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Author Topic: D Cinema Equipment Review
Matt Fields
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 545
From: Ohio, United States
Registered: Jun 2005


 - posted 03-20-2006 12:24 PM      Profile for Matt Fields   Email Matt Fields   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Two questions about digital cinema:

1) What equipment will need to be replaced or added to convert to digital cinema?

2) Does anyone have an recommendations as far as which manufacturers to use?

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Louis Bornwasser
Film God

Posts: 4441
From: prospect ky usa
Registered: Mar 2005


 - posted 03-20-2006 12:33 PM      Profile for Louis Bornwasser   Author's Homepage   Email Louis Bornwasser   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Everything leaves except your Dolby Digital sound system. Louis

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Sam D. Chavez
Film God

Posts: 2153
From: Martinez, CA USA
Registered: Aug 2003


 - posted 03-20-2006 01:55 PM      Profile for Sam D. Chavez   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Everything does not exactly leave as there will be a period where film and video will be both be shown. The sound system is as LB says, the only equipment in common.

There are two circuits I know of installing digital cinema with the existing front/back sound systems, yech! So much for upgrading the presentation, more like degrading, to me. Shows where theatre owners have their head.

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000


 - posted 03-20-2006 03:44 PM      Profile for John Pytlak   Author's Homepage   Email John Pytlak   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Some nice system diagrams on the Kodak Digital Cinema website:

http://www.kodak.com/go/dcinema

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/products/digital/featureSolution.jhtml

quote:
The Kodak solution for high-quality digital feature presentations is built on the robust and reliable KODAK CineServer. The CineServer, which includes KODAK Color Science, plays MXF-packaged, JPEG2000-compressed digital movies at up to 250 Mbits/sec, per DCI specifications.

Content is ingested and played through a range of 2K projectors. Show playlist programming can be done locally on the clear and intuitive control panel or the central content management server, and playlists can be downloaded remotely over the network.


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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 03-20-2006 07:14 PM      Profile for Mark Gulbrandsen   Email Mark Gulbrandsen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Sam D. Chavez
Everything does not exactly leave as there will be a period where film and video will be both be shown. The sound system is as LB says, the only equipment in common.

I don't quite ageree that both will exist together, especially in new builds done starting now. New builds show just the opposite of that. There are 20 digital only screens going in SLC in the next two months. 10 in one location and 5 each in two other locations. Today one of our customers doing two new builds is going D-Cinema only in both locations so we now have 12 more screens going in that are D-Cinema only. At least a half dozen of our other customers look foreword to getting rid of that nasty-inconvenient stuff they call film.

Mark

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99


 - posted 03-20-2006 07:48 PM      Profile for Joe Redifer   Author's Homepage   Email Joe Redifer   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
What are the common error rates on the Dolby Digital units with d-cinema? One would think it would hover around 0-1.

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Ron Curran
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 504
From: Springwood NSW Australia
Registered: Feb 2006


 - posted 03-20-2006 08:16 PM      Profile for Ron Curran   Author's Homepage   Email Ron Curran   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I agree with Mark. Sex with a woman is inconvenient to, but it beats the digital alternative.

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Matt Fields
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 545
From: Ohio, United States
Registered: Jun 2005


 - posted 03-20-2006 09:00 PM      Profile for Matt Fields   Email Matt Fields   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Mark-

Which brands of equipment are your customers using?

When I look at the trade magazines, there are several different companies offering "solutions", and there is no way to tell whats crap and whats good.

Or is this stuff so new that no one knows whats good yet?

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001


 - posted 03-20-2006 10:11 PM      Profile for Bobby Henderson   Email Bobby Henderson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Dolby Digital for audio on D-Cinema?

I thought 20-bit LPCM 5.1 was included with the digital video bitstream. Wouldn't that just be piped into something like a Dolby CP-65 or some other cinema processor through an auxilliary input?

It would be really odd if a theater equipped for DTS had a find a way to use those CD-ROMs after the film projectors were removed.
[Confused]

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 03-20-2006 10:26 PM      Profile for Mark Gulbrandsen   Email Mark Gulbrandsen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Matt Fields
When I look at the trade magazines, there are several different companies offering "solutions", and there is no way to tell whats crap and whats good.
Exactly... its all that new. USL Labs even has a D-Cinema server and they were assembling it literally a half hour before it left for the Vegas show(it actually works!). Only time will tell if there is really a solution at all, and what pieces are any good. Oddly so they don't become a bygone dinosaur DTS is entering with their D-Cinema variable bit stream Encoder... and it will work with either 2K or 4K resolution, it will also bump up 2K stuff for use on the 4K projectors. Joe really ought to love that idea.

On the other fronts a method of paying for all this has apparently been worked out by the studios. Your film rentals will reflect the cost of each DLP system over about a 10 year period. I should have all the hard details on that tomorrow but I have been told there will be three parties involved at the theatre level, the last party is the equipment maintenance company. Manufacturers are still gearing up for all technical seminars which should start in a few months and technicians will be required(at least with Christie and Dolby) to be certified by them to do installs and maintenance on the projectors and servers. Like another person said in another thread... it will take Projection Engineers NOT Projectionists to make this stuff run its best.....

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Ron Curran
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 504
From: Springwood NSW Australia
Registered: Feb 2006


 - posted 03-21-2006 01:39 AM      Profile for Ron Curran   Author's Homepage   Email Ron Curran   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Silly question from downunder. Were any full length features presented at Showest via DC?
We have seen plenty of geewhizz demos at our conventions but trailers, promos and the odd feature are through 1K units or film. The DC miracle is for demonstration purposes only.

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Jim Ziegler
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 753
From: West Hollywood, CA
Registered: Jul 99


 - posted 03-21-2006 04:18 AM      Profile for Jim Ziegler   Email Jim Ziegler   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I'm pretty sure some have been. However, digital projectors are deployed in most major cities in the U.S. now, so its not hard to catch a DLP feature. The last DLP feature I sawe was Corpse Bride, and it was a beautiful presentation.

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Louis Bornwasser
Film God

Posts: 4441
From: prospect ky usa
Registered: Mar 2005


 - posted 03-21-2006 08:48 AM      Profile for Louis Bornwasser   Author's Homepage   Email Louis Bornwasser   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
CGI will always look good on video. Louis

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Paul Konen
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 981
From: Frisco, TX. (North of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 03-21-2006 09:35 AM      Profile for Paul Konen   Email Paul Konen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Matt, Your sound system will stay put. If you have a CP-500 or CP-650, then you need to add an addition 685? card to handle the external digital audio input. It will use Mode 11 - External 6 channel setting.

The D-Cinema decoder will send the audio data over to the sound processor. So Joe, there is no error rate showing.

My setup has both the film console and the DLP sharing the center line. The D-Cinema server ties into the automation link on the film console.

I have had a great experience with the CP2000, 2K system from Christie. Also the Dolby D-Cinema system has worked great.

Be sure the playback system you choose, provides for software upgrades, updates. Especially now since most systems are switching from the intermediate spec of MXF to the DCI final version of JPEG 2000 for encoding.

Be sure the company supplying the system is also committed to D-Cinema.

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Richard Fowler
Film God

Posts: 2392
From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA
Registered: Jun 2001


 - posted 03-21-2006 12:17 PM      Profile for Richard Fowler   Email Richard Fowler   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Jack Cashin, the owner of UltraStereo called his server great for "Mon and Pop" situations. He plans to have the unit fully DCI compliant by ShowEast. I have seen very good results with GDC and Quvis units.

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