ARRI ARRISCAN XT: A historical film saver
April 10, 2018

ARRI ARRISCAN XT: A historical film saver

LAS VEGAS – In hundreds of archives around the world, reels of film, some more than a century old, lie deteriorating. ARRI’s new digitizing system, the ARRISCAN XT, is now able to play a key part in saving those films for future generations.

The ARRISCAN XT builds on the achievements of the ARRISCAN and ARRILASER, applying this range of technologies for digitizing and remastering old and often damaged and fragile film. ARRI’s ALEXA XT sensor gives the new ARRISCAN XT improved overall image quality, and its scanning speed is up to 65 percent faster than its predecessor.

Badly damaged material can be worked on using a computerized intermitted frame-by-frame film transport system.

The diffuse, high-power LED illumination of the ARRISCAN XT reduces the visibility of scratches and does not produce any heat — essential when working with highly flammable nitrate film stock. 

The Wet Gate system uses a specially developed liquid to conceal scratches and dust. 

Developed by ZEISS in cooperation with ARRI, the ARRISCAN XT’s optics — with variable optical magnification — make sharpness-reducing digital resizing of scans unnecessary, even when scanning unusual frame dimensions or shrunken film material. 

The ARRISCAN XT is fully compatible with existing ARRISCANs, meaning restorers will be able to upgrade their equipment on-site with the addition of improved software, new features, and updated hardware.