Cinecomm Digital Cinema Makes ShoWest PremiereDigital Delivery System Seeks To Replace Celluloid As Theatrical Medium.

Venture Taps OUALCOMM and Hughes-JVC as Technology Providers Representing a new paradigm in the delivery and projection of theatrical motion pictures, CineComm Digital Cinema, L.L.C. held three screenings of its end-to-end digital system last Wednesday, March 10 at the ShoWest convention in Las Vegas. The showings gave many ShoWest attendees their first glimpse of a turn-key system for movie delivery and exhibition that could eventually replace a century-old tradition of celluloid. Demonstration screenings of the new technology took place at Bally's Jubilee Theatre at 4:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.Utilizing proprietary software and equipment provided by Hughes-JVC Technology (HJT) and QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), the CineComm Digital Cinema system will use QUALCOMM's patented compression algorithm and data management network to up-link encrypted motion pictures through satellites with worldwide coverage for downloading to theatres equipped with QUALCOMM's theatre management system and HJT projectors (or other capable projectors). At the theatre, the movie will be stored until show time, then decrypted and decompressed in real time as it is displayed through the HJT patented electronic projector. Hughes-JVC Technology, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan Victor Corporation is a leader in the large screen projection industry with their patented Image Light Amplifier (ILA) technology.At the demonstration, both Hughes-JVCís ILA projection technology and competitive Digital Light Processing (DLP) Cinema technology from Texas Instruments were compared to Kodak Vision print film. All three image masters were sourced from the same Kodak-supplied standard test footage prepared by Kodak on 35mm film in early 1997, not specifically developed or shot for ShoWest.Electronic or Digital Cinema has been discussed, debated, and anticipated as a future evolution of the industry for years. ""CineComm will be the conduit through which Digital Cinema becomes a reality, and revolutionizes the film distribution and exhibition process,"" said CEO Michael Targoff. ""Technology now allows us, in a cost efficient way, to address the industry needs and concerns regarding quality, reliability, security, and controllability. The quality will be comparable to any Hollywood premiere and that quality will be maintained night after night."" Targoff continues, ""The encryption protection will reduce the multi-billion dollar piracy issue the industry is currently burdened with, and the flexibility afforded both exhibition and studios will provide increased operating efficiencies to the industry. CineComm will deploy turnkey systems worldwide at our cost and employ a convenient pay-per-view concept for both movies and live events to reduce the up-front capital requirements and risks for both studios and exhibitors."" The company, which expects to begin the electronic delivery of first-run motion pictures within the next 18 months, sees the benefits of Digital Cinema as diverse as its applications: For audiences there will be consistent image quality, films will be free of time-inflicted scratches and pops, megaplexes will be able to show popular films on more screens, and special events can also be enjoyed in-theatre. For directors, producers and cinematographers, digital copies guarantee the same perfect quality in every theatre, week after week, with no degradation. Finished works can be distributed immediately without time-consuming transfer to film and duplication. With the transmission of multi-language sound and picture tracks, CineComm Digital Cinema offers a greater ability to cater to global audiences; and with the elimination of audio compression limitations, patrons can enjoy multiple discreet sound channels of full bandwidth audio. Distributors will be protected from making too many or too few prints, while end-to-end encryption, digital fingerprinting of screened programs and the ability to simultaneously release motion pictures worldwide will further ensure against piracy. Exhibitors, in turn, will benefit from ease of use, scheduling flexibility, better audience monitoring, guaranteed program accuracy, cost-efficiency for smaller venues, increased revenue streams through event programming, and automatic diagnostics that allows the system to not only detect and report equipment failures, but to allow presentations to go on uninterrupted during most failure events. In addition, Digital Cinema also eliminates environmental hazards from the disposal of film. Headquartered in Los Angeles, CineComm Digital Cinema is led by Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Michael Targoff, former President/COO of Loral Space and Communications, a leading manufacturer of satellites and supplier of satellite-based multimedia communications systems; and company director/lead counsel Douglas Ferguson, a veteran attorney involved in launching numerous entertainment-based ventures who currently serves on the boards of Lucas Digital, Ltd. and LucasArts Entertainment Co. CineCommís management team and founders include Chief Technical Officer Russell Wintner, former Executive Vice President/COO of National Theatre Corp; Alex Gorovitz, founder of motion picture promotions company Century Media Network; and motion picture exhibition and marketing veteran Kevin Romano, founder of cinema promotions company Pro Motion Slides, Inc.For more information contact Larry Winokur or Jeff Rose at BIWIR Public Relations,. Phone 310 550 7776, Iwinokur@bwr-la.com or jrose@bwr.com; or Alan Brawn of HJT at 760 929 5600, acbrawn@qualcomm.com; or Christine Trimble, Corporate Communications or Julie Cunningham, Investor Relations at QUALCOMM, Phone 619 587 1121 ctrimble@qualcomm.com or jcunnineham@qualcomm.com.