Las Vegas, Nevada—Mar 13, 2007
DLP Cinema® Unveils New .98 Chip As It Marks 350% Growth Globally Of Theaters Powered By DLP Cinema Projectors
18 Top-Grossing Films of 2006 Released Digitally as Worldwide Adoption of DLP Cinema Technology Continues
Texas Instruments (TI) (NYSE: TXN) DLP Cinema® unveiled the new .98 DLP Cinema chip today at ShoWest, the largest annual convention for the cinema exhibition and distribution community. The announcement aligns with a banner year at the box office for DLP Cinema, marked by 350% growth in deployed DLP Cinema projectors globally and where for the first time ever, the 18 top-grossing films of 2006 were released in digital format and shown on DLP Cinema projectors.
The new .98 DLP Cinema chip offers the same flawless, pristine picture as the original 1.2 DLP Cinema chip introduced in 1999, and is optimized for screen sizes up to 40 feet. The .98 chip is housed in a smaller, more efficient cabinet and outputs up to 18,000 lumens to produce an immersive picture. It has already been adopted by Barco, one of the leading digital cinema projector manufacturers, which recently announced it is building its new DP-1500 and DP-2000 model projectors around the .98 chip technology and has been contracted by GDC Technology to supply 700 digital cinema projectors in China. Christie and NEC are expected to adopt the new chip in the near future. The new chip enables these DLP Cinema licensees to ultimately become more competitive by providing an increased variety of projector options to theaters around the world looking to convert to the digital format. In addition to the .98 ship option, new products will continue to be manufactured and deployed globally on the original 1.2 chip, including the recent announcement of Christie’s CP2000-ZX DLP Cinema projector.
DLP Cinema adoption increased by over 350% globally through 2006 with both new commercial screens and major studio offerings. Currently 3,334 screens in commercial theaters worldwide are DLP Cinema equipped and more than 100 films were released in digital format last year. 2006 delivered record breaking achievements of every movie that grossed $100 million or more at the box office and the 18 top-grossing films of the year being released in DCI compatible format to be shown on DLP Cinema projectors. Over the last year, an estimated 35 million moviegoers were introduced to the digital cinema experience featuring DLP Cinema technology.
“We are pleased to introduce the new .98 chip, which will make the conversion to digital cinema easier and more cost-effective for many theatres around the world,” said Nancy Fares, Business Manager for DLP Cinema Products Group. “The strength of DLP Cinema is made clear by the enthusiastic support from the motion picture industry, which released all of their box office blockbusters on the digital format last year.”
DLP Cinema is a proprietary technology that delivers clear, sharp, bright and accurate images to movie theatres globally. To manufacture and market under the DLP Cinema trademark, technology licensees, including Barco, Christie and NEC, must meet stringent standards and guidelines meant to ensure the best possible performance and picture quality. This digital picture and standard of excellence ensures that a DLP Cinema movie screening looks flawless and each showing is as perfect as the first with no annoying scratches, tears or weaving that detract from the movie-going experience.
