HP in Deal With Warner
Warner Bros. and Hewlett-Packard Co. plan to announce today a partnership to digitally restore classic television shows and films such as “The Wizard of Oz” to enhance their color and clarity.
The alliance, to be announced at the National Assn. of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas, underscores the growing importance of digital technology to broadcasters and studios -- at least in production and archiving.
Warner Bros., a division of Time Warner Inc., claims to have the world’s largest library of classic films and television shows but wants to improve their image quality.
“When you look at an old film from the ‘30s, it’s just not as enjoyable given what we’re used to expecting from the studios these days,” said Vikki Pachera, HP’s vice president for global alliances and business development. “Think of the problems Technicolor had. Films were shot with three reels of film together and then overlaid, which is why the ‘Wizard of Oz’ is so blurred.”
Warner Bros. has proprietary software that it has used to restore “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Robin Hood” and “Meet Me in St. Louis.”
Working with HP’s high-end computing and storage products, the studio plans to increase the number and quality of restored films that are released each year.
Palo Alto-based HP also is expected to unveil today a technology partnership with DreamWorks SKG that will enable film studios to use technology more cheaply to produce animated features such as the “Shrek” series that have required prohibitively expensive computer systems.
HP provided computer services to DreamWorks’ three data centers in California and Britain to make “Shrek.” The alliance is being expanded to produce upcoming animated features “Shrek II,” “Shark Tale” and “Madagascar,” and could include other studios.
This model, known in the industry as “utility computing” or “computing on demand,” is gaining popularity because it allows smaller companies and educational institutions to buy access to powerful computer systems without having to spend millions of dollars to purchase the hardware and software.
Terms for the ventures were not released.
