NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Digital cinema

Digital cinema refers to the use of digital technology to distribute and project motion pictures. The final movie can be distributed via hard drives, DVDs or satellite and projected using a digital projector instead of a conventional film projector. Digital cinema is distinct from high-definition television and in particular, is not dependent on using television or HDTV standards, aspect ratios, or frame rates. Digital projectors capable of 2K resolution began deploying in 2005, and since 2006, the pace has accelerated. HDTV and pre-recorded HD disks could put pressure on movie theaters to offer something to compete with the home HD experience. Digital cinematography is the process of capturing motion pictures as digital images, rather than on film. ... For other uses, see Digital (disambiguation). ... In the film business, distribution refers to the marketing and circulation of movies in theatres. ... Projected image from a video projector in a home cinema. ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as part of... 35 mm Kinoton movie projector in operation. ... High-definition television (HDTV) is a digital television broadcasting system with greater resolution than traditional television systems (NTSC, SECAM, PAL). ... A typical multiplex (AMC Promenade 16 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, United States). ...

In this article, 2K and 4K refer to images with 2048 and 4096 horizontal pixel resolution, respectively.

Technology

To match or improve the theater experience of movie audiences, a digital cinema system must provide high quality image, sound, subtitles, and captions. Theater managers require server controls for managing and displaying content in multiple theaters, and studios want their content encrypted with secure delivery, playback, and reporting of play times to the distribution company. Production company refers to a company responsible for the development and physical production of performing arts, film, radio or a television program. ... Encrypt redirects here. ...

The Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI), working in conjunction with members of the SMPTE standards committee, has published a system specification for digital cinema that was agreed upon by the major studios.^[1] Briefly, the specification calls for picture encoding using the ISO/IEC 15444-1 "JPEG2000" (.jp2) standard and use of the CIE XYZ color space at 12 bits per component encoded with a 2.6 gamma applied at projection, and audio using the "Broadcast Wave" (.wav) format at 24 bits and 48 kHz or 96 kHz sampling, controlled by an XML-format Composition Playlist, into an MXF-compliant file at a maximum data rate of 250 Mbit/s. Details about encryption, key management, and logging are all discussed in the specification as are the minimum specifications for the projectors employed including the color gamut, the contrast ratio and the brightness of the image. Digital Cinema Initiatives or DCI is a consortium of studios and vendors formed to establish a standard architecture for Digital Cinema systems. ... The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers or SMPTE (pronounced simptee or sometimes sumptee) is an international professional association, based in the United States of America, of engineers working in the motion imaging industries. ... The major film studios, often simply known as the majors, are film studios (mostly United States-based) that produce many films per year. ... JPEG 2000 is a wavelet-based image compression standard. ... In the study of the perception of color, one of the first mathematically defined color spaces was the CIE XYZ color space (also known as CIE 1931 color space), created by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) in 1931. ... Example of CRT gamma correction Plot of the sRGB standard gamma-expansion nonlinearity (red), and its local gamma value, slope in logâ€“log space (blue). ... The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a general-purpose markup language. ... Material eXchange Format (MXF) is a container format for professional digital video and audio media defined by a set of SMPTE standards. ... In cryptography, key management includes all of the provisions made in a cryptosystem design, in cryptographic protocols in that design, in user procedures, and so on, which are related to generation, exchange, storage, safeguarding, use, vetting, and replacement of keys. ... In computer graphics, the gamut, or color gamut, is a certain complete subset of colors. ... The contrast ratio is a measure of a display system, defined as the ratio of the luminosity of the brightest color (white) to that of the darkest color (black) that the system is capable of producing. ...

Digital cinema conforming to the DCI Standard is referred to within the film industry as D-Cinema while all other forms of digital cinema are referred to as E-Cinema. Thus, while D-Cinema is a defined standard, though one that is still partly being framed by SMPTE as of 2007, E-Cinema may be anything, ranging from a DVD player connected to a consumer projector to something that approaches the quality of D-Cinema without conforming to some of the standards. Even D-Cinema itself has evolved over time before the DCI standards were framed. However, the current DCI standards were made with the intention of standing the test of time, much like 35 mm film which has evolved but still retained compatibility over a substantial part of a century. DVD (also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc - see Etymology) is a popular optical disc storage media format. ... 35 mm film frames. ...

Digital capture

As of 2007 the most common acquisition medium for digitally projected features is 35 mm film scanned and processed at 2K or 4K via digital intermediate. Most digital features to date have been shot at 1920x1080 HD resolution using cameras such as the Sony CineAlta, Panavision Genesis or Thomson Viper. New cameras such as the Arriflex D-20 and Silicon Imaging's SI-2K can capture 2K resolution images. Thus the future of digital cinema can be expected to have as a standard 4K capture and 4K projection. Currently in development are cameras capable of recording 4K RAW, such as the RED One and Dalsa Corporation's Origin. Digital cinematography is the process of capturing motion pictures as digital images, rather than on film. ... 35 mm film frames. ... Digital intermediate (often abbreviated as DI) describes the process of digitizing a motion picture and manipulating color and other image characteristics to change the look, and is usually the final creative adjustment to a movie before distribution in theaters. ... Steven Sodebergh shooting Full Frontal. ... Panavision is a motion picture equipment company specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. ... The Arri D-20 pictured with onboard monitor, optical extension eyepiece and Arri MkII Geared Head. ... RED Digital Camera Company is a developer of a digital video camera called Red One which the company says will be capable of recording resolutions up to 4520 x 2540 via a sensor large enough to adapt to standard 35mm lenses normally used by film cameras. ... The Dalsa Origin is the first camera designed and built by Dalsa Corporation to be used specifically for digital cinematography. ...

Digital post-production

Film is scanned from camera-original film negatives into a digital format on a scanner or high-resolution telecine. Data from digital motion picture cameras may be converted to a convenient image file format for work in a facility. All of the files are 'conformed' to match an edit list created by the film editor, and are then color corrected under the direction of the film's staff. The end result of post-production is a digital intermediate used to record the motion picture to film and/or for the digital cinema release. Digital intermediate (often abbreviated as DI) describes the process of digitizing a motion picture and manipulating color and other image characteristics to change the look, and is usually the final creative adjustment to a movie before distribution in theaters. ... Telecine (IPA pronunciation: . Phonetic: tel-e-Sin-ee; tel-e-Sin-a as cine is the same root as in cinema; also tele-seen.) is the process of transferring motion picture film into electronic form, or the machine used in this process. ... Digital intermediate (often abbreviated as DI) describes the process of digitizing a motion picture and manipulating color and other image characteristics to change the look, and is usually the final creative adjustment to a movie before distribution in theaters. ...

Digital mastering

When all of the sound, picture, and data elements of a production have been completed, they may be assembled into a Digital Cinema Distribution Master (DCDM) which contains all of the digital material needed for a show. The images and sound are then compressed, encrypted, and packaged to form the Digital Cinema Package (DCP).

Digital cinema distributors

Technicolor, Deluxe, XDC and Access Integrated Technologies are the leading companies in digital distribution. Other companies currently distributing digital cinema include Kodak, DTS, Ascent Media, Dolby, [Arts Alliance Media]] and Motion Picture Solutions http://www.motionpicturesolutions.com. Logo celebrating Technicolors 90th Anniversary Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation (a subsidiary of Technicolor, Inc. ... Deluxe is Better Than Ezras first album because Surprise was a demo album. ... Access Integrated Technologies is a large company concerned in, amongst other things, motion pictures. ... Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) is a large multinational public company producing photographic equipment. ... DTS is a three-letter acronym that may refer to: Digital Theater System, a surround sound format for synchronized film sound DTS Coherent Acoustics, a codec Dispatch, Tracking, and Support System, a web-based computer software program created by Crazed Geeks Consulting Co in Union City, IN to manage drive... Ascent Media Group LLC provides creative and technical media services, including post-production work, for the media and entertainment industries. ... Dolby Laboratories, Incorporated (Dolby Labs) is a company specializing in audio compression and reproduction. ...

Digital projection

There are currently two types of projectors for digital cinema. Early DLP projectors, used primarily in the U.S., used limited 1280 x 1024 resolution which are still widely used for pre-show advertising but not usually for feature presentations. The DCI specification for digital projectors calls for three levels of playback to be supported: 2K (2048x1080) at 24 frames per second, 4K (4096x2160) at 24 frames per second, and 2K at 48 frames per second. This article is about Digital Light Processing. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... Frame rate, or frame frequency, is the measurement of the frequency (rate) at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. ...

Three manufacturers have licensed the TI-developed DLP Cinema technology. Christie Digital Systems, Barco and NEC. Christie is the maker of the CP2000 line of 2K DCI-compliant Digital Cinema Projectors, and long established in traditional film projector technology throughout the U.S. and is the market leader in terms of units sold and deployed internationally. NEC manufactures the Starus NC2500S, NC1500C and NC800C 2K projectors for large, medium and small screen respectively and the Starus Digital Cinema Server system, as well as other equipment to connect PCs, analog/digital tape decks and satellite receivers, DVD, and off-air broadcast, etc. for pre-show and special presentations. While NEC is a relative newcomer to Digital Cinema, Christie is the main player in the U.S. and Barco takes the lead in Europe and Asia. Christie Digital Systems, Inc. ... Barco N.V. (Euronext: BAR) is a display hardware manufacturer specialising in CRT projectors, LCD projectors, DLP projectors, LED displays and flat panel displays. ... For other uses, see NEC (disambiguation). ... Christie Digital Systems, Inc. ... For other uses, see NEC (disambiguation). ...

The other soon-to-be-deployed-technology is from Sony and is labeled "SXRD" technology. Their projector provides 4096x2160 resolution. Sony Corporation ) is a Japanese multinational corporation and one of the worlds largest media conglomerates with revenue of $66. ... SXRD (Silicon X-tal Reflective Display) is Sonys proprietary variation of liquid crystal on silicon, a technology used mainly in projection televisions. ...

Other manufacturers have been developing digital projector technology, but these have not yet been deployed into motion picture theaters and are not commercially available in versions that conform to the DCI specification.

As of July 2007, there are some cinemas in Singapore showing digital 4K films to public using Sony's CineAlta 4K digital projector. They are located at Golden Village Cinema in Vivocity (Hall 11), Eng Wah Cinema in Suntec (Hall 3), Shaw Cinema in Bugis (Hall 1 & 3) and at Cathay Cineplex (Hall 7). VivoCity under construction VivoCity from outside VivoCitys interior Concierges on Segways. ...

In September of 2007 Muvico Theaters Rosemont 18 in Rosemont, Illinois became the first theater in North America to have Sony's CineAlta 4K digital projectors for all 18 screens. Muvico Theaters intends on opening more theaters in the last quarter of 2008 and well into 2009 all utilizing Sony's CineAlta 4K digital projector.

Live broadcasting to movie theaters

Digital cinemas can deliver live broadcasts from performances or events. For example, there are regular live broadcasts to movie theaters of Metropolitan Opera performances. Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, the lead section of this article may need to be expanded. ...

Current developments

As of October 2007, there are over 5000 DLP-based Digital Cinema Systems installed. ^[2] Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Prose is writing distinguished from poetry by its greater variety of rhythm and its closer resemblance to everyday speech. ...

By October 2007, DG2L Technologies was reported to have supplied 1500 Digital Cinema Systems to UFO Moviez Ltd. in India and Europe.^[3]

As of July, 2007, 1400 screens in the U.S. have been equipped with digital cinema projectors including a dozen theaters where the Sony 4K projector has been installed. In continental Europe, XDC is servicing over 300 screens in 10 countries, where Germany has the leading territory with over 100 installations.

The UK is home to Europe's first DCI compliant fully digital multiplex cinemas, Odeon Hatfield and Odeon Surrey Quays (London) have a total of 18 digital screens and were both launched on Friday 9 February 2007. ODEON Digital is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ...

In June 2007, Arts Alliance Media announced the first European commercial digital cinema VPF agreements (with Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Pictures). Arts Alliance Media is a digital distribution company based in London, United Kingdom , with outposts in Paris, Amsterdam, Kristiansand, Norway and New York. ... Related articles FOX Television Network Fox Searchlight Pictures Fox Entertainment Group List of Hollywood movie studios List of movies Variant of current 20th Century Fox logo External links 20th Century Fox Movies official site Twentieth Century Fox is also the punning title of a song by The Doors on their... Universal Pictures is the main motion picture production/distribution arm of Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal. ...

As of March 2007, with the release of Disney's Meet the Robinsons, about 600 screens have been equipped with 2K digital projectors that are equipped with Real D Cinema's stereoscopic 3D technology, marketed under the Disney Digital 3-D brand. Meet the Robinsons is a computer-animated film and the 46th animated feature produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. ... Real D Cinema is a new digital 3D stereoscopic projection technology which does not require two projectors, unlike some older 3D stereoscopic projection technology. ... Disney Digital 3-D is a brand used by the The Walt Disney Company to describe digitally animated three-dimensional films shown exclusively using digital projection. ...

In mid 2006, about 400 theaters have been equipped with 2K digital projectors with the number increasing every month.

In February 2005, Arts Alliance Media was selected to roll out the UK Film Council’s Digital Screen Network (DSN), a $20M contract to install and operate Europe’s largest 2K digital cinema network. By March 2007, 230 of the 241 screens had been installed on schedule, with the remaining 11 to be installed later in 2007 when cinemas have completed building works or construction. Arts Alliance Media is a digital distribution company based in London, United Kingdom , with outposts in Paris, Amsterdam, Kristiansand, Norway and New York. ...

Chicken Little from Disney, with its experimental release of the film in digital 3D, increased the number of projectors using the 2K format. Several digital 3D films will surface in 2006 and several prominent filmmakers have committed to making their next productions in stereo 3D.^{[citation needed]} Chicken Little (2005) is a computer-generated imagery (CGI) animated film and the forty-fifth animated feature made and produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution on November 4, 2005. ... In film, the term 3-D (or 3D) is used to describe any visual presentation system that attempts to maintain or recreate moving images of the third dimension, the illusion of depth as seen by the viewer. ...

By early 2006, Access Integrated Technologies (AccessIT) had announced agreements with nearly all of the major film studios and several exhibitors that enable the company to roll-out its end-to-end digital cinema systems. Access Integrated Technologies is a large company concerned in, amongst other things, motion pictures. ... A typical multiplex (AMC Promenade 16 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, United States). ...

In August 2006, the Malayalam digital movie Moonnamathoral was distributed via satellite to cinemas; thus becoming the first Malayalam digital film to be so distributed. This was done using the end-to-end digital cinema system developed by Singapore based DG2L Technologies.^[4] Malayalam ( ) is the language spoken predominantly in the state of Kerala, in southern India. ... Moonnamathoral (Malayalam:à´®àµ‚à´¨àµà´¨à´¾à´®à´¤àµŠà´°à´¾à´³àµâ€ ; meaning â€” a third person) is a Malayalam movie directed by VK Prakash. ...

Economics

Savings in distribution

Digital distribution of movies has the potential to save money for film distributors. A single film print can cost around US$1200, so making 4000 prints for a wide-release movie might cost $5 million. In contrast, at the maximum 250 megabit-per-second maximum data rate defined by DCI for digital cinema, a typical feature-length movie could fit comfortably on an off the shelf 300 GB hard drive—which cost as low as $70—which could even be returned to the distributor for reuse after a movie's run. With several hundred movies distributed every year, industry savings could potentially reach $1 billion or more. USD redirects here. ... Digital Cinema Initiatives or DCI is a consortium of studios and vendors formed to establish a standard architecture for Digital Cinema systems. ... When buying things, Off the shelf refers to products that have already been designed and made, compared to Made to measure (One-off, Custom-Built, etc. ... This article is about the unit of measurement. ...

Alternative content

An added incentive for exhibitors is the ability to show alternative content such as live special events, sports, pre-show advertising and other digital or video content. Some low-budget films that would normally not have a theatrical release because of distribution costs might be shown in smaller engagements than the typical large release studio pictures. The cost of duplicating a digital "print" is very low, so adding more theaters to a release has a small additional cost to the distributor. Movies that start with a small release could scale to a much larger release quickly if they were sufficiently successful, opening up the possibility that smaller movies could achieve box office success previously out of their reach. The term box office can refer to either: A place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to a venue The amount of business a particular production, such as a movie or theatre show, does. ...

Greater protection for content

A last incentive for digital distribution is the possibility of greater protection against piracy. With traditional film prints, distributors typically stagger the film's release in various markets, shipping the film prints around the globe. In the subsequent markets, pirated copies of a film (i.e. a cam) may be available before the movie is released in that market. A simultaneous worldwide release would mitigate this problem to some degree. Simultaneous worldwide releases on film have been used on The Da Vinci Code, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and Mission: Impossible III amongst others. With digital distribution, a simultaneous worldwide release would not cost significantly more than a staggered release. Copyright infringement of audio-visual works, often referred to as piracy, occurs when unauthorized copies are made of music, movies and similar works. ... cam (also CAM) is a specific type or method of motion picture piracy. ... This article is about the film. ... Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is the third episode of the Star Wars film series (but the sixth film to be produced), to be released on Thursday, May 19, 2005. ... Mission: Impossible III is the upcoming third movie based on the television series Mission: Impossible directed by Alias creator J. J. Abrams. ...

Costs

On the downside, the initial costs for converting theaters to digital are high: up to $150,000 per screen or more. Theaters have been reluctant to switch without a cost-sharing arrangement with film distributors. Recent negotiations have involved the development of a Virtual Print License fee which the studios will pay for their products which allows financiers and system developers to pay for deployment of digital systems to the theaters, thus providing investors a certain payback. A Film distributor is an independent company, a subsidiary company or occasionally an individual, which acts as the final agent between a film production company or some intermediary agent, and a film exhibitor, to the end of securing placement of the producers film on the exhibitors screen. ...

While a theater can purchase a film projector for US$50,000 and expect an average life of 30–40 years, a digital cinema playback system including server/media block/and projector can cost 3–4 times as much, and is at higher risk for component failures and technological obsolescence. Experience with computer-based media systems show that average economic lifetimes are only on the order of 5 years with some units lasting until about 10 years before they are replaced.^{[citation needed]}

Archiving digital material is also turning out to be both tricky and costly. In a 2007 study, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences found the cost of storing 4K digital masters to be "enormously higher - 1100% higher - than the cost of storing film masters." Furthermore, digital archiving faces challenges due to the insufficient temporal qualities of today's digital storage: no current media, be it optical discs, magnetic hard drives or digital tape, can reliably store a film for a hundred years, something that properly stored and handled film can do.^[5] Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study in Hollywood, California Founded on May 11, 1927 in California, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures. ... â€œOptical mediaâ€ redirects here. ... Typical hard drives of the mid-1990s. ...

History

Digital media playback of hi-resolution 2K files has at least a twenty year history with early RAIDs feeding custom frame buffer systems with large memories. Content was usually restricted to several minutes of material. For other uses, see Raid. ...

Transfer of content between remote locations was slow and had limited capacity. It wasn't until the late 1990s that feature length projects could be sent over the 'wire' (Internet or dedicated fiber links).

There were many prototype systems developed that claim a first in some form of digital presentation. However, few of these had a significant impact on the advance of the industry. Key highlights in the development of digital cinema would likely include: demonstrations by TI of their DMD technology, real-time playback of compressed hi-resolution files by various vendors, and early HD presentations from D5 tape to digital projectors. Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), better known in the electronics industry (and popularly) as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, USA, renowned for developing and commercializing semiconductor and computer technology. ... A Digital Micromirror Device, or DMD is an optical semiconductor that is the core of DLP projection technology, and was invented by Dr. Larry Hornbeck and Dr. William E. Ed Nelson of Texas Instruments (TI) in 1987. ... Panasonic D5 HD VTR AJ-HD3700H A Cassette Tape for D5 HD(Medium) D5 is a professional digital video format introduced by Panasonic in 1994. ...

Standards development

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers began work on standards for digital cinema in 2001. It was clear by that point in time that HDTV did not provide a sufficient technological basis for the foundation of digital cinema playback. (In Europe and Japan however, there is still a significant presence of HDTV for theatrical presentations. Agreements within the ISO standards body have led to these systems being referred to as Electronic Cinema Systems (E-Cinema).)

Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) was formed in March 2002 as a joint project of the motion picture studios (Disney, Fox, MGM, Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal and Warner Bros. Studios) to develop a system specification for digital cinema. In cooperation with the American Society of Cinematographers, DCI created standard evaluation material (the ASC/DCI StEM material) and developed tests of 2K and 4K playback and compression technologies. DCI published their specification in 2005. Digital Cinema Initiatives or DCI is a consortium of studios and vendors formed to establish a standard architecture for Digital Cinema systems. ... Disney may refer to: The Walt Disney Company and its divisions, including Walt Disney Pictures. ... This article is about the animal. ... MGM logo Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM, is a large media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. ... Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ... Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. ... This article is about the American media conglomerate. ... The WB Shield, used from 2001 to late 2003. ... The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) is not a labor union or guild, but rather an educational, cultural and professional organization. ...

Claims to significant events

One claim for the first digital cinema demonstration comes from JVC. On March 19, 1998, they collaborated on a digital presentation at a cinema in London. Several clips from popular films were encoded onto a remote server, and sent via fibre optic for display to a collection of interested Industry parties.^[6] Victor Company of Japan, Limited ) (TYO: 6792 ), usually referred to as JVC, is an international consumer and professional electronics corporation based in Yokohama, Japan which was founded in 1927. ... is the 78th day of the year (79th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Fiber Optic strands An optical fiber in American English or fibre in British English is a transparent thin fiber for transmitting light. ...

The Last Broadcast made cinematic history on October 23, 1998, when it became the first feature to be theatrically released digitally, via satellite download to theaters across the United States. An effort headed by Wavelength Releasing, Texas Instruments, Digital Projection Inc. and Loral Space, it successfully demonstrated what would become a template for future releases. In 1999, it was repeated utilizing QuVIS technology across Europe, including the Cannes Film Festival, making The Last Broadcast the first feature to be screened digitally at the Cannes Film Festival. The Last Broadcast is a 1998 horror film made by Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler. ... is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... The Cannes Film Festival (French: le Festival de Cannes), founded in 1939, is one of the worlds oldest, most influential and prestigious film festivals. ...

Several feature films were shown in 1999 using DLP prototype projectors and early wavelet based servers. For example, Walt Disney Pictures Bicentennial Man was presented using a Qubit server manufactured by QuVIS of Topeka, Kansas. DVD ROM was used to store the compressed data file. The DVD ROMs were loaded into the QuBit server hard drives for playout. The file size for Bicentennial Man was 42 GB with an average data rate of 43 Mbit/s. Old logo from 1985-2006 Walt Disney Pictures refers to several different entities associated with The Walt Disney Company: Walt Disney Pictures, the film banner, was established as a designation in 1983, prior to which Disney films since the death of Walt Disney were released under the name of the... Bicentennial Man is a 1999 film starring Robin Williams based on the well-known novella of the same name by Isaac Asimov. ... A qubit representation by a Bloch sphere. ... This article is about the state capital of Kansas. ...

In 2000, Walt Disney, Texas Instruments and Technicolor with the cooperation of several U.S. and international exhibitors, began to deploy prototype Digital Cinema systems in commercial theatres. The systems were assembled and installed by Technicolor using the TI mark V prototype projector, a special Christie lamp housing, and the QuBit server with custom designed automation interfaces. For the company founded by Disney, see The Walt Disney Company. ... Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), better known in the electronics industry (and popularly) as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, USA, renowned for developing and commercializing semiconductor and computer technology. ... Logo celebrating Technicolors 90th Anniversary Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation (a subsidiary of Technicolor, Inc. ... Logo celebrating Technicolors 90th Anniversary Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation (a subsidiary of Technicolor, Inc. ... Christie Digital Systems, Inc. ...

Technicolor manufactured the DVDs for uploading on these test systems and was responsible for sending technicians out to the locations for every new feature film that was played. The technicians would typically spend ten or so hours to load the files from the DVD to the QuBit, set up the server to play the files, and then set up the projector. A full rehearsal screening of the feature was mandatory as was the requirement to have back up DVDs and backup QuBits available should something fail.

The systems were eventually replaced or upgraded after TI made improvements to the projectors and Technicolor developed a purpose-built digital cinema server in a venture with Qualcomm, the engineering giant from San Diego best known for advanced mobile phone technology. The new systems were called AMS for Auditorium Management Systems and were the first digital cinema servers designed to be user friendly and operate reliably in a computer-hostile environment such as a projection booth. Most importantly, they provided a complete solution for content security. Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) is a wireless telecommunications research and development company based in San Diego, California. ...

The AMS used removable hard disk drives as the transport mechanism for the files. This eliminated the time required to upload the DVD ROMs to the local hard drives and provided the ability to switch programs quickly. For security, the AMS used a media block type system that placed a sealed electronics package within the projector housing. The server output only 3DES encrypted data and the media block did the decryption at the point just before playout. DVD is an optical disc storage media format that is used for playback of movies with high video and sound quality and for storing data. ... In cryptography, Triple DES (also 3DES) is a block cipher formed from the Data Encryption Standard (DES) cipher. ...

The first secure encrypted digital cinema feature was Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. The system functioned well but was eventually replaced because of the need to create a standard data package for D-cinema distribution. 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. ...

Universal Pictures used their film Serenity as the first DCI-compliant DCP to be delivered shown to an audience at a remote theater, although it was not distributed this way to the public. Inside Man was their first DCP cinema release, and was transmitted to 20 theatres in the United States along with two trailers. Universal Pictures is the main motion picture production/distribution arm of Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal. ... Serenity is a 2005 science fiction space western/epic film written and directed by Joss Whedon. ... This article is about the 2006 film by Spike Lee starring Denzel Washington. ... Movie trailers are film advertisements for films that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema, on whose screen they are shown; they are commonly known as previews of coming attractions. ...

In April 2005, DG2L Technologies announced that it had been awarded the multi-million dollar contract for the world's largest satellite based MPEG4 digital cinema deployment to be done in India, which encompassed 2000 theaters for UFO (United Film Organizers), a subsidiary of the Valuable Media Group. In Mar 2006, United Film Organizers Moviez (UFO Moviez), had reached a significant milestone—surpassing 30,000 shows using the DG2L Cinema System platform. This figure increased to 100,000 shows in August 2006. In September 2006, UFO Moviez acquired 51% stake in DG2L Technologies in a deal estimated at around $50 million. MPEG-4, introduced in 1998, is the designation for a group of audio and video coding standards agreed upon by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG). ...

Stereo 3-D images

In late 2005, interest in digital 3-D stereoscopic projection has led to a new willingness on the part of theaters to co-operate in installing a limited number of 2K stereo installations to show Disney's Chicken Little in 3-D film. Seven more digital 3-D movies are slated for 2006 or 2007 release (including Beowulf, Monster House and Meet the Robinsons). The technology combines digital projectors with the use of polarized glasses and screens. DLP technology is well-suited for stereo 3-D as it can handle the higher frame rates required for flicker free presentations. Stereo card image modified for crossed eye viewing. ... Chicken Little (2005) is a computer-generated imagery (CGI) animated film and the forty-fifth animated feature made and produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution on November 4, 2005. ... In film, the term 3-D (or 3D) is used to describe any visual presentation system that attempts to maintain or recreate moving images of the third dimension, the illusion of depth as seen by the viewer. ... This article or section contains a plot summary that is overly long or excessively detailed compared to the rest of the article. ... Meet the Robinsons is a computer-animated film and the 46th animated feature produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. ... Polarized glasses create the illusion of three-dimensional images by restricting the light that reaches each eye, and example of stereoscopy. ...

List of digital cinema companies

Access Integrated Technologies is a large company concerned in, amongst other things, motion pictures. ... Arts Alliance Media is a digital distribution company based in London, United Kingdom , with outposts in Paris, Amsterdam, Kristiansand, Norway and New York. ... Barco N.V. (Euronext: BAR) is a display hardware manufacturer specialising in CRT projectors, LCD projectors, DLP projectors, LED displays and flat panel displays. ... Christie Digital Systems, Inc. ... Dolby Laboratories, Inc. ... Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) is a large multinational public company producing photographic equipment. ... For other uses, see NEC (disambiguation). ... Sony Corporation ) is a Japanese multinational corporation and one of the worlds largest media conglomerates with revenue of $66. ... Logo celebrating Technicolors 90th Anniversary Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation (a subsidiary of Technicolor, Inc. ... Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), better known in the electronics industry (and popularly) as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, USA, renowned for developing and commercializing semiconductor and computer technology. ... This article is about Digital Light Processing. ... XDC is the leading Digital cinema service company in continental Europe. ...

Contents

Technology

Digital capture

Digital post-production

Digital mastering

Digital cinema distributors

Digital projection

Live broadcasting to movie theaters

Current developments

Economics

Savings in distribution

Alternative content

Greater protection for content

Costs

History

Standards development

Claims to significant events

Stereo 3-D images

List of digital cinema companies

See also

References and notes

External links

Contents

Technology GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Digital capture

Digital post-production

Digital mastering

Digital cinema distributors

Digital projection

Live broadcasting to movie theaters

Current developments

Economics

Savings in distribution

Alternative content

Greater protection for content

Costs

History

Standards development

Claims to significant events

Stereo 3-D images

List of digital cinema companies

See also

References and notes

External links

Technology