ORLANDO, FLORIDA—Oct 20, 2005
Kodak Demonstrates New Digital Cinema CineServer and Showcases Initiatives of Barco Strategic Alliance at 2005 Show East Conference
Eastman Kodak Company is demonstrating a broad
array of digital cinema products and services for motion picture exhibitors from
around the world here at the annual Show East Conference. Kodak products extend
from pre-show systems now on 1,500 screens showing cinema advertising, to full
feature solutions.
The company is demonstrating the new Kodak CineServer JN2000 with Barco DP100
digital cinema projectors. The server handles JPEG2000 compression of feature
movies.
“Our new CineServer is among the first to comply with Digital Cinema Initiative
packaging specifications,” says Drena Rogers, director of worldwide sales for
Kodak Digital Cinema. “It includes proprietary Kodak color technology and image
science to reliably deliver high-quality images to cinema screens. And it’s
available now.”
Rogers adds that the company’s strategic alliance with Barco offers new customer
benefits. “Barco digital cinema projectors have superior color accuracy and
image performance,” she says. "The integrated solutions of Kodak servers with
Barco digital cinema projectors offers outstanding technology and value today,”
says Scott Spector, general manager and executive vice president for Barco
Digital Cinema in North America. “And they’re supported by worldwide service
networks to provide superior performance over the long term.”
Rogers emphasizes that Kodak sees digital cinema as a new series of business
opportunities for its customers that will grow over the long-term.
“Exhibitors want partners they can grow with and trust,” she says. “Kodak and
Barco have a reputation for listening to their needs and concerns, and taking
steps to simplify the complexities they face. We both take our legacy of
leadership in the motion picture business seriously.”
“The Kodak-Barco alliance is based on the overall customer commitment to provide
comprehensive support from studio through exhibition,” Spector says. “We offer
everything customers need to put great movies on screen in 2D or 3D. Our working
relationship is based on quality and continued innovation, but what we deliver
to our extensive and growing base of customers is ‘peace of mind’.”
At Show East, the Kodak – Barco demonstrations include motion picture content
that has been mastered at 4K resolution, compressed using JPEG2000 compression,
and played back on Barco digital cinema 2K projectors from files that are fully
compliant with the MXF packaging DCI has specified. The 4K masters enable
studios to retain full resolution from the film originals in the digital files,
for future applications.
“The message is that we are ready for the future now,” Rogers says.
Rogers notes that movies produced and distributed by major studios will use
JPEG2000 compression, while documentaries, local language and independent
features, and alternative content such as sports, music and other may continue
to use MPEG compression. Kodak offers CineServers that can handle either or both
compression formats in stand-alone and networked applications.
For exhibitors not yet ready for digital feature systems, Kodak has an array of
other options available.
Kodak digital pre-show systems, for example, are in use on more than 1,500
screens, reaching more than five million movie-goers a month. These systems are
now available in a special edition, designed for the workflow of smaller
exhibitors.
Kodak is also showcasing its high definition (HD) systems for pre-show
advertising and for alternative content in the cinema. Rogers stresses that
Kodak offers true high definition images with surround sound that audiences
expect in a cinema.
At Show East, Kodak CineServers are driving the DLP projectors used to show the
Fox feature, Walk the Line. Also, Kodak is displaying its digital cinema system
in a trade show suite, and on the trade show floor, showing alternative content,
trailers and other feature material.
All digital preparation work has been done by LaserPacific, a Kodak company. The
facility provides complete digital postproduction services, including digital
intermediates, encryption, compression, and encoding in digital cinema color
space, all designed to enable audiences to experience movies they way the
filmmakers intended.
“The point of everything we are doing at ShowEast is to demonstrate to the
industry we are ready now,” Rogers says. “Kodak has been in cinema booths, and a
part of exhibitors’ lives, for more than 100 years. We are in this for the
long-run.”