Fujifilm is one of the first major PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) vendors to introduce its own advanced visualization product.  Because it is vendor-neutral and multi-modality capable, Fujifilm's Synapse® 3D can be used with virtually any advanced imaging system, such as PET, CT, MR and nuclear medicine.

Fujifilm's 30-plus year history of image processing lends additional clinical and diagnostic benefits to Synapse® 3D.  Image Intelligence™, Fujifilm's proprietary algorithms, has also been used to deliver image visualization benefits such as precise segmentation and analysis.

Synapse 3D recently received FDA 510(k) clearance for sale in the U.S.  As a result of the clearance, it is anticipated that Synapse 3D will see widespread adoption at hospitals and practices across the U.S.

You can learn more about Fujifilm Medical Systems and Synapse 3D on fujimed.com.

InfoTrends recently released the results of its 2010 Social Networks and Photo Sharing Survey, which revealed that the user population of social networking sites is still expanding — interesting news for the photo industry, as these sites are full of photoactive consumers.  Nearly three quarters of social networkers reported sharing photos other than their profile picture on these sites, and users of these sites reported taking a significantly higher number of photos than the general population. 

However, many of these consumers are still not aware that most social networks downsize photos during the uploading process and that the size at which the photos are stored is insufficient for producing good quality prints except in very small sizes. 

Alan Bullock, an Associate Director at InfoTrends, commented, "There seems to be a growing opportunity for social networks that can offer high-resolution photo storage or partner with other companies that do, and things will get even more interesting now that Facebook has announced that it will begin storing higher resolution photos.  Educating consumers on the facts around the quality of the photos stored on social networking sites will help generate demand for these types of services." 

The InfoTrends' 2010 Social Networks and Photo Sharing Survey offers valuable information for operators of social networking sites who wish to gain greater insight into their users' photo sharing activities; for traditional online photo services that need to understand why users are increasingly turning to social networks for everyday photo sharing; and for vendors of photo prints, gifts, and merchandise that are considering offering their services to social network users. 

DxO Labs recently unveiled DxO Analyzer version 4, the newest version of its industry-standard image-quality evaluation solution, adding two very important features (texture measurement and video measurement) to make it the most complete and unique solution on the market.

About the new Texture Preservation Measurement

According to Nicolas Touchard, Vice President of Marketing, DxO Labs Image Quality Evaluation , the DxO Analyzer v4’s texture measurement capability addresses two key factors that were missing for all computer-based image quality evaluation systems: (1) measuring the capability of digital cameras to capture details while coping with noise; and (2) providing that measurement in a way that correlates with how consumers see pictures.”

There are known methods to measure noise and sharpness separately, but until now there were no means for understanding how a camera captures details while keeping noise to a reasonable level. The breakthrough of the method developed by DxO Labs is that it correlates very well with the human visual system—that is, with people’s subjective perception of detail. This measurement is critically important to the entire digital camera design community who need such evaluation tools to understand how their products behave in the hands of consumers.

While developing its testing tools, DxO Labs has been working closely with international organizations to validate its technology and incorporate it into standardization efforts. In fact, DxO Labs has been a major contributor to the standardization of camera-phone image-quality (CPIQ) evaluation undertaken by I3A over the past several years. DxO Labs has proposed innovative methods to address the challenge of developing objective metrics for important image quality attributes, which the CPIQ team has successfully correlated with consumer perception. In particular, DxO Labs’ approaches to measuring texture preservation, distortion, chromatic aberration, and color shading have been the foundation for CPIQ participants to build toward I3A’s goals.

About the new Video analysis capability

Video capture is widely available in digital cameras today, from camera phones to high-end DSLRs. In response to this, the new DxO Analyzer v4 now provides measurements performed on image sequences (both RAW and RGB files). Further, to speed up measurements and ensure repeatability, DxO Analyzer on video is fully automatic. With its dedicated video extension, DxO Analyzer v4 offers the following key video quality measurements:

• Auto-exposure and white-balance stability
• Temporal and spatial noise characterizations (FPN, PRNU, defective pixels analysis, row and column noise spectral analysis)

Starting from this set of essential measurements in Version 4, DxO Labs will continue to add additional video signal analysis capability.

DxO Analyzer v4: a complete image-quality evaluation solution

Version 4 also features new optical and sensor measurements for color fringing, advanced color shading, and green channel imbalance, along with interface and workflow improvements. All these new features added to the existing set of fully automatic image quality measurements , maintains DxO Analyzer’s leading position as the most integrated, reliable and automatic solution on the market.

Morpho, Inc. was founded by technical experts from the University of Tokyo who specialized in the field of image processing. Morpho's goal is to take the expertise and experience developed in the lab out into the real world to solve real world imaging problems. Based on the belief that computer science should be a practical discipline, our mission is not to conduct cutting-edge research on a purely theoretical basis, but to create real world cutting-edge solutions that leverage our research to meet existing or emerging social needs and requirements and which create a better user experience. Through technologies including image recognition, image processing and image display for various platforms such as security and video, and by embedding these solutions in camera phones, digital cameras and other mobile devices, we aim to provide a high-quality digital image processing experience that meets the needs and expectations for next generation imaging solutions. By creating tools that meet real needs, we will define the framework that becomes a de facto industry and consumer standard.

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Founded: 1998 Founders: Larry Page and Sergey Brin Incorporation: September 4, 1998 Initial public offering (NASDAQ): August 19, 2004 Headquarters: 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 Offices: Locations of our offices around the world. Management: Our executives and board of directors. Investor Relations: Financial and corporate governance information.

iSolution is working toward becoming a total solution provider for improving digital image quality. iSolution technologies can provide an ideal artificial light source system, operating temperature system and image evaluation/analysis system. With our product, we're trying to improve digital image quality, especially image sensor application system such as camera module systems, digital image processing chips, cell phone cameras and digital cameras.

iSolution's main goal is embodied in three products:

• IS-FLT: light source for testing image quality with 1~2000lux and under 5% uniformity on test area at any color temperature.(iSolution took out a patent for IS-FLT in the U.S., EU and Korea and has a patent pending in Japan)
• IS-Auto Heater: testing temperature system with any light source condition in operating image sensor application devices;
• Test and measurement solution for digital image quality performance evaluation or analysis.

Name: iSolution co., Ltd. Headquarters: Chungnam, Korea Web site: www.isolution.or.kr/

  Fratelli Alinari Archives merged in the year 2007 with the Il Sole 24 Ore and created a new company called Alinari 24 ORE. It is the oldest foundation in the world still active in the field of photography, and more generally in the sphere of the image and communication; it was founded in Florence in 1852.

In 1985 the Fratelli Alinari Museum of the History of Photography, with the Library of the History of Photography, joined the original “historical” institutions, i.e., the Archives, the Art Printworks, the Publishing House and the Photographic Collection, and in 1996 their ranks were swelled by the addition of the Photographic Restoration Laboratory, set up in collaboration with the Opificio delle Pietre Dure.

Today Alinari is the guardian of a photographic corpus which has few equals (with a patrimony of its own of over 5,500,000 pictures, historical and contemporary, ranging from vintage prints and glass plate negatives to film and slides), and which is responsible for the management of an ongoing program of exhibitions and publishing.

Since 2007, two Museums of Multimedia and History of Photography have been open to the public in Florence (the renovated National Museum of Photography-MNAF: http://www.mnaf.it) and Trieste (Alinari Image Museum-AIM).

Printing techniques
In the Fratelli Alinari Archives specialized workers still use the old nineteenth-century artisan techniques in printing from the historical glass plate negatives. The prints, also tinted in sepia and in various monochromes (color before the invention of color), are contact printed using bromographs, creating faithful copies on high quality photographic paper, manually and one by one.

The Photographic Library
The Alinari Photographic Library is one of the most important centers in the world for iconographic and photographic documentation. It is used by an international public of scholars, students and professional figures in the various disciplines.

Alinari On-line and the Restoration Laboratory
In order to make the images available to a greater number of people, Alinari has established an on-line search system of its photographic archives, employing a system of iconographic classification produced in collaboration with the University of Florence, with over 450,000 Alinari images on-line at http://edu.alinari.it and http://business.alinari.it.

Collaboration with Leica microsystems
Alinari and Leica set up a cooperative project in the field of photographic analysis for conservation and restoration purposes based on the Leica M205C microscope and the Bilz stabilized air-pressure controlled table.

European Projects
In 1994 the firm began numerous initiatives for collaboration in technological and cultural projects in Europe. Among the most important are Aquarelle, Artline, Victor, Imprimatur, aceMedia, Euridice, 2Kan, Orpheus, Ermione, RegNet, TNT, Migrator 2000, eCHASE, and today MultiMatch, MILE, Eurogene, Fotomemoria, CITER and TRIPOD.

The Archive is today very active in Italy and Europe in several research, education research and marketing validation projects, providing valuable contributions mainly in the following domains: watermarking, digital rights management, content providing, 3D applications, image enhancement, intelligent content retrieval, Web semantics and ontologies, distance learning, preservation and image restoration, validation, testing, exploitation and multimedia content supply.

Each day, everyday people are redefining mobile communications. Ways of improving their lives are being discovered with new applications of mobile technology. Keeping track of all the important elements of living and taking advantage of a mobile society has become as easy as a click on a cell phone keypad. The time has arrived for someone to help companies realize the full potential of this new way of living.

Meet Moblico, co-founded in April 2007 by Pierre Barbeau, former General Manager for Sprint Picture Mail. Moblico offers mobile consulting, software technology and venture capital services. Vision is the act or power of imagination. It differentiates and defines leadership in almost every phase of modern life, particularly in today’s mobile life. Moblico is a mobile life company of experienced and proven thought leaders. Moblico experts are dedicated to harnessing the power of imagination and delivering effective technology solutions for achieving your business or life’s vision.

As thought leaders, Moblico experts have deep roots in mobile life. They have been intimately part of launching some of today’s most popular mobile products such as mobile messaging, social networking and email. They have pioneered mobile imaging and mobile advertising products, navigated some of the industry’s most recognized companies through major technical shifts and have become a part of the in-group of the mobile industry’s most sought-after speakers and consultants. Moving into the future, Moblico will continue to harness the power of imagination.

Name: Moblico
Co-Founder and CEO: Pierre Barbeau

Headquarters: Kansas City, Mo
Web site: http://moblico.com/home//index.php

An industry leader in storage, communications, and consumer silicon solutions, Marvell (Nasdaq: MRVL) products can be found in an extensive array of digital consumer appliances and enterprise networks. With a commitment to world-class customer support and a history of cutting-edge innovation, Marvell develops market-leading technologies that power a vast range of consumer electronics and the gateways that form the connectivity backbone of today’s digital lifestyle. From consumer applications to enterprise solutions, Marvell’s diverse product portfolio touches every point of the communications infrastructure and millions of lives everyday.

Chairman, President & CEO: Dr. Sehat Sutardja
Headquarters: Santa Clara, CA
Web site: www.marvell.com