Kodak 2000 Annual Report Download - page 31

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Kodak Pro f e s s i o n a l ’s bid for leadership in new technologies
is perhaps best exemplified by the introduction of the DCS Pro
Back digital camera, incorporating the world’s first 16-megapixel
s e n s o r . This re p resented a truly prestigious achievement for
Kodak, as no one else has ever introduced a digital camera that
can deliver even half the image resolution of this device.
As the entertainment industry moves towards an incre a s i n g l y
digital future, Entertainment Imaging is successfully driving film,
hybrid, and digital strategies to provide leadership in
the transition.
In 2000, a healthy worldwide box office contributed to
re c o rd-setting print film sales and very strong demand for color
negatives. And, once again, all Academy Aw a rd - n o m i n a t e d
movies in Best Picture, Best Cinematography, and virtually all
other major categories were produced on Kodak motion
p i c t u re film.
Cinesite (Entertainment Imaging’s digital services unit) pro-
vided scanning, re c o rding, and special effects for a re c o rd num-
ber of high-profile movies. Cinesite also created the first end-to-
end Kodak Digital Intermediate of a major motion picture (“O
B ro t h e r, Where Art Thou? ”), introducing an innovative digital
p roces s that extends the creativity of filmmakers and provides a
high-quality bridge to digital display.
Work is now in pro g ress on a digital cinema infrastru c t u re ,
combining Kodak technology with components from others, to
c reate a system with on-screen picture quality that surpasses
anything else available.
K o d a k ’s Document Imaging division continues to be a stro n g
competitor in the business and government markets it serv e s .
For example, since entering the color scanning business in
1998, Kodak’s market share has rocketed from 10% to more
than 50% today. Our high-speed production scanning equip-
ment played a pivotal role in the recent U.S. census, pro c e s s i n g
m o re than 2 million forms per day. Kodak scanners are now
p a rticipating in more than 20 other census counts worldwide,
including the census for the United Kingdom, France, Australia
and Brazil.
Kodak Digital Pre s e rvation Service will be a major contrib-
utor to the division’s future growth. Industry experts estimate this
will be a $7 billion category by the year 2004. At present, the
United States Social Security Administration is pre s e rving its
critical digital and paper documents with Kodak systems, as are
many banks and insurance companies.
Our Commercial and Government Systems division turned in a
year of strong growth, while it collected more kudos for
advanced imaging technology.
The Kodak team that helped develop the Chandra X-ray
O b s e rv a t o ry was recognized for outstanding scientific achieve-
ment by the National Air & Space Museum. In its first year,
Chandra has already revealed the brilliant remains of a stellar
explosion in the Crab Nebula, a possible emission from the black
hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, and several other
a s t ronomic firsts.
Kodak people also provided the digital imaging technology
a b o a rd the IKONOS earth-orbiting satellite, a winner of last
y e a r ’s “Best of What’s New” award from Popular Science
magazine. Since January of last year, IKONOS has collected
200,000 images covering 24 million square miles of our planet—
i n f o rmation that is proving immensely valuable to enviro n m e n t a l
scientists.
As you can see, Kodak’s business these days goes far
beyond the familiar roll of film in the bright yellow box. Which
brings up another good question: What category do you assign
to a company that is creating technologies that will drive every-
thing from online commerce to interstellar exploration?
That new category is infoimaging. Because, in the digital
age, images drive value. And Kodak drives images.
Daniel A. Carp
C h a i rman, President and Chief Executive Off i c e r
Daniel A. Carp