Faded chromogenic film stocks have challenged film archivists and restorers for decades. Most chromogenic film stocks produced between the 1940s and 1980s – such as Agfacolor, Eastman Color, and Fujicolor – exhibit decay of one or two of their dyes.
At Scan2Screen, we have been developing a new, material-based approach to address this issue. Under the guidance of color scientist Dr. Giorgio Trumpy, we’ve worked on reconstructing the original dyes of chromogenic film materials in several research projects, laying the foundation for the powerful new tool.
Scan2Screen’s new technique for digitally restoring faded chromogenic film and photographic materials is grounded in the materiality of the image. Rather than simply adjusting RGB values in a digital scan, the tool analyzes the remaining dye concentrations to estimate and reconstruct the original dye levels. The result of this material-based method is a restoration with greater subtlety, fidelity, and visual coherence, often surpassing traditional color grading methods.
The tool automatically retrieves the colors.
In a second step, color graders can make slight adjustments to get the desired result.
We are proud to announce that HS-ART, a global leader in film restoration software, has integrated Scan2Screen’s unfading tool into their DIAMANT Film Restoration Software. DIAMANT is a high-end platform offering automatic, semi-automatic, and interactive tools for film restoration, marking a major step forward in digital color reconstruction.
We are excited to debut the tool in action at the upcoming FIAF Congress in Montreal.
Get in touch to secure a demonstration. We can’t wait to show you what it can do!
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