Digital Screen Penetration of Total Screen Base
There is no question that the IBC conference, held annually in Amsterdam, is primarily aimed at broadcasters and those that supply or service them. After all, the B in IBC stands for broadcasters. However, the conference has always managed to find room for the motion picture industry in some form. Over the past decade that has mostly meant dedicating a day’s worth of seminars to digital cinema or stereoscopic production.
For IBC2010, the conference turned to David Monk, the the CEO of the European Digital Cinema Forum (EDCF), who put together a three hour panel titled “State Of Play: Developments In Digital Cinema”. (Full disclosure: I was a member of the panel). Monk chose David Hancock to start off the proceedings in an effort to provide some context for the many speakers that were to follow. As a senior analyst for Screen Digest, there are few who know the world of digital cinema as well as Hancock and so I wanted to relay some of the key points of his presentation.
Hancock’s presentation, titled “Digital Cinema: The Tipping Point Is Coming”, was filled with valuable numbers, statistics and informative graphics. He began with the following:
- There are 109,000 modern cinema screens worldwide. Of these, 22,000 have been converted to digital. This means the industry is 21% of the way through the digitization of the world’s cinema screens.
According to Hancock’s research, digital cinema growth began in earnest in 2005 after recommendations for standards were released. Initially it was the United States that took the lead in rolling out digital as the rest of the world only tested the waters with the new technology. Digital roll outs in Europe began in earnest during 2008. ” Over the past 18 months the number in the territory has nearly tripled.
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Popularity: unranked [?]
Frank de Neeve of Cineserver
Here is another entry in our series presenting the comments of industry participants on last month’s Cinema Expo.
Frank de Neeve is not only an experienced projectionist working in The Netherlands, but he also runs the digital cinema news website Cineserver.nl. For those whose Dutch might be a little rusty, the site can be translated by clicking on the U.K. flag in the upper right hand side of the navigation bar.
Without further ado, here is de Neeve’s thorough accounting of Cinema Expo:
Naturally this year’s Cinema Expo was the first one that was a joint production between UNIC – the European exhibitors Association and the Sunshines. I think the cooperation can work well; UNIC might not be able to manage on their own as NATO will do next year. Last year there were two conflicting shows: Cinema Expo and the week before that the European Cinema Summit in Brussels.
The European Cinema Summit was by far the worst show I have ever been to: it was badly organized, panels were boring and went on for too long, there were too many people that liked to hear themselves talk etc. No refreshments, hardly any companies on the trade show (Doremi even left after the first afternoon!). However, the topics they wanted to cover in discussions were good.
For years – although people flocked to Cinema Expo – Europeans have also been critical of the show:
- It was too American, with only blockbusters, Coca Cola sponsored seminars, etc.
- The trade show only being open a few hours a day as otherwise people might miss ‘important’ Hollywood films
- There was not enough room for discussion that reflected the cultural diversity of Europe, with traditional discussion points like piracy and windows always popping up.
You could this year already see a shift in the panels:
- Many were presented by Phil Clapp of the UK exhibitors association
- There were even two instances where headphones were handed out, as one of the panelists was speaking in French. I think this has only happened once before.
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Popularity: 6% [?]
When one thinks of Panavision, what immediately comes to mind is all of the motion picture camera systems they have manufactured since the mid-1950s, ubiquitous on the sets of countless hit movies and television shows. The thought of 3D, be it digital or on 35mm, is probably the last thing any industry professional would ever associate with Panavision. Well, that’s all about to change and I’ll explain why.
On Friday of last week, the European Digital Cinema Forum (EDCF) was kind enough to let me tag along on their annual pre-ShoWest industry tour through Los Angeles. When we arrived at Panavision I was a little baffled why a group of exhibitors and digital cinema manufacturers would want to visit a company better known for what happens on a movie set rather than a movie theatre. After a quick tour of their Woodland Hills, California facility, the group was ushered into a screening room and it became immediately obvious why were there.
We were greeted by John Galt, Panavision’s Senior Vice President of Advanced Digital Imaging, who gave us a very brief PowerPoint presentation on a project he’d been working on since the middle of 2008. Turns out while the media was busy hounding Panavision with stories about how labor strikes and production slowdowns had adversely affected the company, they have quietly been working on a 3D system for both film and digital projection. That would explain the reusable 3D glasses we were handed.
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Popularity: 54% [?]
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