Monthly Archives: June 2010

Christie Takes 3D To The End Of The World

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | June 30, 2010 12:05 pm

Cine Packewaia in Ushuaia, Argentina

Quick, tell me what is the southernmost location in the world where you can see a movie in digital 3D? Silly question I know, but it’s thanks to Christie, the projector company, that I can even ask it.

The company sent out a press release yesterday announcing their digital cinema projectors had been chosen by The Packewaia Cinema (Cine Packewaia) in Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city on earth. The city of 65,000 rose out of a former naval facility only ten years ago and is now the capital of Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego province, otherwise known to English speakers as the “Land of Fire”.

The Packewaia Cinema is run by Gama Producciones and appears to have only one screen, which is now not only equipped with a Christie projector, but also Dolby 3D.

The release was filled with gems such as this from Craig Sholder, Christie’s vice president of Entertainment Solutions:

“It seems appropriate that ‘the land of fire’ has embraced the ‘hottest’ trend in the industry: 3D digital cinema.”

Probably the most interesting information contained in the announcement was the unique way Xenon Cinema Technology had to install the projector. Not all films are released digitally in Argentina, in fact it can sometimes take weeks before a film print makes its way as far south as Packewaia, so the 35mm projector couldn’t be completely abandoned.

Posted in Equipment Vendors
Tagged as Alex Mir, Christie, Cine Packewaia, Craig Sholder, Gama Producciones, Xenon Cinema Technology

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Sony Expands In Europe With National Amusements, AMC, And Dealer Partnerships

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | June 26, 2010 11:04 pm

Sony's SRX-R320 Projector

If Sony wanted to make a big splash at Cinema Expo in Amsterdam this past week then they did one heck of a job. On Tuesday, the second day of the conference, Sony announced two exhibitor agreements with National Amusements and AMC Entertainment’s United Kingdom based theatres for digital conversions. The company, known for its 4K digital cinema solution, also struck up partnerships with three European digital cinema dealers.

National Amusements
The biggest of these announcements had to be the news that National Amusements had chosen Sony as their integrator. The theatre chainis one of the largest in the world, operating 950 screens across venues in the U.K., United States and Latin America. National Amusements is the fifth largest theatre chain in North America.

Under their existing virtual print fee (VPF) agreements with Hollywood studios, Sony will install their 4K digital cinema projectors on all of National Amusements’ screens. They will start immediately with Showcase Cinemas, National Amusements’ U.K. theatre chain where Sony Digital Cinema 4K systems will be deployed on all 276 screens. In an effort to quickly ramp up the number of 3D screens at the circuits disposal, Sony will install the first 24 systems before the end of July.

There was no mention when installation of d-cinema equipment would begin in the U.S. or South America. In fact the press release seemed purposefully non-committal, referring to the deal as an “expected global exhibitor agreement”. One could read into the use of the word “expected” or assume that Sony will be deploying equipment to the 450 screens National Amusements has in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Rhode Island. The theatre chain owns 16 theatres in South America which would probably be included in any worldwide rollout.

Posted in Equipment Vendors, Integrators
Tagged as 4K, AMC Entertainment, Duncan Short, Europe, Hulskamp Audiovisueel, National Amusements, Oliver Pasch, Protronic AG, Showcase Cinemas, Sony, Sound Associates

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Datasat’s AP20 Goes Global With 7.1 Surround Sound

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | June 25, 2010 9:22 pm

Datasat's AP20 Audio Processor

It is a very rare occasion when I have any personal involvement, however small, in one of the many press releases that make their way to my inbox. This past week was one such occasion when two announcements arrived from an old employer, Datasat Digital Entertainment (formerly DTS Digital Cinema). Both press releases pertained to the company’s new cinema audio processor, the AP20.

While still at Datasat I was tasked with product management for the next generation of their cinema audio processor. The XD10P, which was the complementary audio processor for the XD10 Cinema Media Player, was nearing end-of-life and parts to manufacture it were increasingly getting hard to come by. Besides, Datasat wanted an audio processor that would be capable of handling the more technical demands of digital cinema and other pro-audio applications.

After a great deal of market research and engineering work, the AP20 Audio Processor was developed. The processor can handle digital audio from both eight channel 35mm film prints and 16 channel digital cinema content. It has a touch screen interface, Dirac Live room tuning, more digital signal processing power than anyone could ever ask for and enough input/output jacks to make the crankiest of theatre techs happy. Even the three expansion slots made the final cut allowing for additional channels or the integration of emerging technologies.

I was quite proud that the initial functional requirements we put together for the processor wound up actually getting built. However, I left Datasat shortly after the product launched and once outside the company I could never really be certain how successful the processor was in the market.

The AP20 Around The World
Any concerns I may have had completely vanished this past week upon being told all Datasat’s sales projections were being “comfortably” met. In fact, one of Datasat’s releases boasted that the West African theatre chain Au Cinema Ce Soir chose the processor for their digital cinema screens, including their flagship cinema, Théatre National Daniel Sorano in Dakar.

Posted in Equipment Vendors
Tagged as 7.1 Surround Sound, AP20 Audio Processor, Datasat Digital Entertainment, Dolby, High Performance Stereo, John Allen, Toy Story 3

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Cinedigm and Unique Digital Release TMS Upgrades

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | June 23, 2010 1:09 pm

Screenshot of Cinedigm's Theatre Command Center

Timed to coincide with this year’s Cinema Expo conference being held in Amsterdam through Thursday two well known integrators have released enhanced versions of their theatre management systems (TMS). North American deployment entity Cinedigm has included centralized management features in their Theatre Command Center TMS and Norway’s Unique Digital is making the next version of their RosettaBridge software available.

A TMS is software that enables a multiplex to manage all of their digital cinema servers, projectors, content, security keys and logs within a given theatre, all from a central location. It is often attached to a library management server where d-cinema content is stored.

Theatre Command Center
Cinedigm was one of the first companies to develop a working TMS which they named Theatre Command Center. Their initial version was integrated with Christie projectors and Doremi servers. It’s key features were:

Management of all content including MPEG, JPEG, trailers, preshow and alternative content.
Ingest of content via any delivery method including USB, satellite and fiber optic wire.
Remote operation of servers and projectors.
Automated scheduling of playlists that allowed for the transfer of content to the correct screen.
Integration with some point-of-sale systems as well as Cinedigms head office software.
Web access allowed users to log in from any computer connected to the Internet.
Real-time monitoring of d-cinema systems with system status alerts and notifications.
System log management.
Multi-language support.

Some of this functionality, such as content management and ingest, would be considered basic requirements for any TMS, no matter the manufacturer. Most of those who have been using the software that I’ve spoken with have had positive things to say about the software. The only consistent criticism I’ve heard is about the systems graphical user interface (GUI). I’m not familiar enough with Cinedigm’s TMS to add my own thoughts.

Posted in Integrators, Technology
Tagged as Cinedigm, Jim Miller, RosettaBridge, Theatre Command Center, Theatre Command Center- Enterprise, Theatre Management Systems, Unique Digital

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Ymagis Experiences Growth Spurt In Deals With UGC, Utopia and OCine

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | June 20, 2010 11:15 pm

In the past few weeks Ymagis, like their European counterpart Arts Alliance Media, has announced a number of new deals with exhibitors. What better time to review them all than on the eve of Cinema Expo, which begins tomorrow in Amsterdam.

For anyone who may need a brief refresher on who Ymagis is, they are a European digital cinema integrator and deployment entity of sorts. Based in Paris, France, they differentiate themselves from other European integrators by focusing on the management and administration of virtual print fees (VPF) being paid by distributors rather than on the financing and installation of digital cinema equipment.

This is not to say Ymagis doesn’t arrange for financing and deploy d-cinema systems in theatres. They most certainly do. In fact, Ymagis arranged the financing for the deal they announced on May 11th with the French based theatre chain UGC. The announcement was really a formality since Ymagis began converting UGC’s nearly 600 screens in March of this year. UGC operates 36 theatres in France, three in Belgium, four venues in Italy and another six in Spain. Attendance at UGC’s theatres throughout Europe tops out at more than 40 million.

The deal is one of the more important ones Ymagis has landed, not only because its with one of France’s largest theatre operators, but also because they arranged financing for the conversion through Banque Populaire Group, LCL-Crédit Agricole and Banque Palatine.

Reached via email, Ymagis chief executive officer and founder Jean Mizrahi detailed the unique way his company works with exhibitors:

“We have a flexible model. In some cases, exhibitors prefer to finance the equipment themselves. In other cases, they want us to take care of it. Right now among the 1400 screens we have signed throughout Europe, half of them have chosen to self finance, the second half we’re financing. We receive the VPFs and though the exhibitors do not know how much we receive from the distributors, we redistribute the largest portion of this revenue directly to them.

Read More »

Posted in Integrators
Tagged as Arts Alliance Media, Esteve Agustí, France, Jean Mizrahi, Manel Carreras, Nico Simon, OCine, UGC, Utopia Group, Ymagis

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Disney Turns To Twitter For “Toy Story 3”

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | June 20, 2010 4:15 pm

It is unlikely that “Toy Story 3″ needed any help building awareness as it stormed the box office this weekend and earned USD $109 million in North America making it Pixar’s biggest opening. However, Disney was taking no chances. On top of the massive print, television and outdoor advertising campaigns the studio threw social media into the marketing mix.

As we’ve already reported, Disney was the first studio to sell tickets through Facebook, the world’ largest social networking site. On Wednesday they became the first company of any kind to purchase a trending topic on Twitter, the popular micro-blogging platform.

For those of you who don’t know, Twitter allows users to post messages of no more than 140 characters to groups of friends and followers. It’s kind of like sending a mass SMS message to those who have subscribed to your Twitter feed. Rather than receive messages on their mobile phones, most users actually visit Twitter’s website to read this stream of messages. Others use desktop applications to keep up with Twitter posts.

Either method allows users to see a list of Trending Topics. These topics are the top 10 most popular phrases being used on Twitter at that moment. Lately the Trending Topics list has been filled with phrases associated with the FIFA World Cup. Last Thursday the list became clogged with topics surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers NBA title.

Posted in Marketing & Promotions
Tagged as Disney Tickets Together, Facebook, MT Carney, Toy Story 3, Twitter, Walt Disney Studios

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Christie Gets DCI Compliance And New Manufacturing Faciltiy

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | June 18, 2010 9:57 pm

Christie's CP2220

It’s been a busy week for Christie. The company’s CP2220 was the first series 2 digital cinema projector to pass the Compliance Test Plan (CTP) put in place by Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) to gauge whether equipment meets their published specification. As well, they announced the opening of a new manufacturing facility in Shenzhen, China.

While many d-cinema equipment manufacturers claim their products are DCI compliant, it wasn’t until October of 2007 that a testing process was made public and testing entities were selected. Christie can now officially say the CP2220 is DCI compliant, having fully passed all tests that make up the CTP, including procedural and design reviews. Because Sony says the SRXR320 is compliant on their website I’m not sure if it’s the first digital cinema projector to pass the CTP, or just the first series 2 projector to pass it.

In the press release announcing the test results, John Hurst of CineCert, one of DCI’s icensed testing entities, said:

“We are very pleased to confirm that the Christie CP2220, featuring Texas Instruments’ Series 2 DLP Cinema technology, has passed all the requirements of the CTP.”

Passing the CTP is a huge milestone for a d-cinema technology vendor as it is the only way for equipment to become DCI compliant. Hollywood studios require all equipment playing their content to be DCI compliant. In making sure a piece of equipment meets all of the DCI specifications, one of the CTP’s main goals is to verify a device’s interoperability and content security features.

Posted in Equipment Vendors
Tagged as 4K, Brian Claypool, China, Christie, Christie CP2220, CineCert, Compliance Test Plan, DCI, DLP Cinema, Ihor Stech, john Hurst, Texas Instruments

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Panavision Officially Enters 3D Market

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | June 17, 2010 1:45 pm

Panavision continues to modify its 3D glasses

Earlier this week Panavision took their first public steps into the 3D motion picture exhibition market by announcing a new system that will work with all projectors, film or digital, and all screens, white or silver. While we had already reported that Panavision was working on such a solution, this was their first official statement about the product. The company, primarily known for high end motion picture camera systems, will demonstrate the system next week at Cine Expo in Amsterdam on a screen 56 feet wide (17 meters).

Last Tuesday Panavision invited the press to their offices in Woodland Hills to see the 3D system in action. We were greeted by John Galt, Panavision’s Senior Vice President of Advanced Digital Imaging, Eric Rodli, Senior Vice President of Panavision and Bill Bevins, President and CEO of Panavision. They explained all the technical specifications about the system as well as some of the business details pertaining to its marketing.

First let’s quickly review some of tech bullets all of which are the same as they were back in March when we first saw a demo:

The system uses spectral comb filtering, not polarization, to separate the visible light spectrum into ten band of even and odd wavelengths of light. One set of bands is presented to the left eye, the other set to the right eye.

Dichroic passive glasses allow the viewer to view distinct images in each eye. Though the image reaching each eye is actually different, the viewer’s brain puts the images together providing the sensation of seeing a full color spectrum.

No ghost busting, color correction or image processing is required.

Film-based 3D uses an over/under method. Each frame of film contains two images, stacked on top of one another, two perforations high. The system will use the same film prints made for Technicolor’s 3D system. A specially designed split lens mounted on the front of the projector combines the images on screen.

Digital 3D being shown on a DLP projector employs a split filter wheel placed before the integrator and in front of the lamp house that rotates at 4320 RPM to provide 144 flashes per second. For Sony’s SXRD projectors a specially designed split lens will be used to separate two stacked images from the 4K chip.

The system will work with any digital projector on the market today.

Panavision worked with Omega Optical to develop the product.

Posted in Digital 3D, Equipment Vendors
Tagged as Bill Bevins, Dolby, Eric Rodli, John Galt, Omega Optical, Panavision

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Heavy Metal Heavy Weights Hit The Big Screen

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | June 16, 2010 10:41 pm

If you’re into heavy metal music then you’ll be happy to hear that some of the world’s biggest head banging bands will be playing live at a theatre near you. On Tuesday, June 22nd, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax, otherwise known as the Big Four of heavy metal music, will be sharing the stage at the Sonisphere Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria and will broadcast their concert in high-definition to cinemas in 40 countries.

New York based By Experience is the company producing the event which as been dubbed The Big Four. In press announcements promoting the concerts Metallica’s outspoken drummer Lars Ulrich talked about what he felt was a historic moment in rock music:

“Who would have thought that more than 25 years after its inception, thrash metal’s big four would not only still be around and more popular than ever, but will now play together for the first time.”

The live cinema event will be four hours long, which on a Tuesday night shouldn’t pose a problem for most theatres showing the broadcast. In the United States, NCM Fathom is distributing the concert which will be shown in theatres not only on June 22nd, but also at an encore performance on June 24th in specific locations. Tickets are already on sale for USD $18 at a list of theatres eight pages long.

Posted in Alternative Content
Tagged as Anthrax, By Experience, Cineworld, Megadeth, Metallica, NCM Fathom, Slayer, The Big Four

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Arts Alliance Lands Cineworld and €50 Million Funding

Posted by J. Sperling Reich | June 14, 2010 5:03 pm

With the start of Cinema Expo International only a week away Arts Alliance Media wasted no time in throwing down the gauntlet for major announcements at this year’s event. Earlier today AAM, one of Europe’s leading digital cinema deployment entities, made public two important deals they have undoubtedly been working on for some time.

The first bit of news was that AAM has entered into an agreement with Cineworld Cinemas, the second largest movie theatre chain in Europe, to convert 100% of their circuit to digital. That’s 790 screens at 77 venues throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. And the kicker is Cineworld will finance the entire digital cinema conversion with their own cash and financing with a schedule that will see the project completed in the next three years.

That news alone would have been worth its own press release, but on top of that AAM announce they had closed on EUR €50 million (USD $61 million) in financing with Sankaty Advisors. AAM will use the money to fund the digitization of 1,000 screens for exhibitors they’ve previously entered into agreements with. AAM already has 700 screens deployed with an additional 2,300 in the pipeline.

So let’s take a step back and examine each of these announcements in more detail starting with Cineworld.

Posted in Integrators
Tagged as Arts Alliance Media, Cineworld, Howard Kiedaisch, Ireland, Julian Levin, Patrick Foley, Sankaty Advisors, United Kingdom

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