CinemaNext Signs Agreement with French Cinema Circuit Megarama for 15 Screens Equipped with EclairColor

“We will deploy the new EclairColor HDR technology at 10 of our cinema sites across France with the first two cinemas – Megarama Bordeaux and Megarama Villeneuve-La-Garenne - to be equipped in April,” explains Jean-Pierre Lemoine, President and CEO of Megarama Group. “After laser technology, we are continuing to invest in the modernization of our own cinema equipment with EclairColor, a brand new, affordable HDR technology powered by Sony Digital Cinema 4K SRX-515 projection system technology. The benefits for moviegoers are real with a significantly enhanced image andan increased perception of details, the color range is much richer and the gradients much more refined, even in the darkest colors.”

“Following the recent announcement of our first 25 EclairColor screens in Germany, we are thrilled to seal this new alliance with French circuit Megarama, for the deployment of our HDR technology at ten of their cinema locations,” states Maxime Rigaud, Managing Director of CinemaNext France, Switzerland and Africa. “This is an important milestone for our company in the establishment of a powerful network of EclairColor screens in France, – with 41 already equipped or to come – allowing a greater number of moviegoers to take advantage and experience this new cinema standard.”

"The benefits EclairColor HDR technology offers are clearly visible to moviegoers as an affordable technology for any exhibitor since we have made this process compatible with a range of existing projectors,” explains Vincent Bruère, account manager at CinemaNext France. “Megarama represents the largest EclairColor agreement to date by a cinema exhibitor, and we plan to maintain our business relationship at a high level. We will equip two new eight-screen cinema builds scheduled for an opening late 2017 at the Megarama Saint Gely and Megarama Montigny-lès-Cormeilles, respectively located near Montpellier and Paris, France.

EclairColor is a new digital HDR color solution that combines a mastering process and the optimization of select projection system technologies readily available today through CinemaNext. It provides cinemas with unparalleled image projection technology. All types of cinemas - independent movie theaters, regional chains and giant exhibition circuits -, regardless of their screen size, can be equipped with EclairColor. The equipment can be used to run EclairColor mastered content as well as standard DCI content. To date, a total of 47 cinema screens are equipped with EclairColor: 21 in France, 25 in Germany and 1 in Tunisia.

EclairColor is a registered trademark of CinemaNext (Ymagis Group)

CinemaNext is the Ymagis Group’s business unit dedicated to exhibitor services. Founded in 2007 and managed by professionals from the motion picture and high-tech industries, Ymagis Group is a European leader in advanced digital technology services for the cinema industry. Through CinemaNext and Eclair, the Group provides smart and comprehensive solutions to movie exhibitors, distributors (feature films & event cinema), producers, rights holders, cinema/TV advertising networks, broadcasters, VOD/S-VOD platform operators and video publishers. Over the years, Ymagis Group has significantly grown its portfolio of solutions & services and further developed its geographic footprint in Europe with permanent offices in 20 countries. The company’s core business is structured around three main units: CinemaNext (exhibitor services: sales and field services, software solutions, customer service/NOC and consulting), Eclair (content services: post-production, theatrical delivery, digital distribution, versioning and accessibility, restoration and preservation) and Ymagis (VPF & financial services). A publicly-traded company listed on Euronext, Ymagis Group is headquartered in Paris (France) and counts close to 800 employees. For more information, please connect to http://www.ymagis.com, http://www.cinemanext.digital or http://www.eclair.digital

Sony Digital Cinema 4K is currently the only manufacturer of affordable cinema projection equipment that meets image brightness and contrast requirements for the presentation of movies mastered using the EclairColor High Dynamic Range (HDR) process. Offering light output levels ranging from 9,000 lumens to 60,000 lumens to suit every size of screen, all Sony’s SRX-R500 Series 4K projectors are ‘HDR-ready’ as standard with an industry-leading average contrast ratio of 8000:1. This exceeds the specification set for screening movies mastered using the EclairColor solution. Developed by CinemaNext and Eclair (Ymagis Group), EclairColor is a proprietary mastering process that optimizes content for presentation at reference light levels of 30fL for 2D projection. This allows EclairColor-certified cinemas operating Sony SRX-R500 projectors to play films with an expanded range of brightness levels for an impressive HDR entertainment experience.