From the monthly archives:

October 2009

Executive Summary

October 2009

  • Cinedigm’s press releases. Cinedigm announced the signing of a “distribution agreement” with Warner, and letters of commitment for $100M in funds. All good news, but devils still lurk.
  • The “iDon’ts” of digital cinema. The list hasn’t changed much since 2005, and is unlikely to change soon without industry investment.
  • TI’s transition to Series 2 causes road bumps for its OEMs.
  • Closed Captions at ShowEast. Doremi debuts its proprietary closed caption system, and USL still working on closed caption glasses.
  • Sony Playstation comes to the Cinema. Exhibitors take note - there’s a lot more to this than pushing “go” on a Playstation.
  • European Commission seeks input on proposed digital cinema tax credits in Italy.
  • Technicolor 3-D film system at ShowEast produced less than stellar results.
  • ISDCF reports hard drive formatting issues.
  • SMPTE RP428-6 Digital Leader on the way.
  • Support growing for media block interface.
  • Digital Finance Limited of Ireland signs deployment agreements.
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Cinedigm Has Good News

October 2009

Cinedigm issued several press releases this month, two of which deserve discussion.
Cinedigm’s announced a “digital distribution agreement” with Warner Bros, bringing confidence to those who may not have been convinced that Cinedigm’s digital cinema deployment effort has the support of all studios.  But the very idea of an agreement with WB raises the eyebrows of [...]

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The iDon’ts of Digital Cinema

October 2009

With DCIP engaged in the syndication of its equipment bond, and Cinedigm gaining support for senior debt towards equipment, the wheels appear to be in motion for digital cinema to rollout.  But has the technology advanced sufficiently to insure stable installations, or are we still moving forward with blinders on, as was the case in [...]

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TI and its Series 2 Woes

October 2009

TI is in a pinch, and its OEMs are going to feel the pain.  Studios have long been asking TI to redesign the input board of its projector to meet DCI requirements.  The Gore board compromise to the problem has been discussed in past reports.  But the Gore board was for the current series of [...]

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Closed Caption Update

October 2009

Closed caption display devices were shown at ShowEast by USL and Doremi.  While the end displays are somewhat similar in appearance, the technology behind each is very different.
Both devices sit on goosenecks that mount in the cup holder.  Both use battery-driven electronic displays to display the caption text.  The USL device uses a special lens [...]

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Sony Playstation Comes to the Cinema

October 2009

Sony Electronics sells not only digital cinema equipment, but through a completely separate division, also bundles that equipment with alternative content and financing.  Perhaps most interesting in its alternative content offering are Playstation-based video gaming competitions.  Sony, Playstation, and Naughty Dog held such an event this month in four theatres across the US.  The reason [...]

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European Commission Reviews Italian Tax Credit for Digital Cinema

October 2009

European governments have expressed concern that many of their independently owned cinemas can’t afford to buy digital projection equipment.  In earlier years, this concern led to criticism over the DCI format for not capitalizing on readily available, low cost HD projection equipment.  More recently, governments have been looking at ways to help exhibitors fund the [...]

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Other News

October 2009

Technicolor demonstrated its 3-D film process at ShowEast.  Depending on lens configuration, the system costs $5-$7K.  It’s a double-flash system, a method that was discarded in favor of triple-flash with digital systems.  Studio support remains split.  Disney and Fox are decidedly against it.  Technicolor may find a market with smaller operators inside and outside the [...]

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