WATERLOO, Ontario – DALSA Corporation [TSX: DSA], a global leader in digital imaging, extends sincere congratulations to DFT Digital Film Technology’s Volker Massmann, Markus Hasenzahl, Dr. Klaus Anderle and Andreas Loew on winning an Academy Award® for the Spirit 4K/2K Film Scanner. DALSA provided key technology – a custom-built dual line scan sensor– for the scanner. In a ceremony held at The Beverly Wilshire on Saturday, February 20, Massmann, Hasenzahl, Anderle and Loew were each awarded a Scientific and Engineering Award for the development of the Spirit 4K/2K film scanning system. The Spirit 4K/2K has become the industry standard for converting film to digital and video formats.

Each year, the Academy honors the achievements of scientific and technical innovators whose work has had a significant and lasting impact on the motion picture industry. The Scientific and Technical Awards ceremony generally takes place approximately two weeks prior to the main Academy Awards ceremony, which will be held on March 7 this year. The Sci-Tech awards recognize the critical role played by science and technology in the moviemaking process and celebrate the technical advances in film processing, sound, lighting, and special effects. This year, Digital Film Technology has distinguished itself with the Spirit 4K/2K, which incorporates a continuous-motion transport mechanism enabling full-range, high-resolution scanning at much higher frame rates than non-continuous transport scanners.

The Spirit products are high speed, high precision Film Scanners that scan film images in 4K or 2K resolution to convert the film to a digital media format for editing, compositing, distribution, and archival. DFT has installed more than 450 systems of the Spirit family worldwide and is considered the market leader in fast, high end film scanning. DALSA has an ongoing, long-term relationship with DFT as an image sensor technology provider.

DALSA’s custom dual line scan sensor was developed specifically to meet Digital Film Technology’s demanding technical requirements for the Spirit Film Scanners. It is a very high precision sensor that achieves exceptional image quality. The sensor was also designed with anti-reflective properties to eliminate surface reflections during the film scanning process. As a result, the Spirit Film Scanners enable high-resolution multi-format film scanning with unrivalled precision, stability, and image quality, setting the industry standard for high-resolution film transfers.

“DFT’s Spirit 4K/2K film scanner has become the de facto standard in Digital Intermediate post production systems,” said Gareth Ingram, DALSA’s Vice President and General Manager of Digital Imaging. “For 30 years DALSA has been engineering digital imaging technology with unrivalled precision, stability, and image quality. We are extremely proud to have been able to supply the advanced imaging technology needed to develop the world’s best high-resolution, multi-format film scanners. Congratulations to DFT and its dedicated team.”

“The continued cooperation with DALSA in the design phase of the sensor enabled us to achieve the challenging performance goals for the Spirit 4K/2K imaging sensors,” added Markus Hasenzahl, project manager for DFT’s Spirit 4K/2K.

For a downloadable image of the custom dual line scan sensor used in the Spirit 4K/2K Film Scanner please visit DALSA’s online media kit.

About DFT Digital Film Technology Holding GmbH
DFT Digital Film Technology Holding GmbH provides high-end film and digital post production solutions for a variety of commercial media, film and content markets including; film studios, broadcast operations, and post production facilities. DFT products include the SCANITYTM Film Scanner, Spirit family of DataCines® and Telecines, Shadow Telecine, Scream grain reducer, LUTher color calibration tool, Bones digital intermediate (DI) workflow solution and Bones Dailies non-linear dailies software solution. The entire DFT team is highly regarded within the industry and is dedicated to uncompromised product and technology development, as well as superior sales and support services. DFT Digital Film Technology is headquartered in Weiterstadt, Germany and has regional offices in London, Paris, Sydney, Bangkok, Los Angeles. DFT is independently owned by PARTER Capital Group, a Frankfurt, Germany private equity investment group.
www.dft-film.com  

About DALSA Corporation
DALSA (TSX: DSA) is an international leader in high performance digital imaging and semiconductors with approximately 1000 employees worldwide, headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1980, the company designs, develops, manufactures and markets digital imaging products and solutions, in addition to providing semiconductor products and services.
www.dalsa.com  

Media Contact for DALSA:
Maria Doyle
Red Javelin Communications, Inc.
Tel: +1-781-964-3536
e-mail: [email protected]  

Media Contact for DFT Digital Film Technology:
Press Contact (Europe, Asia):
Manuela Duft
Tel: +49 61 51 4 60 33 81
Mobile: + 49 17662072610
E-Mail: [email protected]

Press Contact (Americas):
Kimberley Fuller
Tel: +1 917 675 6050
Mobile: +1 310 469 8190
E-Mail: [email protected]