San Francisco and Burbank, Calif.—Mar 12, 2007
Technicolor Digital Cinema Selects Dolby Digital Cinema JPEG 2000 Systems for Its North American Beta Test and
Kinepolis Deployments in Europe
Dolby Digital Cinema systems to bring superb level of quality and reliability to digital cinema exhibition in US and Europe
Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: DLB) today announced that Technicolor Digital Cinema, part of the Services division of Thomson (Euronext 18453; NYSE: TMS) today announced that Technicolor Digital Cinema has ordered 190 Dolby® Digital Cinema JPEG 2000 systems, and will deploy 60 units for its North American digital cinema beta test, and 130 with Belgium-based Kinepolis Group, one of Europe’s largest theatre circuits.
“We are pleased to be working with Dolby as we continue with our beta test deployment in the US and Europe,” said Curt Behlmer, Chief Operating Officer, Technicolor Digital Cinema. “We have performed our own stringent tests on Dolby’s JPEG 2000 system and have confidence that this system will offer exceptional quality and performance to our exhibitor partners.”
After months of testing in over 50 cinemas around the world, Dolby began delivering in December its Dolby Digital Cinema system, which it believes will meet all the industry requirements. In order to adhere to Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC’s (DCI) Digital Cinema System Specifications, version 1.0, Dolby has transitioned its video codec playback system from the MPEG format to the JPEG format and incorporated watermarking technology and enhanced link encryption. After a year of successful deployment of Dolby Digital Cinema systems in theatres worldwide, Dolby has continued to cultivate strong relationships with exhibitors by ensuring a reliable, easy-to-use digital cinema system combined with ongoing customer support.
"National Amusements’ entire circuit is equipped with Dolby sound equipment and we have always been pleased with its quality and reliability," said William Towey, Senior Vice President of Operations, National Amusements. "We view the inclusion of Dolby Digital Cinema systems as a part of the first phase of our digital cinema beta test program as a natural and positive evolvement in moving from analog to digital presentation."
As a global leader in digital cinema, Technicolor’s large-scale, worldwide, digital cinema deployment plans will promote equipment reliability and adherence to DCI specifications. Technicolor will start to deploy digital cinema systems using 60 Dolby Digital Cinema systems and will initiate its European rollout by installing Dolby Digital Cinema systems in 130 Kinepolis Group screens at 10 sites in Belgium with plans to transition all of Kinepolis’s screens to digital by end of 2007.
“Dolby is a pioneer in the development and innovation of cinema technology. We have taken all the necessary steps to produce a product that we believe meets DCI specifications and ensures the high level of quality and reliability necessary for digital cinema to flourish in the real world,” said Tim Partridge, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Professional Division, Dolby Laboratories. “We remain committed to the expansion of digital cinema worldwide, so we are very pleased that Technicolor chose to deploy our Dolby Digital Cinema systems.”
Featuring a complete digital system for storing, managing, and playing digital movies, Dolby Digital Cinema was custom built to deliver high-quality images onscreen and to ensure the highest levels of reliability and security in the industry. More than 50 digital movies have been presented in Dolby Digital Cinema with more than 200 systems installed worldwide.
