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Digital cinema refers to the use of digital technology to make, distribute and project motion pictures. Specifically specialized digital camcorders are used to shoot the movie as digital files on tape rather than on film. The final movie can be distributed electronically and it's projected using a digital projector instead of a conventional film projector. Note that digital cinema is distinct from high definition television and in particular, digital film is not dependent on using television or HDTV standards, aspect ratios or frame rates. High-definition television (HDTV) means broadcast of television signals with a higher resolution than traditional formats (NTSC, SECAM, PAL) allow. ...
It has been suggested that High Definition Video be merged into this article or section. ...
The aspect ratio of an image is its displayed width divided by its height (usually expressed as x:y). For instance, the aspect ratio of a traditional television screen is 4:3, or 1. ...
Technology
Digital capture Professional digital camcorders like the Canon XL1S/XL2 use more CCD's than consumer models. The camera will split the image into red, green and blue each of which is recorded onto a separate CCD. Each CCD is also of a higher resolution than a consumer model, e.g. 960 x 576 pixels (16:9) or 720 x 576 pixels (4:3).
Digital projection There are several types of projectors for digital cinema, the most common one in the US being DLP technology. Current DLP projectors use 1280 x 1024 resolution. The DCI (Digital Cinema Initiative) has included 2K (2048x1080) and 4K (4096x2160) resolutions in its system specification for digital cinema. Sony has developed a projector intended for digital cinema, which has a resolution of 4096 x 2160 pixels. Digital Light Processing (DLP) is a technology used in projectors and projection televisions. ...
Digital end-to-end During October 23-29, 1998, The Last Broadcast became the first film to be end-to-end digitally produced and distributed when it was exhibited in theaters in Providence, Orlando, Philadelphia, Portland, and Minneapolis, transmitted by satellite and projected with DLP projectors, 7 months before Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace was distributed to digital cinemas electronically. Star Wars creator George Lucas had originally written the summaries for fifteen stories that would make up his entire Star Wars saga. ...
Film poster for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 film by George Lucas starring Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, and Jake Lloyd. ...
Culture There are some like George Lucas or Robert Rodriguez who think celluloid is as good as dead and the future is an all-digital medium. Directors such as Steven Soderbergh and Michael Mann have filmed some parts of their most recent pictures on digital. Many think digital film making will democratize the world of film and point out how inexpensive shooting digitally can be, especially when a movie can be put together on a home computer and burned to DVD. George Lucas George Walton Lucas, Jr. ...
Robert Rodriguez (born June 20, 1968) is a Mexican-American film director. ...
Steven Soderbergh (born January 14, 1963, Atlanta, Georgia) is an American film director. ...
Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943 in Chicago, Illinois) is a Jewish-American film director, screenwriter, and producer. ...
Given the constant year-on-year improvements in digital film technology, it appears that the long-term future of cinema is likely to be digital, as digital film already approaches the performance of film in some aspects, and is likely in the longer term to surpass it. However, digital cinema still has some way to go before it can completely replace film.
For the last 100 years all movies have been shot on film and nearly every film student learns about how to handle 35mm film. Digital, especially the new high-definition equipment, has not had the time to become as widely accepted, though the growing popularity of this equipment in the television domain will certainly have an effect in the future.
Some purists would argue that digital does not have the same "feel" as a movie shot on film. While this may be a matter of personal preference more than anything, digital cameras have been evolving quickly and quality is improving dramatically from each generation of hardware to the next. While today's digital cameras can achieve the same level of quality as 35 mm film under most conditions, 70 mm may offer a sharper picture. IMAX remains well out of reach for now, since the equivalent resolution (around 30 megapixels) is far beyond the capability of any digital motion picture camera today. Simulated 35 mm film with soundtracks - The outermost strips (on either side) contain the SDDS soundtrack as an image of a digital signal. ...
70 mm film (or 65 mm film) is a high-resolution motion picture film format. ...
An IMAX dome in Guayaquil, Ecuador IMAX (for Image Maximum) is a film projection system that has the capacity to display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film display systems. ...
A pixel (a contraction of picture element) is one of the many tiny dots that make up the representation of a picture in a computers memory. ...
It is also hard to say how democratized cinema would become if it were to turn all digital. There are over 5,000 films shot a year in digital. With such a huge supply, a digital filmmaker has difficulty getting seen and, therefore, often doesn't get the upper hand in distribution negotiations. It has actually given more power to large distribution companies, because now they can play the gatekeepers, in picking which films are seen and which are not.
Technical Challenges Film is in many ways more portable than its high quality digital counterparts. The chemical process initiated by exposing film to light give reliable results, that are well documented and understood by cinematographers. In contrast every digital camera has a unique response to light and it is very difficult to predict without viewing the results on a monitor or a waveform analyser, increasing the complexity of lighting. However, accurate calibration techniques are being developed which eliminate this as a practical problem, and the possibility of inexpensive post-production color grading can make digital cinematography more flexible than film in achieving artistic color effects. The word monitor derives from the Latin word for warner or warning. ...
Color grading is the process of altering and enhancing the color of a motion picture or television image, either electronically, photo-chemically or digitally. ...
More seriously, most digital cameras have an insufficient exposure latitude when compared to film, increasing the difficulties of filming in a high contrast situation, such as direct sunlight. This is a much greater problem, because if highlight or shadow information is not present in the recorded image, it is lost forever, and cannot be re-created by any form of exposure curve compensation. Cinematographers can learn how to adjust for this type of response using techniques garnered from shooting on Reversal film that has a similar lack of latitude in the highlights. Digital video is also more sensitive than film stocks in low light conditions, allowing smaller, more efficient and natural lighting to be used for shooting. Some directors have tried the "best for the job" route, using digital video for indoor or night shoots, but using traitional film for daylight work outdoors. Reversal film is photographic film which, when developed, displays an image in its original color and brightness, instead of a negative image. ...
Economics Digital cinema has some big economic advantages over film. Digital video is very cheap compared to film. For instance Rick McCallum, a producer on Attack of the Clones, said that it cost $16,000 for 220 hours of digital tape where a comparable amount of film would have cost $1.8 million. Obviously this matters most to low-budget films which are often shot for a few million dollars or less. Film poster for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) is the fifth Star Wars science fiction movie released and the second part of the prequel trilogy which began with Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. ...
Digital cinema can also reduce costs while shooting and editing. It is possible to see the video and make any necessary adustments immediately instead of having to wait until after the film is processed. Digital footage can also be edited directly, whereas with film it is usually converted to digital for editing and then re-converted to film for projection.
Digital cinema has also big advantages when it comes to distribution. Making and distributing copies is a lot easier with digital files than with physical film. A film print can cost up to $2000 so making 3000 prints or for a wide-release movie can cost up to $6 million.
On the downside the upfront costs for converting theaters to digital are high: up to $150,000. Theaters may be reluctant to switch without a cost-sharing arrangement with distributors. Another potential downside is that digital copies may be more vulnerable to piracy than film.
Digital cinema companies Barco is an acronym that originally stood for Belgian American Radio COmpany. ...
Christie was a British pop band formed at the end of the 1960s. ...
Dalsa was founded in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada in 1980 by imaging pioneer Dr. Savvas Chamberlain, a former Professor in Electrical Engineering at the University of Waterloo. ...
GmbH Digitale Videosysteme is a german company specializing in digital cinema equipment. ...
Digital Cinema Initiatives or DCI is a consortium of studios and vendors formed to establish a standard architecture for Digital Cinema systems. ...
The Dolby logo Dolby Laboratories, Incorporated (Dolby Labs) is a company specializing in audio compression and reproduction. ...
EFilm is wholly owned by Deluxe Laboratories. ...
Filmlight Limited is a digital cinema technology company started in 2002 by the Scientific and Technical Academy Award-winning former Computer Film Company R&D team. ...
Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) is a large multinational public company producing photographic equipment. ...
Lucasfilm Logo Lucasfilm Ltd. ...
Sony Corporation (Japanese katakana: ソニー) (TYO: 6758), NYSE: SNE is a global consumer electronics corporation based in Tokyo, Japan. ...
This article concerns the media and entertainment company. ...
Texas Instruments headquarters in Dallas Texas Instruments NYSE: TXN, better known in the electronics industry as TI, is a company based in Dallas, Texas, renowned for developing and commercializing semiconductor and computer technology. ...
See also - List of motion picture-related topics (extensive alphabetical listing)
Digital cinematography is essentially filming motion pictures on digital video instead of film. ...
A digital projector is an electo-optical machine which converts image data from a computer or video source to a bright image which is then imaged on a distant wall or screen using a lens system. ...
A digital intermediate (often abbreviated as DI) in digital film is a process by which sections of, or the entirety of a motion picture is digitized, either through the use of a 35mm film scanner or a digital cinema camera, into high-resolution digital image files, manipulated in some manner...
Digital film refers to cinema production and performance systems which work by using a digital representation of the brightness and colour of each pixel of the image. ...
This is a list of movie-related topics. ...
External links - How Digital Cinema Works
- EFilm Digital Intermediate
- Digital Cinemas Initiative (DCI)
- Digital Cinema: A Slow Revolution
- Megapixel calculator for 2K/4K Digital Cinema
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