From the category archives:

Studios

Toy Story 3’s New Sound Format, and the Future of Sound

May 2010

With the release of Disney’s Toy Story 3 comes the introduction of the 7.1DS sound format.  This is a different 7.1 format than that introduced by Sony in the mid-90’s.  The new format brings to light some problems that lie ahead for digital cinema sound.
First, an explanation of the oddity of sound format terminology.  The [...]

Read the full article →

3-D Crash

March 2010

There are those pessimistic people (perhaps you know someone?) waiting for the first spectacular 3-D flop.  It’s possible they may not have to wait long.  Major 3-D releases are fighting for screen space.  3-D has become a strategic play in the battle for box office.  And studios are willing to cut corners on quality just [...]

Read the full article →

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, [...]

Read the full article →

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 [...]

Read the full article →

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 [...]

Read the full article →

Is DCI Still Relevant?

January 2010

Perhaps DCI’s greatest accomplishment is that, under its umbrella, all 6 major motion picture studios agreed to distribution and security standards for digital cinema.  But the studios also wanted the means to enforce their joint requirements onto equipment manufacturers.  Thus, DCI-compliance testing was conceived.  To enforce compliance, the studios envisioned that all equipment would be [...]

Read the full article →

Other News

August 2009

Time Andaeus, Christie, and Doremi will join in an 800-screen digital cinema rollout in China.  Time Andaeus partnered with Doremi to develop its Montage CDCS2000 digital cinema server.  Shanghai Daily estimates that 50% of the country’s 4000 cinema screens will be digital by end of year.
Sony and RealD will be providing systems to CinemaxX screens [...]

Read the full article →

Other News

July 2009

Europe’s International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), comprised of the major exhibitor trade organizations across Europe, held its first European Cinema Summit (ECS) trade show in Belgium mid-June, one week prior to Cinema Expo.  It was a reasonable success.  In terms of organization, it was a significant departure from the ShoWest/Cinema Expo style of trade show.  [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →