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1992-11-16
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HARDWARE, FORMATS, APPLICATIONS
MARK NEW PHASE OF KODAK PHOTO CD PROGRAM
NEW YORK, Aug. 25_In more than a dozen interrelated
announcements made today, Eastman Kodak Company reported the
expansion of its Photo CD program across professional and
commercial markets. This will mean new business for Kodak and
new services and products for Kodak's customers.
Today's announcements included one new Kodak business, four
new Photo CD formats, three commercial hardware systems, four
software packages, and agreements with several companies and
organizations. Some companies have formed alliances with Kodak
to extend the current Photo CD concept into new commercial
applications.
Kodak's New Business
The Kodak Picture Exchange is a global image transmission
network designed to provide access to millions of Photo CD
images, bringing them as close to commercial users as the nearest
public telephone connected to a desktop computer.
The new Photo CD formats include:
∙ The Kodak Pro Photo CD Master disc, which stores images
from 35 mm and larger film formats to meet the needs of
professional photographers
∙ The Kodak Photo CD Portfolio disc, which extends
picture capacity from the original Photo CD Master format
and allows the creation of exciting on-disc programs that
merge pictures with text, graphics, sound, and branching
∙ The Kodak Photo CD Catalog disc, which allows easy
distribution of disc catalogs containing thousands of
pictures of images for rent, art works or retail products
∙ The Kodak Photo CD Medical disc, which can store
diagnostic images, from a variety of image modalities, for
medical applications
The new commercial and professional hardware systems include:
∙ The Kodak Professional Photo CD Imaging Workstation
4200 (Professional PIW 4200), which features the new Kodak
Professional Photo CD film scanner 4045 to transfer images
from large-format professional films to Pro Photo CD Master
discs
∙ The Kodak Professional Photo CD Image Library, an
automated disc "jukebox" system that stores and accesses
thousands of images on all formats of Photo CD discs
∙ The Kodak Photo CD Imaging Workstation 2400 (PIW 2400),
a Photo CD authoring station for photofinishing labs that's
over three times as productive as today's units
The four software packages include:
∙ Kodak PhotoEdge image enhancement and correction
software, which provides business users with a set of basic
image-editing tools
∙ Kodak Shoebox image search and retrieval database
software, designed to help users access images stored as
stand-alone databases or on the Kodak Professional Photo CD
Image Library system
∙ Kodak Browser software, a scaled-down version of
Shoebox software, to make it easy for computer users to
navigate Kodak Photo CD Catalog discs
∙ Kodak Renaissance design software, an intuitive page
layout package that has been upgraded to allow direct
importation of Photo CD images
Early this month, Kodak began shipping Kodak Photo CD Access
software, which gives Macintosh and DOS/Windows operating system
users the ability to read Photo CD images and save them in common
computer image file formats.
More Than a Dozen Companies Already Working with Kodak's New
Products
In addition, more than a dozen companies, universities, and
organizations have joined with Kodak to cooperate on the
development of new products and commercial applications for the
Photo CD system. Some of the best-known include Apple Computer,
Inc., J. Paul Getty Art History Information Program (a leader
among art museums in applying electronic imaging technology), J.
Walter Thompson, and Young and Rubicam. Other organizations with
especially innovative applications include Homes and Land
Publishing Corp. (owner of Homes and Land, the series of
high-quality real estate magazines), Jostens (the largest
publisher of high school yearbooks), AGT (a $150 million graphic
arts company), and Dyansen Corporation (the owner of Dyansen art
galleries).
Separately, Philips Consumer Electronics Company, Pioneer
Communications, Sony Corporation of America, and Toshiba
Corporation have agreed to market fully Photo CD-compatible
CD-ROM drives.
The Next Chapter
The first phase of Kodak's Photo CD program began some three
years ago with the conception at Kodak of the Photo CD idea. Two
years ago, Kodak made the first announcements of the technology
that will allow high-resolution 35 mm film images to be stored on
compact discs and played on TV or a computer. With delivery of
the first Photo CD players to consumers taking place as scheduled
earlier this month, the company is now moving to extend the Photo
CD concept from consumer markets into mainstream commercial
businesses.
"When we unveiled the Photo CD technology, it signaled the
first fundamental change in photography in more than 100 years,"
said Kay R. Whitmore, Kodak chairman, president and chief
executive officer. "Today's announcements represent the next
chapter in the Photo CD story, one that begins to demonstrate the
vast commercial potential we talked about when we announced the
system two years ago."
Added Stephen S. Stepnes, general manager and vice president
of Kodak's CD Imaging unit, "Today we're spelling out our
long-term vision for the Photo CD system. It's a vision that
reinforces our commitment to consumers, even as we extend the
Photo CD format into new commercial applications.
"Every one of the new disc formats we're announcing today is
fully compatible with the core Photo CD format," he said. "That
means that every Photo CD disc will play on home Photo CD and
CD-I players, as well as on Photo CD-compatible CD-ROM XA
computer drives.
"Our vision for the Photo CD system is to put the power of
pictures in the hands of everyone, at every level," Stepnes
concluded. "Now we're starting to make this vision a reality."
####
[Note: Kodak, Kodak Browser, PhotoEdge, Renaissance, and
Shoebox are trademarks.]