Contact: John Constantine
CELCO
(909) 481 4648
john@celco.com

CELCO Introduces the New eXtreme HDR High Definition Film Recorder at SIGGRAPH 1999

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CALIFORNIA (August 10, 1999) -- CELCO’s new eXtreme HDR High Definition Recorder, the latest in the company’s popular eXtreme line of products, makes its debut at SIGGRAPH, August 6-8, 1999.

The eXtreme HDR, which records onto camera negative or intermediate film stock, is designed and optimized to shoot 1920 x 1080 HD resolution. The recorder is capable of shooting a range of resolutions including NTSC, PAL, and HD and recording onto 16mm and 35mm film.

The eXtreme HDR is an important addition to our product line, says CELCO marketing director, John Constantine. We expect to see entire films shot digitally on HD video and projects scanned in HD with Philips’ Spirit DataCine and Cintel’s C-Reality scanners. HD video is so close to 2K resolution now that it looks good on the big screen: It’s theatrical quality. The speed and price of our eXtreme HDR makes it more feasible for filmmakers to shoot in HD because it brings down the cost-per-foot or cost-per-minute to record to film.

It will be some time before there are substantial numbers of theaters with digital projection, he adds. By going to film via the eXtreme HDR at the end of the postproduction process, filmmakers can make a digital negative of their work for theatrical release and archiving.

The eXtreme HDR will shoot the 1920 x 1080 HD format at a rate of five seconds per frame, giving the system the speed of a laser recorder at about half the price. CELCO has also continued making technological advancements to its EBX Advanced CRT technology which deflects an electron beam by non-mechanical means for increased reliability over laser systems.

The system’s software engineered by CELCO, is able to sharpen images on the fly; it
also contains interpolation tools for increasing resolution.

At SIGGRAPH CELCO will also be showing its top-of-the-line eXtreme Nitro recorder. Nitro is capable of handling any resolution from NTSC to 8K, says Constantine. "The Nitro also works with all film formats up to 65mm including 15-perf IMAX, 5-perf 65mm and 8-perf 65mm. It is also the only production film recorder in the world that can expose 65mm formats onto Kodak 5244 Intermediate film stock.

During the past year eXtreme Nitros have been installed in a number of postproduction and visual effects facilities worldwide where they have been in production on many popular feature films. The Nitro at Industrial Light & Magic has filmed out hundreds of shots for Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, "The Mummy," "Wild Wild West" and "Deep Blue Sea." In addition, all of ILM’s contributions to the Electronic Cinema at SIGGRAPH have been output on the eXtreme Nitro.

For more information on CELCO’s eXtreme HDR and eXtreme Nitro products, please contact Jim Darby at (909) 481-4648, by fax at (909) 481-6899 or by e-mail at info@celco.com. Visit CELCO’s Web site at: www.celco.com