News

DxO Labs has announced the availability of a free, Windows PC public beta release of DxO Optics Pro v4 for all digital photographers to download from the DxO Labs Web site (www.dxo.com). DxO Optics Pro software is said to improve the image quality of Digital Single-Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras and advanced digicams. DxO Optics Pro is the award-winning digital image enhancement tool incorporating revolutionary optics, noise and exposure corrections in an easy-to-use, feature rich application for Mac and PC users.

DxO Optics Pro v4, slated to be available on Macintosh and Windows platforms in September 2006, includes four main areas of exciting new functionality:

NEW: Unique DxO Color Engine with breakthrough features
Thanks to the new DxO Color Engine, DxO Optics Pro v4 provides photographers with a complete color adjustment toolbox including two revolutionary features:
- New unique Multi-Point Color Balance tool to easily perform optimal color balance for a given scene.
- A selection of Color Rendition Profiles and of Color Modes. In particular, the Color Rendition profile of one camera can be applied to images taken with another camera.
Many other color features are included and in particular the ability to import third party ICC color rendition profiles.

NEW: Third generation DxO Optics Engine -- comprehensive image geometry control
Now in its third release, DxO Optics Engine, a core component of DxO Optics Pro, expands functionality to include horizon adjustment (rotation), keystoning (perspective) correction as well as a new exclusive Volume Anamorphosis correction feature. This groundbreaking feature automatically brings three-dimensional objects that appear deformed by ultra-wide angle lenses back to their correct proportions. The effect of this unique correction is particularly dramatic for images including human beings. As with previous versions, DxO Optics Engine automatically corrects lens distortion, vignetting, lens softness and chromatic aberrations including purple fringing.

NEW: Improved Performance and Optimized Workflow -- up to 500% faster
Remaining focused on providing automatic image enhancement, DxO Optics Pro v4 marks a radical overhaul of the application's ergonomics as well as many important enhancements to the workflow. Both image adjustment and image processing speed have been key priorities in the development of DxO Optics Pro v4 resulting in speed increases of up to 500% compared to the previous version. DxO Optics Pro v4 will also be optimized for Mac/Intel processors.

NEW: Core DxO image enhancement features to be available as Adobe Photoshop Plug-In
Now, DxO Optics Pro features will always be available within the most popular photo-retouching application. Once installed in Photoshop, the new DxO Optics Pro Plug-in will allow users to directly access core DxO image correction features when opening RAW or JPEG images. (Note: The DxO Optics Pro Plug-in is not included in the public beta released today).

Availability and upgrade policy
DxO Optics Pro v4 Windows public beta for PC is available immediately on www.dxo.com. DxO Optics Pro v4 (including plug-in) is planned to be available for Windows, Intel Mac and Macintosh in late summer 2006. All purchasers of DxO Optics Pro v3.55 on or after June 20, 2006 are eligible for a free upgrade to v4.

Pricing of full versions of DxO Optics Pro v4 will remain unchanged:
- DxO Optics Pro v4 Starter: $79
- DxO Optics Pro v4 Standard: $149
- DxO Optics Pro v4 Elite: $299

Pricing of an upgrade to DxO Optics Pro v4 will be as follow:
- DxO Optics Pro v1.x Starter ? DxO Optics Pro v4 Starter : $24,90
- DxO Optics Pro v3.x Standard ? DxO Optics Pro v4 Standard : $49,90
- DxO Optics Pro v3.x Elite ? DxO Optics Pro v4 Elite : $79,90

For more information, visit DxO Labs online at www.dxo.com.