From the monthly archives:

February 2010

Executive Summary

February 2010

  • DCIP announces? While no formal statements have been made by DCIP, a lot has been said.
  • DCI and NIST. NIST demonstrates the potential to pull the rug out from under DCI.
  • SMPTE progress report.
  • Demonstration update. ISDCF and NATO digital cinema demonstrations in the coming month - very different in nature.
  • Pixar introduces new audio format with Toy Story 3. Could be only the beginning.
  • The Flap over Alice vs the boost in 3-D. Disney’s Ross chose Alice in Wonderland for his first battle with exhibitors. Fortunately, sales in 3-D systems didn’t suffer.
  • Financing in Europe. Europeans continue to seek ways to fund digital cinema that will not jeopardize cinema owners.
  • Finnish cinema chain Finnkino takes the high road.
  • Jonathan Ross joins XpanD.
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DCIP and its Non-Announcement

February 2010

The press has been far more eager than DCIP to announce completion of its funding and its readiness to rollout.  Both the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal published articles this month of a pending announcement.  The one announcement that did occur, though, was by Amy Miles, CEO, and David Ownby, EVP and [...]

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DCI and NIST: A Boondoggle-in-Waiting

February 2010

The value of the DCI specification is the agreement among studios on distribution packaging and security.  Distribution packaging is homegrown:  the concept was developed in SMPTE before DCI was even formed, with the result that the industry has a lot of control over changes in the packaging format.  But not so for DCI’s security concepts, [...]

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SMPTE Update

February 2010

SMPTE 21DC meetings were starting to become boring, so much so that your author’s 21DC30 Exhibition Working Group completed its December meeting in under an hour.  What a difference three months can bring.  In February, the same working group met for over two hours, reviewing a host of documentation errors and changes, a few of [...]

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Demonstrating What Hasn’t Been Demonstrated Before

February 2010

ISDCF did not meet this month, other than to review its plans for its March 9 demonstration of SMPTE DCP and closed caption standards.  NATO has been moving forward with its plans to hold a demonstration of accessibility products for digital cinema at ShoWest.  These two demonstrations are very different in nature, and deserve explanation.
The [...]

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Pixar Introduces a New Cinema Audio Format

February 2010

Your author quelled the happiness at the recent SMPTE 21DC10 Mastering Working Group meeting by bringing up a discussion of Annex A of 429-2, which defines audio packaging for SMPTE DCP.  Annex A of SMPTE 429-2 defines three different audio formats:  5.1, 6.1 (EX Surround), and 7.1 (SDDS).  But none of these will work for [...]

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The Flap over Alice in Wonderland, and Other 3-D News

February 2010

If in the movie industry, one would have to be living under a rock not to watch Rich Ross take front stage and center with expected 3-D blockbuster Alice in Wonderland in his new role as Chairman of Walt Disney Pictures.  If Ross didn’t understand the temperament of exhibition before, he certainly has a taste [...]

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Other News

February 2010

Digital cinema financing in Europe continues to take center stage in European forums.  At this year’s Media Salles event, held in Helsinki, government officials of several Nordic countries explained differences in proposed programs designed to support independent cinema owners.  But some terms were questionable.  The Swedish government, for instance, will finance 60% of equipment costs [...]

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