Kortrijk, Belgium, 24 June 2015 - Digital cinema pioneer Barco proudly announces that Nordic Cinema Group (NCG) will soon install Barco's DP4K-60L laser-illuminated projectors in its flagship cinemas in Riga (Latvia), Tallinn (Estonia) and Helsinki (Finland). The choice for laser is key in NCG's constant quest to improve and intensify the cinema experience - a pursuit that has yielded Jan Bernardsson, CEO of NCG, the '2015 International Exhibitor of the Year Award' at this week's CineEurope.
When SF Bio and Finnkino Oy, two leading Northern European cinema chains, merged in 2013, Nordic Cinema Group was born. With 66 cinemas, 444 screens and ca. 65,000 seats in six markets (Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden and Norway), NCG is the leading actor on the cinema market in the Nordic and Baltic regions. Its vision: to be Europe's most passionate, innovative, and attractive cinema company.

Truly amazing
To achieve that aim, NCG is constantly looking for ways to improve and intensify the cinema experience. Finnkino Oy, one of the four NCG cinema brands, will soon kick-start a new initiative, comprising laser-illuminated projection, in three of its theaters. Janne Uusi-Kölli, Development Manager: "We recently decided to upgrade our three biggest cinemas, i.e. the Forum Cinema complexes in Riga and Tallinn and Finnkino's Tennispalatsi in Helsinki, to offer new levels of excitement to our audiences. Laser-illuminated projection is just a must to enhance the visual experience. You really have to see the difference to believe. The brightness is really unprecedented; it is truly amazing, especially for 3D movies." NCG was happy to chose the laser-illuminated technology of its preferred digital cinema projector provider Barco, on account of this superb image quality/ stunning brightness.

Teaming up with other visionaries
"We are really happy to see that our laser-illuminated projectors are gaining inroads in the Nordic countries," says Wim Buyens, Head of Entertainment. "And we're definitely proud to partner with NCG, This week's International Exhibitor of the Year Award at CineEurope proves how the group is really driven by the goal to create the ultimate cinema experience, just like Barco. Remember, by the way, that last year's 'Exhibitor of the Year Award' winner was also a long-term Barco customer: Eddy Duquenne of Kinepolis. Kinepolis was the very first European cinema group to switch to laser projection. It's great to see that NCG is following in their footsteps … "

About Nordic Cinema Group
Nordic Cinema Group (NGC) was formed in 2013 when cinema chain Finnkino bought SF Bio. Today, it is the largest cinema operator in the Nordic and Baltic regions, with more than 100 years' experience in managing and cultivating the cinema experience. NCG operates 66 cinemas, with 444 screens and approx. 65,000 seats in almost 50 large and medium-sized cities. NCG is also co-owner of another 48 cinemas. The cinemas operate under four different brands in six markets: SF Bio in Sweden, SF Kino in Norway, Finnkino in Finland and Forum Cinemas in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

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 3,250 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales of 1.051 billion euros in 2014.

© Copyright 2015 by Barco

 For more information, please contact Lynn Ryon
Press & PR contact EMEA
Barco NV

Telephone +32 56 36 81 66
lynn.ryon@barco.com Alison Maxson
Press & PR contact Americas
Barco NV

Telephone +1 916 471 6914
alison.maxson@barco.comLi Shen
Press & PR contact Greater China
Barco NV

Telephone +86 10 5650 2288
li.shen@barco.com
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