This document is an introduction to the technical backgrounds of Digital Intermediate (DI). For years, the application of film scanners and recorders was limited to digital effects. Since digital color correction is being used more and more in feature film post production, an increasing number of people are confronted with questions like “How should a digital scan of a negative film look like when viewed on a monitor?” or “What is the difference between logarithmic and linear file formats?”. Motivated by talks with clients and interested parties I decided to compile the information to answer those and similar questions. I added plenty of graphs and images to illustrate this somewhat dry matter.

While the document contains some specific information about the DI products of ARRI, the ARRILASER and the ARRISCAN, the objective was to produce a text that is of general interest. Think of it as a complement to the “The Quantel Guide to Digital Intermediate” and “Discreet's Whitepaper on Digital Intermediate”. The information presented here is more technical and, perhaps, more difficult to understand. Nevertheless, I sincerely hope that people interested in DI will find this document useful.

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