DEG Gives Movies Anywhere First-Ever Innovation Award
January 8, 2018
Trade group DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group during its annual reception at CES on Jan. 9 will showcase its Achievement Awards, honoring the best 4K UHD hardware and software products released during 2017.
Movies Anywhere also will be honored by DEG leadership with the new DEG Emiel N. Petrone Innovation in Entertainment Technology Award.
The reception will promote 4K UHD products and content in various ways, with reception sponsor Redbox celebrating its plans to test 4K content at kiosks in 2018 by presenting one reception guest with the ultimate 4K home entertainment center, including a Sony BRAVIA OLED 4K HDR TV, winner of the DEG: Excellence in 4K UHD Product Award; a gaming system; and peripherals including a sound bar and gaming headset. All attendees prior to the drawing will receive a chance to win the grand prize, presented during the reception by Redbox CEO Galen Smith.
The DEG Emiel N. Petrone Innovation in Entertainment Technology Award honors the memory of the DEG’s founding chairman, the late Emiel N. Petrone. The new award recognizes a technology development release in 2017 that has created new opportunities for the home entertainment industry.
The first DEG Emiel N. Petrone Innovation in Entertainment Technology Award winner is Movies Anywhere, the Disney-owned industry initiative that at launch last October brought together films from five major studios (Sony Pictures Entertainment, The Walt Disney Studios – encompassing Disney, Pixar, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment) with four key digital retailers (Amazon Video, Google Play, iTunes and Vudu) to provide movie owners with the ability to store their digital content in the cloud and access it across a wide range of devices and platforms.
Nominations by DEG leaders focused on those innovations that generated significant new trends in home and mobile entertainment. Voters recognized Movies Anywhere as “the best innovation we’ve had in years, with huge potential to come” and “this year’s innovation that has the best chance of transforming our industry.”
Winners of the Excellence in 4K UHD Awards were selected by a panel of product reviewers from the industry’s home theater enthusiast and business publications, including Media Play News. One hardware and one software product will be awarded with the top honors.
Blade Runner: The Final Cut 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc, from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, is recognized with the DEG: Excellence in 4K UHD Content Award. The criteria for the Content Award include demonstrated excellence in 4K image capturing/transferring; HDR encoding; wide color rendering; and immersive (object-based) audio.
The DEG: Excellence in 4K Product Award goes to Sony Electronics for its Sony BRAVIA OLED 4K HDR TV. For the Product Award, criteria include delivery, on a consistent basis, of outstanding audio/video performance, convenience and versatility. Sony’s OLED TV boasts more than 8 million self-illuminating pixels and sound that comes from the entire screen, with the industry’s first Acoustic Surface.
“As home entertainment consumers increasingly demand enriched visual and audio experiences, delivered in a more convenient and frictionless way than ever before, DEG member companies are moving quickly to not only meet their needs, but to introduce them to new possibilities,” said Amy Jo Smith, DEG president and CEO. “DEG is delighted to recognize Sony Electronics and Warner Bros. as purveyors of best-in-class 4K UHD for the home, and Movies Anywhere as a model of seamless content delivery perfectly positioned for the future.”