For more information visit the Kodak Web site at www.kodak.com/go/motion.
Kodak Will Help Improve Big Picture Quality
Eastman Kodak Company announced at the ShoWest 2000 conference that it will work actively with manufacturers of theatrical hardware and software to enhance the presentation of images and sound on motion picture screens - using film or digital projection. As part of this effort, Kodak will identify products and technologies for testing and demonstration at its Imaging Technology Center in Hollywood, California and in its Rochester, New York development laboratories. This is the latest in the companyís series of theatrical efforts and joins the Kodak ScreenCheck Experience, projectionist training program, Kodak Cinema World theatres, and ongoing film development. ""Our over-arching goal is to ensure that audiences experience movies the way they are intended to be seen,"" says Eric Rodli, Chief Operating Officer of Kodakís Entertainment Imaging division. ""That requires an ability to project brighter, sharper, and clearer images on cinema screens, so subtle details in contrast and colors which are part of the emotional content are experienced by the audience."" Rodli explains that Kodak will provide information and technology, and it will test and demonstrate products and components as part of integrated systems. The companyís objective is to use Kodakís deep knowledge base and experience with imaging to enhance a product in ways that satisfy industry standards for image quality. Kodak is already working with both optical projector and digital component manufacturers. The company also announced at ShoWest 2000 that it will test compression and encryption programs developed by QUALCOMM as digital projection system components. Kodakís work with other manufacturers will be announced as it occurs. ""The goal is to continually raise the bar on image quality,"" Rodli says. ""This is an extension of the work Kodak has been doing with filmmakers since the earliest days of the motion picture industry. This is a logical next step. We have a vested interest in assuring that audiences see the images the way the filmmaker intended. If the images arenít clear, sharp or bright enough, it is likely to diminish and maybe even compromise the audienceís experience.""