Permlight, Osram Target Movie Piracy

LAS VEGAS, March 18 -- Osram Opto Semiconductors and Permlight Products Inc. have jointly produced an LED system they say could thwart film "pirates" in movie theaters. Permlight announced the system at the ShoWest cinema industry trade show, being held this week in Las Vegas.

Permlight Products is a Tustin, Calif., maker of LED lighting systems. Osram Opto Semiconductors is a San Jose, Calif., subsidiary of Osram, a Munich-based lighting company.

The Permlight Enbryten Piracy line uses Osram's new thin-film infrared-power LED technology to transmit an invisible signal into movie audiences to "wash out" any silicon CCD-based digital camcorders, often used by "pirates" to record feature films for distribution or resale.

The technology uses a randomly generated pulsing algorithm that powers up to 100 Osram infrared Dragon LEDs, which use its new thin-film technology. The companies said the Enbryten Piracy system does not affect infrared-based video surveillance or hearing-impaired audio systems and that the signal is harmless to moviegoers.)

"Technologies from digital projectors to watermarking have been pursued to track down the origins of pirated films," said Manuel Lynch, president and CEO of Permlight Products. "None of these systems renders video cameras useless, nor can they compete with the cost-effectiveness and simplicity of the Enbryten Piracy system."

Each system has multiple nodes that use their own randomly generated signal, so each system is unique, making it impossible for piraters to cricumvent, Permalight said.

The system, expected to be introduced next month, will sell for $1200 to $5000, depending on the size of the movie screen.

For more information, visit: www.osram-os.com