PROJECTORS BY DIGITAL PROJECTION TAKE CENTER STAGE AT THE ACADEMY AWARDS® FOR SIXTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR

MANCHESTER, UK & KENNESAW, Ga., (March 26, 2003) – Digital Projection Int. (DPI), an Emmy® Award-winning manufacturer of high-performance projection systems, announced 17 of its LIGHTNING 28sx projectors were used during the 75th Annual Academy Awards® ceremony on March 23 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Show producers have now utilized 3-chip DLP™ projectors by DPI for six consecutive years.

Hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and broadcasted live on ABC, the 2003 Oscar® program featured DPI’s 16,000 ANSI lumen, 3-chip DLP™ LIGHTNING 28sx displays to project dazzling video images onto a variety of projection surfaces throughout the venue. The most prominent set element was a 30’ tall “flute” that sat center stage. Composed of white laser cloth, the flute—approximately 40-feet in diameter at its top and narrowing down to 7-foot diameter at its bottom—is slightly transparent but still opaque enough to use as a projection surface. Producers used eight LIGHTNING displays to project dynamic graphics onto the flute. For enhanced image control, the LIGHTNING projectors were housed in custom-built, hydraulic projection wagons enabling them to tilt up and down to shoot video onto different positions of the flute.

Three LIGHTNING projectors supported the “best picture screen”, which was a 22.5 x 30-foot, 4:3 aspect ratio Stewart front projection screen. For added versatility, window framing was used as an overlay to give the screen the appearance of a 16:9 aspect ratio projection surface.

In addition, two custom-fabricated 9 x 16-foot rear projection screens, supported by four LIGHTNING 28sx projectors, flew in and out from stage left and stage right on command. For the benefit of the Awards show attendees, two LIGHTNING displays delivered content on two 6.9 x 12-foot screens flown in balconies stage right and left.

Creative Technology North America, an international audio and video solutions provider and authorized DPI staging partner, managed the integration and inventory of the display technology in the 180,000-square foot facility. This is the third Oscars® event in which Creative Technology has been involved in and the 11th for Frank McMinn, vice president of entertainment, Creative Technology Los Angeles.

“Having worked with Michael Seligman for over a decade on the Oscars, Emmys and numerous televised events, I know that only the best will do. That’s why we’re pleased to once again have Digital Projection as a part of our team,” said McMinn.

"We take extreme pride in knowing our precision displays were be relied upon by the Oscars for the sixth consecutive year," said Mike Levi, president of Digital Projection, Inc. "Events such as the 2003 Academy awards represent the pinnacle of the entertainment industry, and Digital Projection is fortunate to have established the trust of the event's producers, as well of that of Creative Technology Group. We're thankful yet again that our LIGHTNING series projectors were a part of this prestigious event."

DPI’s high-performance LIGHTNING, THUNDER and HIGHlite displays have been used for every major televised broadcast Awards program, including the Emmys®, Oscars®, Grammys®, Blockbuster© Music Awards and the American Music Awards. Projectors by DPI can be found in Hollywood studios, screening rooms, Fortune 1000 boardrooms, church & worship venues, broadcast sets, command & control facilities, visualization applications, retail outlets, and prestigious home theaters.