Developers of film recorder to receive Oscar (AP) - The first Oscar recipients of the new year were announced Thursday by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The developers of the Arrilaser film recorder, produced by Germany's venerable Arri camera company, will receive an Award of Merit Oscar at the academy's Scientific and Technical Awards banquet at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Feb. 11. They include Franz Kraus, Johannes Steurer and Wolfgang Riedel. The Arrilaser film recorder is used in the post-production phase of a motion picture to convert film to a digital format for editing and blending of visual effects and other elements. It is also used for restoring old films. The academy lauded the Arrilaser for being a "compact, user-friendly, low-maintenance device" that offers "outstanding speed, exposure ratings and image quality." The academy also announced 25 recipients of plaques and certificates honoring various other technical movie-making achievements. Portions of the Scientific and Technical Awards presentations will be included in the Feb. 26 Academy Awards ceremony.