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Thomson Adds ArcLight Cinemas to North American Digital Cinema Deployment

Posted on: Friday, 7 March 2008, 12:00 CST

Thomson (Paris:18453)(NYSE:TMS), through its Technicolor Digital Cinema business, has signed an agreement with ArcLight Cinemas, the Los Angeles, Calif.-based theater circuit, to provide digital projection systems at the prestigious ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood. The deal also encompasses ArcLight's world-famous Cinerama Dome, home to many red-carpet movie premieres, where Technicolor has previously been testing its systems.

"ArcLight has become synonymous with state-of-the-art motion picture presentation," said Curt Behlmer, executive vice president of Technicolor Theatrical Services and COO of Technicolor Digital Cinema. "We are proud to have been selected as their digital cinema provider, and are excited to play a role in further enhancing the exceptional movie-going experience which they have created for their customers."

"We've gotten positive feedback on our digital presentations in the Cinerama Dome," said Gretchen McCourt, executive vice president, head film buyer, ArcLight Cinemas. "We look forward to continue working with Technicolor as we bring digital cinema to additional ArcLight auditoriums."

Each theatre installation will feature Technicolor's fully integrated networked systems, which includes a satellite system for content delivery and the Technicolor Theatre Management System (TMS). The Technicolor TMS is a software solution that enables exhibitors to control theatre automation and manage all content such as trailers, advertisements, and features with simple drag-and-drop technology. The digital cinema systems will be supported by Technicolor's maintenance services with 24/7 remote monitoring to ensure system health.

ArcLight Hollywood and the Cinerama Dome are the latest high-profile Los Angeles theatres to be equipped with Technicolor Digital Cinema projection systems. Other Technicolor installations include Mann's Village and Bruin in Westwood, Grauman's Chinese in Hollywood, and Criterion in Santa Monica; as well as National Amusements' The Bridge Cinema De Lux in West Los Angeles.

ArcLight's installations are part of Thomson's previously announced North American digital cinema beta test. Technicolor Digital Cinema has installed digital cinema systems with several prominent exhibitors in North America and Europe including Cinemaworld, Clearview Cinemas, iPic Entertainment, Mann Theatres, National Amusements, Wehrenberg Theatres, Zyacorp's Cinemagic Stadium Theatres, and Kinepolis Group in Belgium.

All hardware and software placed in each site will conform to industry-standard specifications published by Digital Cinema Initiatives LLC (DCI). Furthermore, the Technicolor Digital Cinema plan is technology agnostic, enabling both exhibitors and studios to benefit from the best available technology.

As previously announced, Thomson has signed digital cinema equipment usage agreements with DreamWorks SKG, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. to facilitate the roll-out of up to 5,000 digital projection systems in North America. Under the separate, long-term accords which began in late 2006, each of these studios has agreed to distribute content digitally throughout the United States and Canada and pay a virtual print fee to Thomson for screens equipped with Technicolor Digital Cinema systems.

Since its inception in 1999, Technicolor Digital Cinema has been a pioneer in the enabling and advancement of digital cinema initiatives. By actively working side-by-side with key digital cinema stakeholders as a technology enabler and service provider, Technicolor is utilizing its breadth and depth of valuable industry knowledge and expertise to develop solutions for technologies and standards that will ultimately facilitate the global commercialization of digital cinema. Based in Burbank, California, Technicolor Digital Cinema offers the most comprehensive set of digital cinema services and solutions, including compression, encryption, key management, secure distribution, storage, scheduling and playback, and maintenance and support. Additionally, the business works closely with film studios to support current digital cinema releases. Technicolor Digital Cinema is an operating unit of the Technicolor Theatrical Services business unit, part of the Services Division of Thomson. Since 2000, Technicolor Digital Cinema has mastered and distributed over 300 motion pictures, both domestic and internationally, for every major studio. For more information: http://www.technicolordigitalcinema.com.

About Thomson -- World leader in digital video technologies

Thomson (Paris:18453)(NYSE:TMS) provides technology, services, and systems to the Media, Entertainment & Communications players -- content creators, content distributors and broadcasters -- and supports them in order to help them to improve their commercial offers and their performance in a rapidly changing technology environment. For more information: http://www.thomson.net.

Source: Business Wire

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