ROCHESTER, N.Y., October 18 - Kodak is pleased to announce that KODAK customer, Asahi Shimbun, has earned the 2005 Technical Award from the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association for its application of KODAK STACCATO screening technology. One of the largest newspapers in the world, Asahi Shimbun has a daily circulation of 8 million. The 2005 Technical Award recognizes Asahi Shimbun's new application of STACCATO FM screening. Asahi Shimbun chose STACCATO screening with the NEC Engineering AMZISETTER using KODAK SQUARESPOT imaging technology because it delivered two major benefits for newspaper printing: ink reduction, which would lower costs; and an improvement in the print quality, which would increase advertising orders from enhanced customer and print buyer satisfaction. "Our approach to FM screening, aimed at standardizing printing quality and improving newspaper printing quality, started two years ago as a company-wide strategic project. As a result of extensive test printing, we found that STACCATO screening would be our `ace in the hole' for achieving the standardization of printing quality, differentiation based on high-quality printing, and reduction in ink costs," said Mr. Keiich Kemuyama, Chief Engineer, Asahi Shimbun. "As well, our techniques to reproduce brilliant, beautiful corporate colors, such as Tiffany Blue, which cannot be reproduced with AM screening, have received high praise from all areas, including our clients. Furthermore, our efforts to pursue quality and differentiation led to the development of our new product, `FM Premium.'" "The latest award has demonstrated that our selection of KODAK SQUARESPOT and STACCATO technologies based on a quality-first concept, was the best choice. We hope that our efforts to introduce the FM screening process to newspaper printing for the first time in Japan, and to improve printing quality, will further enhance the value of newspapers as a communication medium, as well as give impetus to the newspaper industry as a whole. This award was only possible because of the cooperation of a multitude of vendors, including Kodak, who gave us full technical support for which we are very grateful," concluded Mr. Kemuyama. KODAK STACCATO screening helps printers produce high-fidelity, artifact-free images that exhibit fine detail without halftone rosettes, screening moire, gray-level limitations or abrupt jumps in tone--with no impact on RIPing or rendering time. STACCATO screening software also improves color and halftone stability on press. When imaged with the consistency and accuracy of SQUARESPOT thermal imaging, STACCATO screening software delivers quality to proof and plate, making screening a practical tool for today's pressroom, and an effective competitive edge for today's printers. In 2003, an agreement was signed between Kodak (at that time Creo Inc., now a subsidiary of Kodak) and NEC Engineering to produce the NEC Engineering AMZISETTER computer-to-plate (CTP) device. Under this agreement, Kodak supplies SQUARESPOT thermal imaging engines and NEC Engineering provides the plate loading technology for the NEC Engineering AMZISETTER for various newspapers throughout Japan. See Kodak's newspaper solutions, including STACCATO screening samples, live at IfraExpo 2005 from October 17 to 20 in Leipzig, Germany, and at JANPS from November 15 to 18 in Tokyo, Japan.