'Invest in Germany - Land of Ideas' Presents Visionary Movie Technology at the NAB2007 in Las Vegas.

The Future of Digital Cinema is Shaped in Germany

LAS VEGAS & BERLIN -- Yesterday in Las Vegas, the future of cinema was at the heart of a presentation at the world's biggest trade show for electronics and media technology, the NAB2007. Under the heading "D-Cinema and Beyond," the full digital-cinema process chain was presented to the professional public. The event was realised by "Invest in Germany - Land of Ideas" a common project of the initiative "Germany - Land of Ideas" and the federal investment promotion agency "Invest in Germany". The presentation centred on the 5k Multi-Projection technology developed for digital cinema by the Fraunhofer Society's Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) in Berlin.

Apart from the Fraunhofer Institutes in Berlin and Erlangen, the cooperation partners also include the camera manufacturer ARRI, T-Systems' Media&Broadcast arm as a service provider to the media and broadcast industry, and the software and hardware manufacturer DVS.

A reception at the "Las Vegas Convention Center" gave over 400 guests and journalists an opportunity to talk shop with experts, after which a demonstration of the new projection technology was given at "The Palms" hotel, using footage from a football match. The new panorama projection technology is especially good for broadcasting major sports or music events, as it gives viewers the feeling of being right in the stadium. This immersive technology will revolutionise the cinema experience. The evening at the Brenden Theatre was moderated by ZDF Morgenmagazin's anchor Cherno Jobatey.

Dr. Ralf Schafer at the Fraunhofer Society's HHI Institute believes the new technology has very real future prospects: "The introduction of digital cinema will bring higher quality, improved performance and greater flexibility to the regular cinemas. Multi-Projection technology, an idea from Germany, makes it possible to go beyond D-Cinema and present movies in top resolution."

ARRI's General Manager Franz Kraus emphasised the successful synergies that arose from collaborating on the "Cinevision 2006" project under the auspices of the Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology (BMWi), and added: "For the past 90 years, ARRI has been providing technologies that are used for most of the world's movies. The ARRIFLEX D-20, our new digital camera, of which two were used for the 5K shots, are now used to great effect in productions around the world as well. That motivates us to keep designing and developing tomorrow's cinema as the market leader in this area."

DVS's Managing Director Dr.-Ing. Hans-Ulrich Weidenbruch said: "DVS has worked on perfecting movie and TV images for over twenty years now. Digital cinema considerably ramps up requirements throughout the moviemaking industry. We welcome the fact that innovative media technology from Germany is being collectively presented at the NAB under the heading "D-Cinema and Beyond."

Multi-Projection technology was developed as part of the "Cinevision 2006 - Technologies and Systems for Next-Generation Digital Cinema" project, wherein leading German companies and research institutes joined forces to develop advanced technology and viable business models for the future of digital cinema. The collaboration project seeks to implement a comprehensive process chain for digital cinema, centring on three key components: digital cameras, high-performance transmission and new projection technologies.

"D-Cinema and Beyond" and the "Invest in Germany - Land of Ideas" project are backed by Germany's Ministry for Economics and Technology (BMWi).

Please visit www.land-of-ideas.org for further information.