Kortrijk, Belgium, 23 June 2016 – Barco is delighted to announce that the ‘all-Barco laser’ concept will soon also debut in central and eastern Europe. In Kursk, Russia, the brand-new, nine-screen GRINN FILM multiplex will soon install two Barco Flagship Laser and seven laser-phosphor projectors. With this deal, GRINN FILM becomes the first all-Barco laser multiplex in central and eastern Europe. More than that, the Grinn Corporation announced that every theater in the Kursk multiplex will be fitted with Barco’s AuroMax® immersive sound rendering technology – a European première.

Russian developer GRINN owns a growing number of shopping and entertainment centers, including multiplexes, dotted throughout Russia. The brand-new MEGA GRINN shopping mall in Kursk, southern Russia, is to open in September this year. For the center’s new multiplex, GRINN wanted nothing but the very best projection and sound technology, to offer the audience a mind-blowing movie-going experience. Confident that laser technology is the future for movie theaters, the cinema exhibitor resolutely chose to install laser projectors. “We had great past experience with Barco’s xenon cinema projectors,” explains Pavel Greshilov, GRINN’s Deputy Director-General. “After visiting seminars and viewing Barco’s Flagship Laser projectors at work, we concluded that, once again, Barco technology really stands out from the others.”

A laser projector to fit every need
Barco’s laser portfolio includes a very broad range of projectors, to bring superior image quality to every theater. The two largest cinema rooms in the nine-screen Kursk multiplex will feature a top-of-the-range, ultra-bright Barco Flagship Laser projector (one DP4K-60L and one DP4K-45L). In the other rooms, Kinocomfort, the system integrator of the project, will set up three DP2K-15CLP and four 20,000-lumens DP2K-20CLP laser phosphor projectors. As the throw distance in the theaters is very short, the laser phosphor projectors will be fitted with ultra-short lenses (2K:1.0-1.29) to ensure a correct image ratio.

Premium experience = immersive image + sound
To offer its audience even more ‘magic’, GRINN has now decided to equip its all nine new theaters in Kursk with AuroMax®, Barco’s immersive sound rendering technology. AuroMax® combines the best of object-based audio technology by Barco Audio Technologies (formerly IOSONO) with the Auro 11.1 by Barco immersive sound format – which GRINN is already using in three other cinema theaters. It will help the Russian multiplex to further step up the premium movie-going experience with the most natural immersive sound possible at up to half the cost of a typical object-based sound system.

The perfect mix, for a great ROI
Stijn Henderickx, Vice President Cinema for Barco: “GRINN FILM has opted for the perfect mix between a high-end premium movie experience, with Barco’s Flagship Laser, and the cost-efficient and high-quality Laser Phosphor series. We really believe that this is the future of cinema. Together with Kinocomfort, GRINN FILM carefully calculated the return on its investment in laser, to conclude that it will really pay off, thanks to the absence of lamps and the top-line return from the premium cinema rooms. Auromax® will take that offering to an even higher level.”

“We are extremely honored that GRINN chose Barco for its cinema complex in Russia. With 2016 being the year of Russian cinema, we see great momentum for cinema in Russia and Eastern Europe. We’re proud to be part of that,” concludes Wim Buyens, Barco’s Head of Entertainment.

About GRINN
GRINN Corporation is one of the leading developers in Russia. GRINN owns and manages 32 shopping and entertainment centers, including multiplexes, dotted throughout Russia. The MEGA GRINN shopping mall in Kursk, the Tourist Multi-profile complex GRINN in Orel, and the MEGA GRINN in Belgorod – over 200,000 square meters in size - are some of the company’s most renowned projects. GRINN Corporation owns a total area of commercial real estate of 1.2 million square meters. The company employs 16,000 people and reached a turnover of 42.1 billion rubles in 2015.

About Kinocomfort
Russian company Kinocomfort has designed and installed more than 300 modern cinemas in Russia and the Kazakhstan region since it was founded in 2004. Kinocomfort is the leading provider of Barco’s Auro-3D cinema sound system in Russia.

About Barco
Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops networked visualization products for the Entertainment, Enterprise and Healthcare markets. Barco has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and APAC. Barco (NYSE Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90 countries with 3,300 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales of 1.029 billion euros in 2015.

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