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There are currently seven Study Groups working on various aspects of Digital Cinema Technology in the SMPTE DC28 Committee: DC28.02 Mastering, DC28.03 Compression, DC28.04 Conditional Access / Encryption, DC28.05 Transport / Delivery Systems, DC28.06 Audio, DC28.07 Theatre Systems, DC28.08 Projection.

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TI reported that there are 32 theatres in the world setup for their DLP video projection, all prototypes. About 15 movies have been transferred for video projection. Total cost of the prototype equipment is about $200K. They believe that the first manufactured models will be end of next year at about $100K per installation.

Altho many of the ASC members in attendance were unhappy with the inability of the video to render deep black, the overall reaction was that the video looked pretty good. The image has good contrast, altho the color rendition is not perfect.

I noticed that the squeeze was wrong for most of the 2.35 material - the people were fat. The screen geometry was also wrong for everything (picture too big for screen). Considering that the TI technicians spent days optimizing the system, this does not bode well for multiplex quality control.

The clips seemed to have been chosen to make the video look good. Other demos I've seen with flat daylight scenes have not been impressive (i.e. desert scenes from Starship Troopers).

Overall, tho, I was surprised that it looked this good on a 51-foot screen.

I personally have a very hard time believing that the $100K per installation figure will be achieved anytime soon. In another user group posting, Gordon McLeod reported MUCH higher equipment costs, especially if you add in the specially modified lamphouse, the two unique and very expensive anamorphic lenses (1.5X and 1.9X), the QuVis or similar server, etc.

AFAIK, the thirty or so current prototype installations are being heavily subsidized, as are the added costs of mastering and replication. A May 18, 2000 press release by Technicolor said "Along with creating the digital distribution medium – in the form of DVD-ROM – Technicolor is providing the expertise to deliver, install, upload and then test each digital cinema installation. Additionally, the company is providing significant funding to help offset the costs of the demonstration systems, installation and service."

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film=will always be better! Digital will never come close to the quality that film can do, and anyone else who says differently is
"stupid!" they obviously dont know anything, my favorite was in that article with that guy who is working on Star Wars 2 who said that digital video will help protect your speakers from blowing. what a smart one that one (whats that sarcastic face again? hold on) ok here it is . its obvious to me how smart people are out there about film.

Has anyone heard about the intermittent that goes 48 frames per second?

"Viva La Resistance!"
--Southpark

I'd like to suggest that Brad create a seperate forum area just for the discussion of technical issues with e-projectors and associated equipment.

Advertising is serious business, and the potential for on-screen ads with captive audiences (held prisoner is more like it) is too great an income to ignore. We already have seen a big increase in theater advertising. Advertisers will help pay for Digital Cinema, and owners will want e-projectors to reduce labor costs (meaning projectionists.)

People say it's too expensive, but look at the history of most electronic devices: When I worked for Radio Shack (God help me) in 1973, I sold a calculator for $159.95 that only added, subtracted, multiplied and divided. Now, they give away better calculators. The first CD players were $1200; now they are $40. I won't even go into computer equipment. While it's true calculators and CD players are consumer items and e-projectors are not, the same rules will apply, but will take longer.

So, cost is only a temporary issue with Digital Cinema. "Temporary" does mean 5-7 years or so, but that's not so long (at least it feels that way when you're over 40 years old!)

My issues with Digital Cinema are: Is it at least equal to what we have now? The answer is: close, but no cigar. Is there one standard to make things easier on whoever has to "load" and operate the equipment? The answer is: no, looks like the industry will (again) have "dual inventory," only an electronic version.

Since the public has a history of accepting lower quality, (they "wowed" at Cinerama, 70mm, etc, but stopped supporting it after a while) I'm sure Digital Cinema will be accepted, too.

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actually digital sound was what all but totally killed 70mm, the *real* future of exhibition.

Vive La FILM!

Apparently the current system is 23.7 frames per second so our host was constantly pausinging restarting the DLP to keep approximate sync. The picture and sound still appeared very smooth. My preferance with color varied with the scene. The blues looked better on digital, the greens looked better on Film.