GDC Technology Announce Successful Demonstration Of DCI-Compliant Digital Cinema Solution, Including Watermarking Technology

Beijing, CHINA (December 22, 2005) – GDC Technology, the leading provider of digital cinema solutions is pleased to announce the successful demonstrations of their digital cinema content solution including JPEG2000 codec, forensic marking and “Digital Censor Key” at CineAsia 2005 in Beijing, CHINA.

From December 13 – 15, 2005, GDC Technology demonstrated to a large contingent of CineAsia delegates at Beijing Xin Dong An Cinema its digital cinema solution, including Thomson watermarking technology, which is compliant with Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC (DCI) specifications. DCI recently completed the final overall system requirements and specifications (Digital Cinema System Specification V 1.0) for digital cinema in July 2005. GDC Technology has been closely following the guidelines and recommendations from DCI. With more than 500 servers delivered and a dozen digital mastering systems installed in world’s largest film laboratories and postproduction houses, GDC Technology is completing its development of next generation of digital cinema products that will meet the specifications and requirements as detailed in DCI Digital Cinema System Specification V 1.0. GDC Technology, being the first company to offer MXF upgrade of its DSR™ digital cinema products (server and digital mastering system) to meet DCI MXF requirement, GDC intends to lead again in providing fully DCI-compliant equipment.

At CineAsia, GDC Technology presented DCI-compliant equipment including JPEG2000 codec and security feature such as forensic marking provided by Thomson. In addition, GDC Technology also presented an innovative “Digital Censor Key” solution for repackaging contents without altering the originally encoded contents – a highly anticipated solution for digital releases in countries where censorship is a concern. The technique was used recently for the first time in the digital release of Asia’s most expensive production “The Promise”, in Singapore. True to the DCI specification, Thomson demonstrated moving pictures embedded with “hidden” mark, which indicated the time and date of playback and playback location. Thomson’s DCI-compliant watermarking solution offered forensic marking that was transparent to the viewers thus not affecting the quality of the presentation and robust to camcorder acquisition and subsequent pirate attacks.

“Thomson is pleased to demonstrate its DCI compliant forensic marking technology in collaboration with GDC Technology, a leading provider of Digital Cinema servers,” says Tony Berthaud, Asia Pacific Director of Thomson’s Content Security Division “Thomson has been a trusted partner of the Motion Picture industry for nearly a century and we have a mutually vested interest in the success of secure Digital Cinema rollout” adds Tony Berthaud. 

“GDC Technology takes a prudent approach in delivering the DCI-compliant Server to our customers,” says
Joshua Chan, Director of Sales and Marketing “The cost and disruption by offering half-baked, non-certified digital cinema servers to our customers should be avoided. The incorporation of the most advanced forensic marking technology from Thomson is definitely a big step forward in completing the design of a DCI-compliant Server” adds Joshua Chan.

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About GDC Technology Private Limited
GDC Technology Private Limited is a Singapore incorporated company. It is a subsidiary of the Hong Kong Public Listed Company – Global Digital Creations Holdings Limited. GDC Technology pioneers digital post-production, delivery and presentation technologies. GDC Technology offers solutions on film transfer, post-production, delivery and presentation of digital content.

GDC Technology has successfully delivered and installed more than 500 digital/electronic cinema theatres in Africa, Europe, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and US. More than 150 full-length feature films have been released digitally on GDC Technology servers.

For more information on GDC Technology, visit www.gdc-tech.com.

Media Contact:
Ms Cherine Liu
GDC Technology Private Limited
70 A/B Amoy Street, Singapore 069889
Tel: +65 6222 1082 / Fax: +65 6222 1089

About Thomson – Partner to the Media & Entertainment Industries
Thomson (Euronext Paris: 18453; NYSE: TMS) provides services, systems and technology to help its Media & Entertainment clients – content creators, content distributors and users of its technology – realize their business goals and optimize their performance in a rapidly changing technology environment. The Group intends to become the preferred partner to the Media & Entertainment Industries through its Technicolor, Grass Valley, RCA and Thomson brands. For more information: www.thomson.net