TORONTO, Aug. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Imax Corporation (Nasdaq: IMAX; TSE: IMX) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Digital Projection International Limited (DPI) has taken over from Cintel International Ltd. the manufacturing and development of the digital, analog and video processing electronics originally co-developed by Cintel and DPI. These components, proprietary to DPI's DLP(TM) technology-based digital projectors, render images approaching the quality of 35mm film projected images. DPI intends to advance its technology in this area and believes that this development will further strengthen its position in the digital projection marketplace.

"This move exemplifies our commitment to keep Imax at the leading-edge of digital media technologies," said Imax co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. "We believe that our access to this technology and our ability to further develop its capabilities will allow us to capture a larger share of the emerging multi-billion dollar 'd-cinema' market. The intellectual property rights acquired for this key digital display component will improve future generations of DPI projectors and has the potential to impact other aspects of Imax's business. We are happy to welcome Cintel's employees into the Imax family."

According to Brian Critchley, Senior VP Imax Ltd. and Executive Director of DPI, "Cintel's analog to digital conversion gives our projectors the 'film look' that has led to DPI's status as a leader in the digital projector market. Bringing this expertise and technology in-house will allow us to streamline our manufacturing and development processes, reduce the cost of building our projectors and ultimately help us further extend our position as a leader in this industry."

In June, Imax announced that it had signed an agreement with Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) to be one of only three licensees of TI's DLP Cinema(TM) projection technology for the development, manufacture and marketing of projectors to standard format cinema venues, and to be the exclusive licensee for large-format theatres.

Imax Corporation and its subsidiaries is one of the world's leading entertainment technology companies, with particular emphasis on film and digital imaging technologies including giant-screen images, 3D presentations, post-production and digital projection. There were more than 220 IMAX theatres operating in 26 countries around the world as of June 30, 2000. Imax's subsidiaries include Digital Projection International, whose primary business is the design and manufacture of high-end digital image delivery devices, and Sonics Associates, a designer and manufacturer of high-end sound systems. Digital Projection International has been instrumental in the development and application of the Texas Instruments Inc.'s Digital Light Processing (TM) technology for projection systems. Imax has forged strategic alliances and relationships with some of the most prominent corporations in the world including, Famous Players Inc. (a subsidiary of Viacom Inc.), America Online Inc. and Loews Cineplex Corp. Imax Corporation is a publicly traded company listed on both the Toronto and Nasdaq stock exchanges. More information on the Company can be found at http://www.imax.com.

This press release contains forward looking statements that are based on management assumptions and existing information and involve certain risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Important factors that could effect these statements include the timing of theatre system deliveries, the mix of theatre systems shipped, the timing of the recognition of revenues and expenses on film production and distribution agreements, the viability of new businesses and foreign currency fluctuations. These factors and other risks and uncertainties are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999 and in the subsequent reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

IMAX(R) is a registered trademark of Imax Corporation.

DLP(TM) and DLP Cinema(TM) are trademarks of Texas Instruments Inc. SOURCE IMAX Corporation

CONTACT: Victoria Dinnick of Imax Corporation, 905-403-6366, or e-mail, vdinnick@imax.com; or Stephen Abraham, Analysts of Imax Corporation, 212-821-0140, or e-mail, sabraham@imax.com; Al Newman, Entertainment Media, of Newman & Company, Los Angeles, 310-777-5252 or e-mail, asn@newman-co.com; or Gina Stikes of Edelman Financial, 212-642-7702, or e-mail, Gina_Stikes@edelman.com; or Tim Butler of Digital Projection International, 770-420-1350, or e-mail, tbutler@digitalprojection.com/