IMAGICA Technologies and Digital Vision Integrate DVO Grain Management Into IMAGER XE Film Scanner

Image processing pioneer Digital Vision and entertainment technology company IMAGICA Technologies Corp. announce that IMAGICA has licensed Digital Vision's motion-compensated DVO Grain management software and integrated it with its IMAGER XE digital film scanner. The new standalone system, GR-DV, works in conjunction with the IMAGER XE to enable the DVO Grain tool to process film frames as they are scanned, reducing the visual impact of film grain without losing image content.
The company said that facilities, studios and broadcasters working on film, television, DVD and new media projects would now be able to save valuable time with a single-pass scan/grain reduction process.
IMAGICA will distribute information about GR-DV option at NAB 2008 between April 14 - 17, with general release planned for June.
IMAGICA's IMAGER XE scanner processes 4k frames at speeds of 1.9 seconds per frame and 2K frames at 1.3 seconds, with optional 8k scanning support delivering over-sampled 4k images suitable for demanding visual effects and digital mastering. The pin-registered scanner supports the full density range of colour negative film stocks.
Digital Vision's DVO Grain software manages the look of film grain and reduces unwanted electronic noise in film and video. Its advanced motion estimation technology prevents lag, smear and softening of the picture, even with high settings and allows users to 'set and forget' without a concern for artifacts. A mixer function on the final output enables users to bring back as much of the original noise or grain as is desired, for complete control over the filmic look. The IMAGER XE GR-DV brings all of these capabilities together in a streamlined workflow.
Yasushi Mishima, President and CEO of IMAGICA Technologies Corp, said: "The IMAGER XE scanner produces images that are so accurate and sharp that it can pick up grain information from highly sensitive film stock. We had always looked at Digital Vision as the industry standard for high quality image processing and when we learned that the DVO tools were available for licensing we immediately started working toward integrating them."
Simon Cuff, President and COO of Digital Vision, noted: "By bringing motion-compensated grain processing directly into the scanning path, IMAGICA is taking a big step forward in helping its customers save time and costs. Grain management is just one of the common problems facilities face when dealing with high-resolution images, and we're working with IMAGICA to bring even more corrective DVO tools to their leadership scanners in the future."
IMAGICA Technologies Corp (ITC) is a division of IMAGICA Robot Holdings Inc, one of the largest entertainment technology companies in Japan. ITC provides front and back-end digital imaging solutions for feature film with the IMAGER XE and HSX film scanners and the HSR film recorder, as well as a line of software products which includes the industry-leading Primatte keying technology for blue and green screen removal, and the O-gi image processing plug-in package for Autodesk Inferno, Flame, Flint, Fire and Smoke platforms.
Further information is available at: www.imagica-technologies.com.
Digital Vision provides innovative image restoration, enhancement, colour correction and data conforming systems that major movie studios, television networks and post-production facilities use to master and deliver feature films, TV programmes and commercials.
Further information is available at: www.digitalvision.se.
(KMcA/JM)