MODERN VIDEOFILM Buys First D-Cinema Projector for North American Postproduction Facility

TORONTO, CANADA, (MAY 24, 2001) – IMAX Corporation today announced that Modern VideoFilm, a Los Angeles-based postproduction company, has purchased a DIGIMAX™ digital cinema projection system.  The DIGIMAX™ projector, which uses DLP Cinemaä technology by Texas Instruments, will be supplied by IMAX Corporation's Digital Projection International (DPI) subsidiary and is the Company's first North American sale.

According to Peter Nicholas, DPI's North American Digital Cinema Market Development Manager, the DIGIMAX™ unit will be used for “true” digital cinema mastering in the full-service postproduction facility. “It's important for any film that is destined for digital projection on a commercial cinema screen to have the visual integrity of the mastering process maintained from post to screen,” said Nicholas.

Modern VideoFilm expects to begin digital mastering on several new studio titles in the near future to service the growing network of theatres equipped to project digital movies. 

Modern VideoFilm's DIGIMAX™ projector generates cinematic-quality imagery in a telecine suite that is equipped with all of the necessary hardware to transfer movies, originally shot on film, to a digital bitstream of data. Specialized technicians, called colorists, then make timing and color correction decisions based on the projected images before transferring the movie to an electronic media, like high capacity CD-ROM's for example, for distribution to a theatre where it is transferred and stored on a digital server for playback.

“Our spatial needs are different from those of the end-user, the theater,” said Mark Smirnoff, President, Studio Services. “Modern VideoFilm have used and seen many projectors for the last two years. Ultimately our decision to go with the DIGIMAX™ ‘table-top' projector is due to its image quality, stability and over all compactness of the system.”

The DIGIMAX “table-top” version is the smallest of three models offered by Digital Projection International.

“This is another important step in the evolution of digital cinema and the creation of an infrastructure for the industry. Once postproduction facilities equip their suites with this precise display technology, we expect more studios will feel comfortable releasing titles for digital mastering,” added Nicholas.

IMAX Corporation and its subsidiaries comprise one of the world's leading entertainment technology companies, with particular emphasis on film and digital imaging technologies, including giant-screen images, 3D presentations, digital post-production and digital projection.  There were more than 225 IMAX® theatres operating in 30 countries around the world as of March 31, 2001. IMAX Corporation is a publicly-traded company listed on both the Toronto and Nasdaq stock exchanges.  More information on the Company can be found at www.imax.com

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