Kodak HR 500 plus film-scanner with Digital ICE announced

Kodak Professional have announced the HR 500 Plus Film scanner. This is, according to Kodak, "The fastest high-resolution scanner available today" giving an "industry-leading rate of up to 500 scans an hour". It incorporates the well-known Digital ICE technology correcting blemishes and defects found on negatives. The HR 500 plus is priced at 35,000 (ex VAT and excluding auto gates). Owners of the earlier HR 500 model can upgrade to the HR500 Plus at a cost of 8,275.

Press release

Kodak Professional has launched the world's fastest high-resolution scanner - with revolutionary software that can 'actually improve images'.

Scientists have perfected breakthrough 'Digital ICE' technology which can correct blemishes and other defects found on negatives - creating digital image files actually superior to the original film.

Said Kodak Professional's John Culverhouse: "The HR 500 Plus Film Scanner is seriously clever. Digital ICE technology automatically removes surface defects, like dust, from a scanned image - increasing the number of useful scans per hour a lab can produce whilst also reducing the time needed for retouching later on."
He added: "This software innovation doesn't soften, blur or otherwise alter the details or composition of the original image, but works within the scanner to provide a clear base image that actually improves the original"

Capable of scanning colour negative, colour reversal and black and white film from 35mm to 6x9 cm film sizes the HR 500 Plus also features a variable scan resolution up to 128 MB. Post print retouching time is also dramatically reduced.

Don Pillittere, Kodak Professional's Worldwide Manager, Lab Equipment Products added: "The HR 500 Plus with Digital Ice technology gives owners the opportunity to take on additional business, thanks to the significant amount of time saved on rescans and retouching. And the cleaner images created give the labs a new competitive edge".