UPDATE: Applied Science Fiction Announces Enhanced Dry Film Processing
By
Kim Brady, The Imaging Resource
(Friday, February 16, 2001 - 22:34 EST)
The photographic press has watched and waited for Applied Science Fiction's highly publicized digital dry film processing to make its way into the photo labs, and it appears that the time is finally drawing near. ASF demonstrated a prototype model of the Digital PIC (Process & Image Capture) lab system at the PMA show this week, and passed out photographs made with the controversial "film in, bits out" process. We were duly impressed by the results -- particularly the brilliant reproduction of the primary colors such as red, green, and blue.
Applied Science Fiction Inc. (ASF) introduced Digital PIC (Process and Image Capture), the next generation of its proprietary dry film processing system, this week in Orlando. Digital PIC is a development and scanning process that uses minimal amounts of development agent applied to the surface of 35mm color or black-and-white films, to produce a latent film image that lasts just long enough to make a high-quality RGB scan.
Once a roll of film is processed and scanned, Digital PIC writes an Extended Range Digital Negative (XRDN) on CD-ROM, providing a high-quality reproduction of each film capture, with extended highlight and shadow detail, as well as improved color rendition, according to the company. The film itself is then recycled for complete silver recovery, and discarded without the introduction of environmental contaminates from run-off wash water or development and fixing agents.
ASF is currently exploring various configurations of the Digital PIC system -- including photo kiosks, micro labs, back labs, quick print stations, and consumer access develop-and-print kiosks -- with an undisclosed number of possible licensing partners. The company expects to release Digital PIC in installation units by the end of 2001.
In addition to digital dry film processing, Applied Science Fiction is known for its Digital ICE (Image Creation and Enhancement) technology for fixing defects in films and prints, Digital ROC (Reconstruction of Color) for restoration of color quality in film and prints, and Digital GEM (Grain Equalization Management) for reduction of film grain in scanned images. The Digital ICE Suite, which combines all three film applications, is currently being implemented in high-end scanning equipment. For more information on ASF, visit the company's Web site at www.asf.com.
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