Ymagis Group’s CinemaNext, the European specialist in cinema exhibitor services, and Eclair, a leader in content services for the motion picture and television industries, today announced they will be showcasing their revolutionary EclairColor digital high dynamic range (HDR) technology at the upcoming CinemaCon (National Association of Theatre Owners) convention from March 27-30 in Las Vegas (Nevada).
A specially-built 16-seat screening room will be set up for the duration of the convention in the Caesars Palace Conference Center’s Tribune Room, located next to the Forum Ballroom on the Pool Level. The March 27-30 EclairColor presentations are open to all cinema exhibitors and distributors with a CinemaCon accreditation upon presentation of their badge and subject to availability. Reservations can be made via the online booking platform at http://eclaircolor.simplybook.it
The EclairColor demo screenings are powered by a Sony Digital Cinema 4K SRX-R515 projection system, 7.1 surround sound QSC speakers, Adaptive Technologies, Harkness Screens and Seating Concepts.
“We are delighted to be presenting our cost-effective EclairColor HDR technology to CinemaCon attendees thanks to the support of the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO),” said Ymagis Group CEO & co-founder Jean Mizrahi. “We have converted in record time more than 40 cinema screens to date in France, Germany and our first screen on the African continent, in Tunisia, since the launch of EclairColor last fall. We believe this warm reception from the industry and audiences alike will help us quickly grow our network of cinemas in EMEA and other key territories.”
“Cinemas, from the earliest days, have been on the cutting edge of image and sound innovation, and they must remain an experience unlike any other,” explains Till Cussmann, SVP CinemaNext. “The significant advantages that EclairColor provides are clearly visible to all, which should greatly ease the adoption of this new technology by cinemas since we have rendered this process compatible with a range of existing projectors, allowing for virtually immediate access to our solution.”
For Manel Carreras, Eclair’s SVP Business Development and Studio Relations, “We are making great progress in building a strong line-up of films available in EclairColor in Europe. For instance, in France 24 feature films have already been committed for domestic release by international and independent distributors. With EclairColor, the benefits for moviegoers with a significantly enhanced image are real. The color range is much richer, the gradients much more refined, even in the darkest colors.”
EclairColor is a new digital HDR color solution that combines a mastering process and the optimization of select projection system technologies readily available today through CinemaNext. EclairColor is the culmination of eighteen months of development and extensive testing by Eclair and CinemaNext engineers. All types of cinemas, regardless of their screen size, can be equipped with EclairColor. The equipment can be used to run EclairColor mastered content as well as standard DCI content.
About CinemaNext and Eclair – Ymagis Group
Ymagis Group is a leader in advanced digital technology services for the cinema industry. Through CinemaNext and Eclair, the Group provides innovative solutions to movie exhibitors, distributors (feature films & event cinema), producers, cinema/TV advertising networks, rights holders, broadcasters, VOD/S-VOD platform operators and video publishers. Founded in 2007, Ymagis Group is headquartered in Paris and has offices in 23 countries with nearly 700 employees. Our core business is structured around three main units: CinemaNext (exhibitor services: sales and field services, software solutions, customer service/NOC and consulting), Eclair (content services: post-production, theatrical delivery, digital distribution, versioning and accessibility, restoration and preservation) and Ymagis (financial services). For more information, please connect to www.ymagis.com, www.cinemanext.com or www.eclair.digital
About Sony Digital Cinema 4K: HDR-Ready Projection
Sony Digital Cinema 4K is currently the only manufacturer of affordable cinema projection equipment that meets image brightness and contrast requirements for the presentation of movies mastered using the EclairColor High Dynamic Range (HDR) process. Offering light output levels ranging from 9,000 lumens to 60,000 lumens to suit every size of screen, all Sony’s SRX-R500 Series 4K projectors are ‘HDR-ready’ as standard with an industry-leading average contrast ratio of 8000:1. This exceeds the specification set for screening movies mastered using the EclairColor solution. Developed by CinemaNext and Eclair (Ymagis Group), EclairColor is a proprietary mastering process that optimizes content for presentation at reference light levels of 30fL for 2D projection. This allows EclairColor-certified cinemas operating Sony SRX-R500 projectors to play films with an expanded range of brightness levels for an impressive HDR entertainment experience.