PMA 2007: Athentech Perfectly Clear Pro is a new 16-bit image correction software package specifically aimed at professional photographers. The pro photographer version of Perfectly Clear is based on the same algorithms previously available only under license to digital imaging manufacturers and software firms. Support for more than 80 raw file formats, a unique “soft” portrait setting, a vivid color setting and powerful noise reduction controls are included. Athentech have spent the last year working closely with some of the leading pro photographers in North America.

Athentech Press Release

Visit Athentech at PMA ‘07 Tech Suite X114

Athentech to Show Perfectly Clear® Image Correction Solutions For Retailers, OEM Partners, Photo Pros, Consumers at PMA

Demos of Award-Winning Correction Technology for Kiosks, Integration, Photographers

CALGARY, Alberta, Canada (12 February, 2007) – Visitors to the Photo Marketing Association 2007 conference and trade show, March 8-11 in Las Vegas, will have a very easy time finding Athentech® Technologies Inc.’s award-winning Perfectly Clear® image correction technology.  Athentech today said its increasingly popular technology will be featured in the exhibit booths of licensees KIS/Photo-Me Group (Booth C232), Albumprinter (Booth P150), Express Imaging (Booth Q146), Ludicom (P130, X141), muvee Technologies (Booth U161/163), Pixology Software (Booth A259), Simple Star (Tech Suite X128), PhotoNation (Tech Suite X102/104) and SeeFile Software (Booth K126), as well as in Athentech’s Tech Suite X114.

Athentech also said it will “demo” its new Perfectly Clear® Pro Software, designed specifically for professional photographers.  Development of this technology has been ongoing over the past year, with the company working closely with some of the leading pro photographers in North America its design fully meets their image correction needs, according to Athentech President Brad Malcolm, a featured speaker at the DIMA conference on March 6.  The pro photographer version is based on the same ground-breaking imaging algorithms previously available only under license to digital imaging manufacturers and software firms, the company said.

In addition, PMA attendees can see Photobot – the world’s first fully automatic, “Zero Click” photo correction software that allows consumers to make amazingly clear, accurate digital pictures without lifting a finger, the company said.  Photobot, developed by Athentech partner Tribeca Imaging Laboratories Inc. (Booth M178), is targeted specifically at the “soccer Mom” consumer.  The manufacturer’s suggested retail price is $29.95 (U.S.).  Photobot will be available in February at selected retailers across North America.

“We’re making the smallest, fastest and most visually pleasing image-correction technology available to anyone who takes or makes pictures – whether for fun or for profit,” Malcolm said.  “Athentech’s Perfectly Clear® technology has a strong reputation among our growing list of partners, retailers and licensees as the fastest, most effective application for visually pleasing, error-free, color-accurate pictures.  Now its capabilities are steadily coming within easy reach of every consumer, pro photographer and commercial imaging business.”

Perfectly Clear® Pro is the most advanced, feature-rich 16-bit image correction software available on the market, Malcolm said.  Powered by imaging technology from Athentech and its partners Bibble, FotoNation, Imagenomic and Tribeca Imaging, the product is covered by more than 10 patents and patents pending.  It performs a long list of tasks – it automatically corrects exposure, image depth and sharpness, optimizes color vibrancy, restores color fidelity, eliminates red eye and abnormal tints, and reduces image noise – plus many others important to the professional photographer.  They include support for more than 80 raw file formats, a unique “soft” portrait setting, a vivid color setting and powerful noise reduction controls, Athentech said.

Introduced last fall at photokina, Perfectly Clear® Lab v2.0 is a hot-folder software application that allows for fully automatic, remarkably fast image correction that meets the exacting demands of photo labs, pre-press houses, commercial display fabricators and other imaging professionals.  It offers users several new patented features and capabilities not available in the original version 1.0, Malcolm said.

Malcolm, whose Perfectly Clear® image-correction technology is fast becoming something of an industry standard, has been invited to speak to the DIMA conference, which immediately precedes PMA in Las Vegas.  Malcolm will discuss “Intelligent Software – Automatic Correction and Enhancement Solutions,” beginning at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 6, in the Las Vegas Convention Center, South Hall, Level 2.

How Perfectly Clear® Works
Because cameras have a single aperture, images captured are commonly improperly exposed.  Some industry data suggest that almost 80 percent of images captured are underexposed, and 15 percent exhibit red-eye problems.  Perfectly Clear® automatically corrects underexposures, removes abnormal tints, and provides depth, clarity, vibrancy and color correction.  It integrates four leading proprietary third-party technologies:  Full Spectrum RGB by Tribeca Imaging, Noiseware for noise removal, FotoNation for red-eye removal, and Bibble for raw file support.

Perfectly Clear®, invented for the digital world, is modeled on the physics principles of light.  Unlike traditional analogue-based approaches that can actually damage true color, create artifacts and cause clipping, Perfectly Clear® is the only solution that operates like the human eye – optimizing and correcting the light in each and every pixel, perfectly preserving the photographer’s memory.  The result is stunning pictures regardless of how they are viewed – electronically or as prints.  In less than one second, Perfectly Clear® for photographic applications optimizes the lighting in each pixel while maintaining true color with zero clipping and no artifacts.  Perfectly Clear® won the 2005 DIMA Award for Innovative Digital Product of the Year.

Perfectly Clear®’s Real Color correction differentiates it from all other image-correction technologies, according to the company.  It is the only correction technology that accurately corrects photos to perfectly preserve the customer’s memories, Malcolm said.  Digital capture devices, he continued, currently are incapable of reproducing the full spectrum of colors that the eye sees.  “Perfectly Clear® optimizes the exposure for every pixel in the image, abiding by the physics principles of light, ensuring that customers’ precious photo memories are accurately corrected and perfectly preserved forever,” he said.

Perfectly Clear® is installed in more than 30,000 kiosks and digital minilabs located in more than 30 countries.  Licensees include Albumprinter, Bibble, Black’s Photo, DigiPrints, Digital Portal-KIS/Photo-Me Group, Express Imaging, FixFoto, Fujifilm, Janna Systems, Lucidiom, muvee Technologies, Obló Multimedia, Pixilu, Pixology Software, PixPert, River, Simple Star, Signifi, Worksimaging and several large retailers.  Pricing and other information can be obtained from Athentech.

About Athentech® Technologies Inc.
Athentech® Technologies Inc. is an entrepreneurial, privately held company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, involved in three different industries and markets:  digital imaging, signal processing (for medical applications) and earth sciences.  Athentech® Imaging, a division of Athentech® Technologies Inc, licenses its Perfectly Clear® image correction software to companies for inclusion in still and motion/video cameras, x-ray and medical imaging machines, satellites, telescopes, scanners, editing equipment and image manipulation software.  It makes Perfectly Clear® available to consumers, professional photographers and commercial photo imaging businesses.  For more information, please visit:  http://www.athentech.com

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