Colours you've only imagined: the new HP DreamColor LP2480zx Display economically masters the power of accurate color.(Sponsored editorial)(Product/service evaluation)

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While DreamWorks animators were busy turning out one animated feature after another--including blockbusters like "Bee Movie" and the "Shrek" series--their Animation Technology Team was busy trying to head-off a looming crisis that threatened to slow down production.

Unless they wanted to shell out $25,000 or more for a color-critical LCD flat panel display for each of their more than 400 artists, DreamWorks had no viable alternatives to CRTs--the 100 year old technology was still the only cost-effective way to display colors accurately and consistently throughout their CG animation pipeline. Lower-cost desktop LCD flat-panels simply couldn't represent colors accurately, predictably or consistently--especially in the dark levels.

So the DreamWorks AT team stockpiled CRT monitors and warehoused them for future use. But DreamWorks was facing the prospect of time-consuming production bottlenecks as CRT supplies dwindled, or skyrocketing capital costs if they bought five-figure color-critical LCD flat panels--neither of which was an acceptable outcome.

Seeking Accurate, Affordable Color

So in early 2007, CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and DreamWorks Animation CTO Ed Leonard sat down with executives at HP and described their dilemma in the hopes that a breakthrough solution could be found before time and options ran out. HP was a natural place to turn since DreamWorks Animation--which relies on more than 400 HP Workstations in its moviemaking--was already in a collaborative technology partnership with HP and served as a test bed for many HP solutions.

"Being able to use color to accentuate and impact viewers' emotions and drive story points is an important part of making animated films," said Leonard. "With the industry's shift from CRT monitors to LCD flat panel displays, a new level of quality and consistency needed to be achieved."