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1992-11-16
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6KB
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117 lines
NEW KODAK PHOTO CD CATALOG DISC
HOLDS THOUSANDS OF PHOTOS
Format Gives Unparalleled
Access to Thousands of Pictorial Images
NEW YORK, Aug. 25_Open the mail. There's the catalog. Now,
what's the perfect vacation spot? Here's an island, a beach.
Hear the breakers, the gulls.
With the new Kodak Photo CD Catalog disc, people can see__and
hear__catalogs on their television sets. The Kodak Photo CD
Catalog format allows easy distribution of on-disc catalogs
containing thousands of pictures_of vacation destinations, works
of art, retail products, and so on. The pictures can be
formatted into catalog pages on the screen, complete with text,
graphics, a table of contents, and chapters_even sound.
People who play the discs in home Photo CD players connected
to their TV can see on-screen menus that will lead them through
the catalog at the touch of a button on their infrared remote
control. Those who run Kodak Photo CD Catalog discs on a desktop
computer can use on-disc Kodak Browser software to locate images
with simple key word searches.
With the Kodak Photo CD Catalog format, as many as 6,000
video-resolution images can be stored on a disc for soft display
on TV and computer monitors. These images are of lower
resolution than those stored on either standard Kodak Photo CD
Master or Kodak Pro Photo CD Master discs. So they can't be used
to make photo-quality prints, but their quality is ideal for
video display.
Commercial catalogs are only one type of application. "This
format promises to be the most efficient and convenient way ever
devised to give people access to large numbers of images," said
David P. Biehn, Kodak vice president and general manager,
Professional Imaging. "It's opening up some exciting
possibilities."
He noted that Westlight, a stock agency in Los Angeles, is
planning to release a Kodak Photo CD Catalog disc this fall
containing images they have available for use. Westlight will
also be working with Kodak on the development of the Kodak
Picture Exchange.
"We've also had preliminary discussions with art museums,
direct marketers, and sports card publishers about future
projects," Biehn said.
About the Photo CD Catalog
The Kodak Photo CD Catalog format extends Kodak's Photo CD
system. Like Kodak Photo CD Master images, Photo CD Catalog
images can be viewed on TV (using a Photo CD or CD-I player) or
input to a desktop computer (using a Photo CD-compatible CD-ROM
XA drive).
Using a Kodak Photo CD Catalog disc in a home Photo CD player
is easy. The disc, which has unique trade dress to distinguish
it from other Photo CD discs, is inserted into the player as
usual.
A menu screen greets the viewer and offers several different
branches that can be followed. On a clothing catalog disc, there
might be "Men's," "Women's," and "Children's" sections. From
there, additional menus help guide the viewer to "Men's Sweaters"
or "Children's Shoes."
All the normal Photo CD player functions are available with a
Kodak Photo CD Catalog disc, including zoom and pan. Sound, if
any, is played as each image appears on the screen.
Each picture on the disc has a unique number that can be seen
by panning to the right side of the image. This feature would
also be important for art directors wanting to order a specific
image from a stock agency's disc, for example.
Using Kodak Photo CD Catalog on a Computer
Running a Kodak Photo CD Catalog disc on a desktop computer is
similar to using a disc on a home player, except that the
computer user has more options. In addition to being able to
browse images and follow on-screen menus, the user can take
advantage of the Kodak Browser software resident on the disc to
conduct key word searches.
For example, the key words "Men," "Sweaters," and "Blue" might
automatically return images of blue men's sweaters on the
clothing catalog disc in the earlier example. Searches of this
type eliminate the need to thumb through page after page of
traditional catalogs searching for the right item. This feature
will make image library or museum item catalog searches
dramatically more efficient.
Like the person viewing catalog images on a home player, the
computer user can zoom, pan, and listen to sound associated with
each image.
"The Kodak Photo CD Catalog disc brings image access to a much
wider group of people," Biehn explained. "For the cost of a home
Photo CD player or a compatible CD-ROM XA drive, an art director
at an ad agency can automatically search from among hundreds or
thousands of images to find the right one. And that's just one
example. It's an incredible capability."
Organizations that want to create a Kodak Photo CD Catalog
disc need a graphics-capable desktop computer and Kodak Photo CD
Catalog authoring software. With the help of the software, they
will be able to select images from among their existing Kodak
Photo CD Master discs, then add graphics, text, and sound to
create a program script. This script is used to create the
finished discs.
Small quantities of finished Kodak Photo CD Catalog discs can
be produced by a photofinisher or on a user's own compact disc
writer. Compact disc mastering houses can produce larger
quantities of discs intended for mass distribution.
Consumers interested in more information may call the Kodak
Information Center at 1-800-242-2424, ext. 77.
###
[Note: Kodak and Kodak Browser are trademarks.]