Christie launches new lamp series at CineEurope

Digital cinema projection company Christie has unveiled a set of four new lamps for its Series 2 Solaria projectors at CineEurope 2012 in Barcelona.

The new Christie Superior Performance Xenolite lamps, ranging from 2kW to 6kW are designed for the Christie Solaria CP2220, CP2230 and Christie 4K DLP Cinema projectors and last 30% longer than existing Xenon lamps and have warranties of up to 3200 hours. The lamps be available initially only to exhibitors in the EMEA region, beginning in August 2012.

The Superior Performance Xenolite series consists of four new lamps. The CDXL-20SP (2kW) and CDXL-30SP, designed for the CP2220, CP2230, CP4220 and CP4230, have an estimated life of 3500 hours and 2000 hours respectively with a maximum lumen output of 9,000 to 19,000 lumens. The CDXL-45SP (4.5kW) and CDXL-60SP (6kW) are expected to last for 1,500 hours and 1,100 hours respectively, and designed for light outputs of 24,000 to 34,000 lumens.

Jason Burden, Cinema Lamps & Accessories Sales Specialist, Christie EMEA says “Cinema Exhibitors are looking at using their lamps for a longer period of time and obtaining outstanding results, while providing the lowest operating costs at the same time. With years of experience in Xenon lamps, and an R&D department constantly focused to develop better and more efficient lamps, Christie is now able to offer to cinema exhibitors the best performance for their projectors.”

Separately, Paris-based digital lab Éclair Group has decided to employ the Christie Solaria CP4230 4K projector for its pre-release validation of feature films.

At its Epinay-sur-Seine facility, Éclair handles over a hundred films a year. Digital cinema specialist 2Avi supplied and fitted the company’s validation rooms with the Christie CP4230 and a 700 cm wide screen with a 34,000 lumen rated output. Key for Éclair was guaranteeing the best possible lighting conditions for active validation in 3D.

The first film to be projected, viewed and validated at Éclair Group was the restoration of Marcel Carne’s 1945 masterpiece Les Enfants Du Paradis. Laboratoire Éclair had been the lab for the film’s original, celluloid incarnation. Frantz Delbecque, Éclair Group’s technical manager, said “The aim was to validate our 4K restoration of the film: when it comes to restoration it’s impossible to exaggerate the importance of having such resolution, so as to detect the slightest imperfection – which would pass unnoticed in 2K, with four times fewer pixels. Using this technology – and especially the Christie Solaria CP4230 – we can get back to the film’s original fine grain and the physical qualities so loved by film professionals.”

Jean-Baptiste Hennion, 2Avi’s head of digital cinema, had the job of setting up the Eclair Group’s 4K equipment and managing the project in close co-operation with the lab’s technical department. Well experienced with Christie projection solutions, Jean-Baptiste Hennion made his preference quite clear: “In terms of quality, there’s no alternative: it had to be Christie, because of its power of illumination and the outstanding evenness of the digital image.”