ORLANDO — InfoComm International announced that Adele De Berri, the founder Da-Lite Screen Company, has been posthumously awarded the first InfoComm International Adele De Berri Pioneers of AV Award. De Berri invented the “silver screen” at the company she founded in 1909, De Berri Screen and Scenic Company, later renamed Da-Lite Screen Company. Born in 1885, she was influenced by Thomas Edison, George Eastman and their inventions.
De Berri applied her knowledge of aluminum ware and her curiosity about the reflective nature of paints to create the first projection screens sold to the motion picture industry. Through the years, she continued to develop new projection screen products, including Da-Tone, a perforated projection screen that allowed the audience to hear new sound “talkies” through the screen. Soon after, De Berri introduced the glass-beaded projection screen surface. Later, she developed the electric projection screen, a major success in non-movie theater applications.
“InfoComm is pleased to recognize the technological and entrepreneurial achievements of Adele De Berri,” said Randal A. Lemke, Ph.D., Executive Director, InfoComm International. “She is one of a few people able to develop a technology that is still relevant a century after its invention. We honor the memory of Adele De Berri and her business, Da-Lite, which is celebrating its 100th Anniversary this year.”
The InfoComm International Adele De Berri Pioneers of AV Award will be issued annually to current or former employees of InfoComm member companies who have made an important contribution to the science of audiovisual technology, whether as an inventor or thought leader who advanced the development of a new product, segment or service of the AV industry.
For more information, please visit www.da-lite.com.
