2009 best year ever for Barco's digital cinema business

http://www.barco.com/digitalcinema/pressrelease/2473/

Kortrijk, Belgium, 10 February 2010 – Digital cinema pioneer Barco announced that 2009 has been a record year for its digital cinema business, with a very significant growth of more than 100% in sales, orders and production capacity. By the end of 2009, Barco had reached a total install base of 6500 projectors worldwide.

"Last year's strong results confirm that digital cinema has reached full momentum, and that a growing number of exhibitors all over the planet is valuing the manifold qualities and operating advantages of the Barco digital projector family," says Wim Buyens, Vice-President Digital Cinema at Barco. "It's a trend that goes hand in hand with the strong demand for 3D movie screenings, which require cost-effective yet high-bright projector solutions. This is exactly where our DP-series sets the tone, so we expect to be able to further strengthen our market position in the years to come."

Barco just recently reaffirmed its expertise in 3D cinema on the occasion of the 'Avatar' world premiere at the Empire Leicester Square in London. For this long-anticipated event, Barco and Dolby Laboratories, Inc. combined the Dolby 3D large-screen system with Barco's DP-3000 ultra bright digital cinema projectors. More than 1300 VIP guests witnessed a memorable, larger-than-life 3D adventure with supreme brightness, image sharpness, and color accuracy, exactly as director James Cameron intended.

Barco has secured a strong market position on every continent. In Asia-Pacific the company accounts for a market share of 70%, with a number one position in Greater China, thanks to strong relations with all major exhibitors, particularly with GDC Technology and the China Film Group Corporation. In Europe and the Middle East, strategic partnerships with key players such as Arts Alliance Media, Cinemeccanica, DCL, Kinoton, XDC, Ymagis, and many other parties have resulted in a solid 55% market share. In North-America, Barco recently set up the 'Deliver Digital' program together with Cinedigm, specifically geared to making digital cinema solutions available for regional theater circuits.

Vital to Barco's success is the company's unremitting commitment to technology excellence and customer value, reflected in the broadest product portfolio in the industry. All of Barco's Digital Cinema platforms are based on the proven 0.98-inch and 1.2-inch DLP Cinema® technology from Texas Instruments. This ensures perfect reproduction of film, time and time again, and ensures that movie fans enjoy the highest quality film experience with consistent picture brightness, contrast and vibrant colors. Thanks to their unique modular design and sealed engine, the DP projectors also set the tone when it comes to lowest total cost of ownership and optimum ease of use. Moreover, customers can benefit from first-rate support services tailored to their requirements via a dedicated Barco Network Operation Center (NOC) introduced in 2009.

In 2010, Barco will further expand its family of digital projectors with a brand-new line of 4K-ready solutions. This 'Series 2' projector family will present customers with the most future-proof digital projection solutions on the market. "We are proud that the next generation Barco 'Series 2' projectors will be the first fully DCI-compliant DLP projectors in the industry to leave the production lines and be installed in the field," stated Wim Buyens, Vice-President Digital Cinema at Barco.