legal proceedings, if any, would be incurred. Accordingly, no accrual or disclosure of a potential range of loss has been made related to these matters. In the opinion of management, the ultimate liability of all unresolved legal proceedings is not expected to have a material effect on our financial position, liquidity or capital resources.

Warranties: We offer a standard parts coverage warranty for periods varying from one to five years for most of our products. We also offer additional types of warranties to include on-site labor, routine maintenance and event support. In addition, the terms of warranties on some installations can vary from one to 10 years. The specific terms and conditions of these warranties vary primarily depending on the type of the product sold. We estimate the costs which may be incurred under the warranty obligations and record a liability in the amount of such estimated costs at the time the revenue is recognized. Factors affecting our estimate of the cost of our warranty obligations include historical experience and expectations of future conditions. We continually assess the adequacy of our recorded warranty accruals and, to the extent we experience any changes in warranty claim activity or costs associated with servicing those claims, our accrued warranty obligation is adjusted accordingly.

We discovered a warranty issue caused by a mechanical device failure within a module for displays primarily in our OOH applications built prior to fiscal 2013. The device failure causes a visual defect in the display. We are deploying preventative maintenance to sites impacted and can repair the device in our repair center. When certain site locations have exceeded an acceptable failure rate, we have refurbished the display to meet customers’ expectations under contractual obligations. We increased our accrued warranty obligations by $754 during the six months ended October 29, 2016, $9,174 during fiscal 2016, and $1,168 during fiscal 2015 for probable and reasonably estimable costs to remediate this issue. As of October 29, 2016, we had $3,998 remaining in accrued warranty obligations for the estimate of probable future claims related to this issue. Because failure rates are unpredictable, the final outcome of this matter is dependent on many factors that are difficult to predict. Accordingly, it is possible that the ultimate cost to resolve this matter may increase and may be materially different from the amount of the current estimate and accrual.

Changes in our warranty obligation for the six months ended October 29, 2016 consisted of the following:



	Amount
Beginning accrued warranty obligations	$	30,496
Warranties issued during the period	5,444
Settlements made during the period	(9,280		)
Changes in accrued warranty obligations for pre-existing warranties during the period, including expirations	3,190
Ending accrued warranty obligations	$	29,850

Performance guarantees: We have entered into standby letters of credit and surety bonds with financial institutions relating to the guarantee of our future performance on contracts, primarily construction-type contracts. As of October 29, 2016, we had outstanding letters of credit and surety bonds in the amount of $12,120 and $31,410, respectively. Performance guarantees are issued to certain customers to guarantee the operation and installation of the equipment and our ability to complete a contract. These performance guarantees have various terms, which are generally one year.

Leases: We lease vehicles, office space and equipment for various global sales and service locations, including manufacturing space in the United States and China. Some of these leases, including the lease for manufacturing facilities in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, include provisions for extensions or purchase. The lease for the facilities in Sioux Falls, South Dakota can be extended for an additional five years past its current term, which ends March 31, 2022, and it contains an option to purchase the property subject to the lease from March 31, 2017 to March 31, 2022 for $9,000, which approximates fair value. If the lease is extended, the purchase option increases to $9,090 for the year ending March 31, 2023 and $9,180 for the year ending March 31, 2024. Rental expense for operating leases was $1,614 and $1,464 for the six months ended October 29, 2016 and October 31, 2015, respectively.

Future minimum payments under noncancelable operating leases, excluding executory costs such as management and maintenance fees, with initial or remaining terms of one year or more consisted of the following at October 29, 2016:



Fiscal years ending	Amount
2017	$	1,169
2018	2,036
2019	1,411
2020	1,206
2021	1,004
Thereafter	1,353
	$	8,179

Purchase commitments: From time to time, we commit to purchase inventory, advertising, information technology maintenance and support services, and various other products and services over periods that extend beyond one year. As of October 29, 2016, we were obligated under the following conditional and unconditional purchase commitments, which included $450 in conditional purchase commitments:



Fiscal years ending	Amount
2017	$	945
2018	195
2019	100
2020	100
2021	100
	$	1,440