HARKNESS SCREENS SUPPLIES GIANT SCREEN TO HELP BARCO SHOWCASE 55,000 LUMEN LASER PROJECTOR

GALVESTON, TEXAS, JANUARY 30th, 2011 — Harkness Screens, the world’s leading manufacturer of cinema screens, recently supported Barco with a preview of its new laser-illuminated projector, a prototype which surpassed the brightness world record at the second annual Moody Gardens Digital Cinema Symposium in Galveston, Texas.

After holding Guinness world-record status as the brightest single projector with 43,000 ANSI Lumens since December 2010, Barco dramatically increased this to an excess of 55,000 ANSI Lumens with its latest laser projector prototype. The demonstration which was carried out on a 72-foot-wide (22m) Harkness Screens surface astonished the symposium’s audience made up of industry professionals, with incredible brightness and sharpness levels.

“Barco is dedicated to progressing cinema display technologies”, says Todd Hoddick, Barco’s VP for Entertainment, North America. “Harkness was a responsive and key partner in our quest to showcase this progression. Laser illumination has great promise, and we are proud to have shown the industry what our projector is capable of doing on a 72 foot screen.”

The single-source solid-state laser illumination provided a screen luminance of 22 foot-lamberts (fL) for 2D presentation, measured on a 100-foot throw (30.5m), significantly above the current DCI standards.

 “This is a significant step for digital projection and although laser technology is a few years away from being commercially available, what we saw from Barco was an outstanding glimpse into the future of cinema presentation. We were thrilled to support Barco with this record setting event and look forward to working with them and other manufacturers as the technology develops,” says Keith Watanabe, Americas Sales Director of Harkness Screens.

About Harkness Screens
Harkness Screens™ is the world's largest manufacturer of projection screen surfaces, specialising in the design and production of cinema screens and custom screens of virtually any shape and size. Harkness Screens is the world leader in cinema with screens in more cinemas worldwide than any other manufacturer. From single-screen independent theatres to large multiplexes to large format immersive theatre experiences or live events, Harkness supplies thousands of screens every year for cinema, film production, special effects, live events and custom AV applications.

Founded in 1929, Harkness’ corporate office is located in Ireland with other offices and factories located in the USA, UK, France and China. Harkness Screens combines unrivalled experience with the latest technology and production methods to provide innovative solutions to the company’s key markets worldwide. For more information, visit the Harkness Screens web page at www.harkness-screens.com.