Barcelona, 14th of July of 2000 – At the Greek Theatre of Barcelona in the open air on Thursday the 6th of July the first projection of digital cinema in Spain was shown. In this historical session of the call " e-cinema", "electronic cinema" or "cyber cinema", the distributor FILMAX, FILMTEL, SM DATA and BARCO presented the digitized version of "Where the money is" in a joint project, a comedy of a recent premiere in the United States, played by Paul Newman and Linda Fiorentino.

"Where the money is" is the first movie in the history rolled in the conventional system of 35 mm and later digitized for its projection in public by this system.

The development of a digital cinema system has been a project pursued for a long time, but it had not been possible up to now, due to the limitations of the current projection technologies of images and data transmission.

The recent collaboration among the Spanish companies FILMAX, FILMTEL and SM DATA, together with the Belgian company BARCO, has given as a result a digital cinema system fully operative and with a level of performance that fulfills the requirements of a high quality conventional projection of cinema.

Each one of these companies has contributed their knowledge and experience in the fields in which they are leaders.

BARCO has provided a digital projector that uses the DLP technology of the company Texas Instruments able to project an image of 1280 x 1024 pixels with an enough intensity for the sight outdoors, on a screen of 14 x 7 metres and in a moon-lit night like the one that recently took place in the Greek Theatre of Barcelona.

SM DATA has provided a multiprocessor Pentium server of 500 MHz managed from NT that incorporates a StoreData RAID system of disks with tolerance to the failures of 730 GB of capacity, enough to store two digitized movies and high-speed to be able to maintain a flow of data of 62 MBytes/s essential for the projection of the 24 images per second of the movie.

The great transference speed of the Store Data RAID is based on two elements. On one hand the new technology Fibre Channel that is a synchronous interface series for discs, with a bandwidth of 100 MBytes/s, without restrictions of interconnection cable length and with the capacity to configure networks of up to 125 devices. On the other hand, a specific configuration of certain internal parameters of the discs experienced for some time in SM DATA that improves its transfer speed notably and that makes them particularly efficient in Audio/Video applications.

But everything would not serve without an application that carried out in an effective way the reproduction of the movie and it is there where FILMTEL takes part, one of the leading companies in postproduction in Europe with a long experience that managed to combine all the elements of the puzzle efficiently and developing the software that makes that everything works with rigorous precision.

The digital cinema will change completely the production, distribution and film exhibition. This new and revolutionary technology of film projection is called to put an end to the celluloid and to radically transform the film exhibition business.

The digitalization carried out by FILMTEL, with an image quality comparable to the traditional cinema, allows, for example, to transmit via satellite a movie from any place of the world to different exhibition rooms, with the consequent saving of investment in copies and shipment expenses. It is only needed a computer and a suitable projector.

This new digital system will allow in a future to project the same movie at the same time in different cinema rooms in different cities and the releases of movies could be simultaneous in the entire world. A computer will control the whole process.

To migrate from the traditional format to the digital one will suppose to substitute the celluloid rolls definitively to have the movie in the hard disks able besides to store all kinds of additional information, as subtitles or dubbing in different languages. Before programming the exhibition the computer will select the room, the schedule, the language and the subtitles in that the movie will be exhibited, following a similar system to digital television.

Another of the commercial alternatives that digitized movies could offer is their distribution or exhibition through Internet in a future.

The digital cinema assures a perfect projection without considering the number of times that the film is used. Image quality is, at least, equivalent to the traditional cinema. But in the future the technology will increase the quality of the digital image.

About SM DATA, S.A.
www.smdata.com

SM DATA is a Spanish distributor with more than 10 years in the market, specialised in the distribution of storage solutions of high end and high performance (SCSI & Fibre Channel, Professional Backup, Optic Storage, Multi-user Connectivity and RAS), being at once manufacturers of modular RAID systems marketed with the own marks StoreData and MacData, using components of the same products of those that are distributors.

It represents in Spain to numerous manufacturers of advanced technology products of high quality, world-wide leaders. Some of the most significant: Adaptec, ATTO, Chaparral Networks, CMD Technology, Computer Associates, Digi, Exabyte, Gadzoox Networks, Maxoptix, Mylex, QLogic, Seagate Technology, Veritas, etc.

Press Contact: Mercè Navas

About FILMTEL, S.A.
http://www.filmtel.com/

FILMTEL is a post-production company of the group FILMAX. It was founded in Barcelona in 1985. From its origins it becomes pioneer worldwide in the use of digital technology applied to the image in the cinema, TV, publicity and animation environments. Its recent fusion with FILMAX has given as a result the recent creation of BREN Entertainment, the first Animation Factory in Europe based on a digital production system. In the publicity section in 1998 FILMTEL inaugurated in La Illa Diagonal of Barcelona the most powerful post-production installations in Europe and in the film environment, today FILMTEL, faithful to its spirit of constant innovation, highlights for the development of an own digitalization system that today makes possible the Digital Cinema with a surprising quality worldwide.

About FILMAX
http://www.filmax.com/

FILMAX includes a group of companies dedicated to the production and distribution of contents in all the audio-visual formats. In production (CASTELAO PRODUCTIONS CORP.) is developing at the moment a program of 7/8 new annual productions, highlighting the sorts of fantastic cinema FANTASTIC FACTORY and animation CARTOON FACTORY. Its more recent productions; MANOLITO GAFOTAS of Miguel Albadalejo, "LOS SIN NOMBRE" of Jaume Balagueró, GOOMER Rewards Goya 1999 of animation, etc.

In distribution (SOGEDASA) has a bookstore with more than 3.000 titles. In the 2000 among other, it releases for the first time in the great screen "TRABAJOS DE AMOR PERDIDO" of Kenneth Branagh, "WHERE THE MONEY IS" with Paul Newman and Linda Fiorentino, "ALGO CASI PERFECTO" with Madonna and Rupert Everett, "SHAFT" with Samuel L. Jackson, "CACHITOS PICANTES" with Woody Allen, besides own productions; "TIERRA DEL FUEGO" of Miguel Littín, "SEXO POR COMPASION" of Laura Knack, "FAUST" of Brian Yuzna.

In the Videotape-DVD sector it is leader of the independent firms, in its catalogue presents more than 2.000 titles that it increases with 150 new titles every year. In television it is a reference supplier of all the public and private Spanish televisions in open and of payment.

With its majority participation in companies of the industrial area (FILMTEL and BREN ENTRETAINMENT), the Group FILMAX consolidates a significant position in the international markets.

About BARCO
http://www.barco.com/

Barco, founded in 1934, has five strategic activities: Barco Graphics, Barco Projection Systems, Barco Display Systems, Barco Communication Systems and BarcoVision. In 1999 these five key activities delivered a turnover of 710 million Euro. Approximately 50 % of this turnover was realized outside Western Europe. Barco has a network of subsidiaries, distributors and agents in 97 countries throughout the world. Barco has been quoted on the Brussels Stock Exchange since 1986. Barco is a BEL 20 company.