National Archives Chooses Digital Vision To Automate Film And Video Restoration

Film Preservation Lab to Digitally Restore and Preserve Titles from Collection of 360,000 [The following is a release from Digital Vision]

March 4, 2008

Digital Vision, the premier supplier of picture enhancement systems for film and television post-production, announced that the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has selected its Phoenix restoration software and Film Master digital colour grading system. The purchase is part of a fully-integrated system that the organization’s Motion Picture Preservation Lab will implement to begin digitization and restoration on some of the hundreds of thousands of titles for public access and preservation. Specified and designed by Communication Engineering Inc (CEI), the NARA solution includes high-speed, 4K and 2K scanning and telecine systems to begin digital preservation work on some of the 360,000 titles including multiple copies of films, government- and commercially-produced newsreels, public information and documentaries on film and video—over 700,000 total items in all. The Digital Vision Film Master system will be used to colour correct both film and video file footage, while the Phoenix restoration software will be used for automatic dust and scratch removal for the films, and automatic noise reduction on the video files. “We needed a restoration solution that could handle both film and video files, and required minimal operator invention,” said Christina Kovac, Supervisory Motion Picture Preservation Specialist, NARA. ”On the colour side, we’re not adding anything new, just correcting to combat the fading and discolouration that comes with aging – taking out magenta and normalising the look. The Digital Vision system gave us just what we needed.” Digital Vision President Simon Cuff said, ”The sheer amount of material the NARA Film Preservation Lab is working with and the common nature of the problems they’re correcting for make Phoenix and Film Master an ideal fit. They deliver the highest quality results in the most affordable and efficient manner.” Kovac added, “The world we live in is visual and instant. There’s a huge demand for this material and people want to be able to just pop up the image on line. It’s incredibly important to us that it looks as close to its original state as possible. And having an affordable way to do it is critical.” The scanning and restoration solution was installed in the Film Preservation Laboratory’s Washington DC location in February.

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