IMAGICA Wetgate Allows Leaps in Quality and Efficiency for Film DI and Restoration Projects by Generating Clean Transfers Upon Scan and Reducing Digital Cleanup

Los Angeles, CA (May 22, 2006)- IMAGICA Corp. announced today that IVC DIGITAL FILM CENTER, a Point.360 company, is helping Hollywood clients realize new levels of quality and efficiency for DI and restoration projects with 2K and 4K film scanning using IMAGICA Wetgate. The new 35mm IMAGICA Wetgate system, available for IMAGICA Corp.'s Imager XE(R) Advanced Plus film scanners, allows facilities to produce clean files at the front end of the process by eliminating scratches, digs and other imperfections at scan time rather than in digital cleanup.

IVC is the first company outside of IMAGICA's own post-production facility in Japan to offer Wetgate-equipped 2K and 4K scans with the Imager XE Advanced Plus scanner. IVC expects to see demand for IMAGICA Wetgate scanning for both classic movie restorations and for newly shot film negative and DIs.
"By doing a Wetgate scan, you can drastically reduce the amount of digital cleanup, saving time and money," said Jim James, Chief Engineer, IVC. "Whereas digital cleanup requires you to go in later to replace bad pixels with new pixels, the necessity of these time- and labor-intensive fixes is reduced or eliminated following a 2K or 4K Wetgate scan because the imperfections are never captured. We were floored by the images produced using the new IMAGICA Wetgate on our IMAGICA scanner. This solution is providing a huge advantage for our workflow and our services for both new and legacy films."

"We've applied a simple, established and highly functional technology to film scanning. This is giving companies like IVC the edge to offer premium scans that eliminate problems on the film negative from the get-go," said Richard Antley. Vice President, IMAGICA Corp. of America.

Almost all high-end film prints and intermediate duplicates are made using a liquid gate, or "Wetgate." The process fills imperfections such as scratches, digs and even dirt hits with fluid to optically produce a clean transfer. Now that a Wetgate can be applied upon scanning negative, the labor-intensive process of digital cleanup is significantly reduced and restoration or DI work can begin with material that is a more perfect representation of the image on the film.

IMAGICA's past successes developing Wetgate-enabled solutions include the company's Multi-Format Optical Wetgate Printer, which won a Scientific and Technical Academy Award(R). IVC's IMAGICA Wetgate system, installed at IVC earlier this year, is running on an IMAGICA Imager XE Advanced Plus scanner. The Imager XE Advanced Plus provides fast scanning of 2K and 4K material with optional resolution capability up to 8K, a custom-designed tri-linear CCD camera system and 14-bit AD conversion with 16-bit image processing.

To view a demonstration of IMAGICA Wetgate scans at IVC, please contact Dick Millais or Peter Dana at IVC, (818) 569-4949. For more information about IMAGICA Wetgate and scanners, contact sales@imagica-la.com or visit www.imagica.com.

About IVC DIGITAL FILM CENTER:
IVC, a Point.360 company, is one of the world's largest digital intermediate and digital cinema mastering facilities, with a 20-year reputation for technical excellence. IVC's services include: 2K/4K scanning; film-to-HD; data-to-HD; 35mm filmout; advanced digital restoration; quality assurance; and conversion for worldwide technical deliveries. IVC's client list includes every major Hollywood studio.

About IMAGICA Corp:
IMAGICA Corp. is one of the largest post-production companies in Japan and is a leading supplier of digital imaging products for digital intermediate and digital cinema applications. IMAGICA provides front and back-end digital imaging solutions for feature film with the Imager XE and HSX Film Scanners and the HSR Film Recorder. Founded in 1935, and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, IMAGICA also maintains a sales and support office in Los Angeles, California. For more information, please visit www.imagica.com.

Media Contacts:
Yukiko Ozaki, IMAGICA Corp. +81-3-3280-1119, Ozaki.Yukiko@imagica.jp
Richard Antley, IMAGICA Corp. (310) 277-1790, Rantley@imagica-la.com
Karen Raz, Raz Public Relations (310) 450-1482, Karen@razpr.com
Dick Millais, IVC (818) 569-4949, D_Millais@ivchd.com