Crowds At NAB í99 Applaud The Arrival Of Electronic Cinema During Hughes-JVC/ Miramax Screenings

Las Vegas, NV (NAB, April 19-22, 1999) - At this year's National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention, April 19-22, hundreds of people lined up 30 minutes in advance each night to be part of an historic screening of the OscarÆ-winning Miramax film ""Shakespeare In Love"" at Hughes-JVCís Electronic Cinema Theatre. The film, transferred by Miramax Films to D5 digital videotape, was displayed by the Hughes-JVC ILA-12K projector on a 30-foot wide screen, and enhanced with a full DolbyÆ Digital THXÆ surround sound system. The nightly applause and overwhelmingly positive response of the overflow crowds echoed the enthusiasm of leading studios like Miramax Films, which appear to be embracing Electronic Cinema.""These showings of ëShakespeare In Loveí represent an historic occasion,"" said Seizo Watanabe, President of Hughes-JVC Technology Corporation. Explained Jack Faiman, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, ""At ShoWest last month and in private showings in Hollywood over the past several years, we have demonstrated our technology for thousands of motion picture industry executives, producers and theatre owners. But now at last, an audience has experienced not just a short demonstration of Electronic Cinema, but the full complete movie-going experience. This full-length presentation of a first run motion picture has convincingly shown that Electronic Cinema is not merely a viable technology one year or five years from now, but a reality today. It is no longer just a curiosity or an experiment. Electronic Cinema has truly arrived.""The projector behind this revolution in Cinema, the ILA-12K, incorporates the Image Light Amplifier, or ILAO device. This liquid crystal light valve, coupled to a CRT with a highly refined optics system, is the key to the 12Kís unique ability to meet or exceed 35mm motion picture film in every area of image quality, on screens up to 118 feet wide. True, lifelike colors and contrast levels exceeding 1000:1 ensure a depth and richness missing with other digital technologies. With over 12,000 lumens of light output and a display resolution of 2000x1280, the 12K produces a crisp, dazzling, non-pixelized image with the authentic look and feel of film,"" said Faiman.This performance, Faiman noted, comes not from a mere prototype, but from an actual production model available in quantity today. ""The ILA-12K is the result of decades of development in ILAO technology, and has been shipping as a product for over two years. With permanent installations in North and South America, Europe and Japan, and numerous special events staged all over the world, it has proven over time its unrivaled image quality as well as its reliability. As an Electronic Cinema projector, the ILA-12K is truly in a class by itself.""It was this superior performance that led Miramax Films to choose the 12K to exhibit ""Shakespeare In Love"" in its entirety at NAB. Miramax, with an unparalleled string of critical and boxoffice successes, produced this yearís most honored films, including Academy AwardÆ-winning Best Picture of the Year, ""Shakespeare In Love,"" and Best Foreign Language Film, ""Life Is Beautiful."" After joining the audience for the screenings, Miramax Senior Vice President Shannon McIntosh said, ""I recently saw a digital cinema demonstration by another projector manufacturer, but tonight was far superior to that. I think the others have a long way to go. But the Hughes-JVC image was just fantastic, very close to theatrical quality.""Reports are that moviegoers at NAB clearly agree with this visionary studio. Numerous audience members (some of whom attended screenings two and three nights in a row) remarked about the emotion, depth and warmth conveyed by the electronic images, and the absence of flaws produced by wear and tear on the film release print. Commented one audience member, a film production engineer, ""Unless youíre one of the rare people who has seen a film answer print, youíve never seen images this clean."" Added Rick Friedman, Business Agent for the Union of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Technicians in Las Vegas, ""Weíre conditioned to seeing imperfections on the screen. But when we see something perfect, then the standards are completely changed. Tonight, the pictures just jumped off the screen. Once people see this, theyíre not going to want anything else. This makes movie-going exciting again."" Hughes-JVC Technology Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan Victor Company (JVC), is located in Carlsbad, California. For more information contact Patricia Booher at 760 929 5365 or email: pabooher@hjt.com, or visit the Hughes-JVC Website at www.hjt.com.