Company Press Release
SOURCE: Texas Instruments Incorporated; Imax Corporation
Texas Instruments Will Work with Imax Corporation
To Develop Projectors Featuring DLP Cinema
Technology
DLP Cinema Projector Manufacturer Initial Line-Up Now Complete; Imax
to Be The Exclusive
Developer and Provider of Large-Format DLP Cinema Projectors
DALLAS, June 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Instruments (TI) (NYSE: TXN - news)
today announced that it had signed an
agreement with Imax Corporation (Nasdaq: IMAX - news; Toronto: IMX
- news), headquartered in Mississauga, Canada,
under the terms of which Imax and its subsidiary Digital Projection
International (DPI) will develop, manufacture and market
projectors based on DLP Cinema(TM) projection technology for both large-format
IMAX® theatres as well as standard
cinema.
``We're delighted by this announcement,'' said Bob England, Senior Vice
President and Manager of TI's Digital Imaging
division. ``Imax has a worldwide reputation for excellence in showing
movies, and Imax's wholly-owned subsidiary, Digital
Projection International, is one of our longest-standing customers
for DLP technology. With their knowledge of how to get the
best from DLP technology, the cinema expertise and experience that
Imax brings, and the power of the IMAX brand, we
believe we have added great strength to our program to roll out DLP
Cinema technology globally.''
Terms of the agreement between TI and Imax were not announced. However,
TI will make available to Imax DLP
Cinema(TM) technology that will form the heart of a new generation
of all-digital cinema projectors for both standard and
large-format venues. Also as part of the agreement, Imax will be the
exclusive licensee of DLP Cinema(TM) technology for
large-format venues. The two other licensees for standard format cinema
venues, Christie Systems Inc. and BARCO, were
announced in March.
``We are very happy to enter into this agreement with TI to develop
digital projectors for conventional cinema and IMAX
theatres,'' said Imax co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler.
``We are excited about the opportunity in
d-cinema for conventional theaters given Imax's tradition of delivering
the highest quality images and DPI's history with TI in
developing high brightness DLP technology. While there are a significant
number of technological hurdles to overcome to
develop a digital system that meets our standards of image size and
clarity for IMAX theatres, we are very happy to be the
exclusive provider of this world leading technology once a solution
has been developed. This agreement, and our larger
relationship with TI, will keep Imax at the leading edge of projection
technology and reaffirm our leadership in the large-format
cinema market.''
Digital cinema or d-cinema refers to conventional movie theaters replacing
35mm film prints and film-based projectors with
movies encoded as digital data that are projected using digital projectors.
This transformation will allow for a higher quality
image to be projected in the theatre and a significant reduction in
the cost of producing and distributing film prints. DLP
Cinema(TM) projection technology is considered the leading technology
to drive this change.
``Our DLP Cinema(TM) technology program continues to gain momentum with
this exciting announcement,'' said Doug
Darrow, Business Manager for DLP Cinema(TM). ``Beyond this, our field
demonstration program is returning impressive
results in terms of audience and exhibitor acceptance and in terms
of the robustness and reliability of the technology. We
continue to announce additional locations and movies as we expand the
program to even more worldwide locations. We
believe we're on track to see several thousand projectors based on
DLP Cinema projection technology installed within the next
three years or so.''
TI's DLP Cinema(TM) projection technology has already been exposed to
over three quarters of a million movie-goers
throughout the world. These extensive field demonstrations began in
June 1999 with all-digital showings at two North American
locations of ``Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace.'' This was
followed in July when 'Tarzan' was shown at three
locations. 'Toy Story 2' opened on six projectors in November in the
U.S., and opened on an additional six projectors in
February and March in Europe and Japan. 'Bicentennial Man' opened in
the U.S. and Canada on six projectors in December,
followed by 'Mission to Mars' in March in North America and May in
Europe. An additional four projectors were added in the
U.S. for the opening of 'Dinosaur' on May 19. Additional DLP Cinema(TM)
projectors will be installed in worldwide locations
during the second and third quarter of this year to bring the total
to around forty.
DLP Cinema(TM) technology is Digital Light Processing(TM) technology
specifically adapted for the needs of the movie
industry. By comparison with the industry-leading large venue DLP(TM)
technology-based projectors on which it is based, it
features even higher contrast, together with color processing designed
to replicate the visual experience of film: commercial
projectors featuring DLP(TM) technology are designed primarily for
video and graphics applications. At the heart of TI's DLP
Cinema(TM) technology are three Digital Micromirror Device(TM) optical
semiconductor chips. The DMD(TM) switch has an
array of to 1,310,000 hinged, microscopic mirrors which operate as
optical switches to create a high resolution, full color
image.
Today, TI supplies DLP(TM) subsystems to more than thirty of the world's
top projector manufacturers, who then design,
manufacture and market DLP(TM) technology-based projectors. There are
now over fifty products featuring DLP(TM)
technology in the market. Since early 1996, over 350,000 DLP(TM) subsystems
have been shipped. Over the past four years,
DLP(TM) technology-based projectors have consistently won some of the
audio-visual industry's most prestigious awards,
including, in June 1998, an Emmy Award from the Academy of Television
Arts & Sciences.
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 210 IMAX theatres operating
in 26 countries around the world as of March 31,
2000. Imax's subsidiaries include Digital Projection International,
whose primary business is the design and manufacture of
high-end digital image delivery devices, and Sonics Associates a designer
and manufacturer of high-end sound systems. Imax
has forged strategic alliances and relationships with some of the most
prominent corporations in the world including Famous
Players Inc. (a subsidiary of Viacom Inc.), America Online Inc. and
Loews Cineplex Corp. Imax Corporation is a publicly
traded company listed on both the Nasdaq and Toronto stock exchanges
(Nasdaq: IMAX - news; Toronto: IMX - news).
More information on the Company can be found at www.imax.com .
Texas Instruments Incorporated is the world leader in digital signal
processing and analog technologies, the semiconductor
engines of the Internet age. The company's businesses also include
materials and controls, and educational and productivity
solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and has manufacturing
or sales operations in more than 25 countries.
Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the
symbol TXN. More information on TI's DLP(TM)
technology can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.ti.com/dlp
.
Digital Light Processing, DLP, Digital Micromirror Device, DMD and DLP
Cinema are all trademarks of Texas Instruments.
All other products and names may or may not be trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective companies.
IMAX® is a registered trademark of Imax Corporation.
This press release contains forward-looking statements certain of which
are based on Imax Corporation's management's
assumptions and existing information and involve certain risks and
uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ
materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. Important factors that could effect these
statements include the timing of theatre system deliveries, the mix
of theatre systems shipped, the timing of the recognition of
revenues and expenses on film production and distribution agreements,
the viability of new businesses and foreign currency
fluctuations. These factors and other risks and uncertainties are discussed
in Imax Corporation's Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the year ended December 31, 1999 and in the subsequent reports
filed by Imax Corporation with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
SOURCE: Texas Instruments Incorporated; Imax Corporation