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Copyright 2011 by Insight Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
Electronic forwarding and reproduction without permission is prohibited. 1November 2011
Volume 9 November 2011 Number 11
IMAX Licenses Kodak Laser Projection Technology
Eastman Kodak Corporation (Rochester, NY) has given an exclusive license of its laser
projection technology to IMAX Corporation (New York). This technology has been discussed in
detail by Insight Media in the January 2011
and October 2010 issues of the Large Display
Report.
The companies announced that, “IMAX
has licensed from Kodak certain exclusive
rights in the digital cinema field to a portfolio
of more than 50 patent families covering
fundamental laser projection technology.
IMAX also licensed from Kodak certain
exclusive rights in the digital cinema field to a
broader range of Kodak patents covering
complementary technologies useful for laser
projection products.”
While terms of the license have not been announced, IMAX will pay royalties to Kodak for
the technologies. Note that the license is exclusive only in the digital cinema field, so we might
expect future announcements from Kodak for licensees in other fields where brightness, image
quality and 3D performance are important, such as home theater or visualization.
One reason IMAX has taken this license is currently its largest screens (>80 feet) can only
be served by analog film projection due to insufficient luminance in digital cinema projectors.
With lasers, IMAX expects there will be sufficient output for its largest screens, including dome
screens.
Insight Media had a chance to talk to Kodak’s Barry Silverstein, who worked on developing
the technology. He added that the IMAX license included all applications of projectors,
including non-cinema large venue and home theater. It is only exclusive in the digital cinema
field, and Kodak is continuing plans to license the technology to other companies, especially in
the large venue and home theater fields. He could not comment, however, on companies Kodak
was in discussion with or suggest a time frame for additional announcements.
IMAX had previously worked with and taken an equity position in Laser Light Engines
(LLE) (Salem, NH), as reported in the August and October 2010 issues of LDR. While the
prototype Kodak laser cinema projector demonstrated in Rochester had used lasers from
Novalux, Kodak has said their system is laser technology agnostic. Silverstein still believes that
Novalux lasers are the best choice for a high-output laser projector at this point but said the
license with IMAX allows them to use any lasers they wish. Presumably, if the first-generation

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Copyright 2011 by Insight Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
Electronic forwarding and reproduction without permission is prohibited. 2November 2011
production version of the system for IMAX does not use a laser system from LLE, the follow-on
generations will.
Kodak engineers will work closely with IMAX engineers over the next 18 months to assist
with the implementation of the technology into the IMAX product family. IMAX expects to
introduce the laser technology into the company’s largest screen and dome venues in the second
half of 2013.
Silverstein commented for Insight Media, “There is nothing that I will enjoy more than
going to see a laser projected movie at an IMAX theatre and know that Kodak had a important
role in delivering the great on-screen image quality”
Note that this license applies to Kodak developments in the laser projector field. There are
other approaches besides Kodak’s that can lead to laser-based projectors. In particular, Red
One’s (Irvine, CA) name has been linked to a laser projector when a quote attributed to Stephen
Pizzo, cofounder Element Technica and partner of 3ality Technica, was posted on the Red
Website:
After watching a demo of RED’s laser projector, I’ve been struggling to find a way to
describe it. Comparing it to traditional professional systems is completely inadequate. I
have never witnessed 3D that was as bright or brighter as the best 2D projections until now.
It generated the best color, best dynamic range and best images I have ever seen in 3D or
even 2D. When I learned we were watching at one-fourth of its total resolution, I was
speechless.
It was so clean and so vibrant, the only thing I can compare it to is Cibachrome. That’s
it, a giant moving Cibachrome!
Additional details are missing on what is called the Red Ray projector, except that it has 4K
resolution and RED expects to introduce it as a home theater projector in the next 12 months.
The price is expected to be in the $30K–$50K price range.
There is more than one way to build a laser projector. To put it mildly, Pizzo was impressed
by the Red approach and Chris Chinnock (and presumably IMAX) was impressed by the Kodak
approach when he saw its demo. Hopefully, we can look forward to a giant leap in cinema
image quality with the introduction of lasers into the projectors. –Matthew Brennesholtz
IMAX, Ann Sommerlath/Adam Davis, +1-212-821-0155, asommerlath@imax.com, adavis@imax.com
Kodak, Barry Silverstein, +1-585-722-0383, barry.silverstein@kodak.com
Kodak, Kelly Mandarano, +1-585-724-0903, kelly.mandarano@kodak.com
Laser Light Engines, Bill Beck, 603-952-4550, ext. 601, bbeck@laserlightengines.com