At an evening ceremony attended by many of Hollywood’s most influential postproduction executives, Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: DLB) officially released the long-awaited Dolby® PRM-4200 Professional Reference Monitor.
This year, Dolby celebrates nearly 40 years of delivering innovative solutions to the cinema industry. The release of the Dolby PRM-4200 Professional Reference Monitor continues a long tradition of enabling content creators to realize their creative visions and deliver a truly immersing entertainment experience for the audience. The Dolby Professional Reference Monitor is the first LCD-based display to accurately reveal true black levels with exceptional dark detail and higher contrast across the entire color gamut.
“In setting out to create the new industry standard for reference monitors, Dolby took a very deliberate and determined approach to ensure that the monitor would both meet the needs of our customers and live up to the expectations associated with the Dolby brand,” said Bill Admans, Director, Product Marketing, Imaging, Dolby Laboratories. “Judging by the reaction of those in attendance tonight, I’m confident that Dolby has achieved its goal.”
Held in the heart of Hollywood, the event was attended by representatives from major studios and postproduction facilities, and by top creative talent keen to see what has been hailed as a major industry innovation.
“I believe that the Dolby monitor can become the industry standard based on Dolby’s commitment to excellence and its drive to create a great product,” said Bob Wilson, Director, Engineering, the Post Group.
The backlight of the Dolby Professional Reference Monitor consists of 1,500 RGB LED triads, with the light element from each R, G, and B element independently controlled, frame by frame, to create a full-color backlight image displayed on the LCD panel in real time. Combined, the LED backlight and the LCD screen produce a final image with true blacks, exceptional dark detail, high dynamic range, and the widest, most accurate color gamut available in a flat-panel monitor. The monitor has been tested extensively by leading colorists, cinematographers, and other industry luminaries who have been enthusiastic about its features and performance. Benefits include:
· True black levels—the only commercially available LCD monitor capable of displaying true black levels and rendering dark detail to produce the exact image that was shot
· Extended dynamic range—the first reference monitor to provide the extended dynamic range that the latest digital cinema cameras capture
· DCI/P3 (digital cinema) color gamut support—allows the ability to perform color critical grading without the use of a digital cinema projector
· Precise color accuracy—across all luminance levels
· Versatility—emulates any other display device so all content preparation and quality evaluation can be done on one monitor
· Size and aspect ratio—emulates the home viewing environment to ensure that content displays properly in the home
The Dolby PRM-4200 Professional Reference Monitor is available for the North American market starting today and will be released to other regional markets in 2011.