Digital ICE Technology In Kodak’s HR 500 Plus and HR Universal Film Scanners

February 24, 2002 – Applied Science Fiction, Inc. (ASF), the creator of the award-winning Digital ICE and Digital ICE³ technologies, the leader of automatic photo restoration applications and the inventor of the cutting-edge digital dry film processing system, Digital PIC, announced today at PMA 2002 the availability of Digital ICE in the Kodak Professional HR 500 Plus and HR Universal high-speed film scanners. “The presence of our Digital ICE technology in Kodak’s HR 500 Plus and HR Universal scanners reflects the continued value-add that this technology brings to discriminating scanner users,” said Dan Sullivan, ASF’s president and CEO. “These Kodak Professional scanners will surely benefit from the image quality provided by Digital ICE implementation.”

“Our new HR 500 Plus and HR Universal film scanners are highly capable, highly productive, highly regarded scanning devices,” said Don Pillittere, worldwide manager, Lab Equipment Products, Kodak Professional. “With the higher number of useful scans per hour that Digital ICE produces, opportunities arise for labs to take on additional business to increase their productivity and their profitability.”

Digital ICE
Applied Science Fiction’s Digital ICE technology automatically removes surface defects such as dust and scratches from a scanned image. The award-winning Digital ICE differentiates itself from software-only solutions because it does not soften, blur or otherwise alter any underlying details or composition of the original image. Instead, ASF's patented Digital ICE technology works from within the scanner during the scanning process to provide the user with a clear, authentic base image. The user does not need to learn or install any additional software to operate Digital ICE.

ASF’s Digital ICE technology is also available in scanners manufactured by Nikon, Minolta, Durst, and Benq (formerly Acer). Digital ICE has also rapidly become the de facto standard in digital minilabs (DMLs), and can be found in several models from Noritsu and Gretag.

About Kodak Professional
For more than 60 years, Kodak Professional has provided imaging professionals with cutting-edge products and solutions for virtually every step of the imaging chain—from capture to image management to production, output, archiving, and electronic distribution. The division serves a diverse set of customers ranging from commercial photographers, photojournalists and portrait and social photographers to lab owners and the graphic arts and service industry. These demanding imaging professionals constantly push the boundaries of quality, creativity and skill, and they demand the kinds of products and applications solutions Kodak Professional delivers.

About Applied Science Fiction
Applied Science Fiction develops proprietary technologies for the imaging industry that link traditional photography with the digital age. ASF licenses its branded technologies through Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) that provide products for the professional and consumer imaging markets. Additionally, ASF directly distributes Adobe Photoshop compatible plug-ins for automatic image enhancement and correction.

ASF’s product portfolio consists of the Digital ICE³ film scanner suite, Digital ICE, Digital ROC and Digital GEM, the individual components of the suite, Digital ICE and Digital ROC for flatbed scanners, and Digital ROC plug-in for color restoration and Digital SHO plug-in for revealing details of dark image-areas. ASF is also the innovator in digital dry film processing, with its environmentally friendly Digital PIC technology. Digital PIC develops exposed film directly into a high-resolution RGB digital format file in minutes. Digital PIC produces an Extended Range Digital Negative (XRDN) on a CD from which photographic quality images can be easily printed. More information can be found on ASF’s Web site at www.asf.com.

SOURCE Applied Science Fiction, Inc