Printed Onesheets - are they about to go the way of the dinosaurs?

[Mike Blakesley]

I have noticed that Deluxe/Technicolor has been handling fewer and fewer onesheets on their website. Many studios are using this new company called "Paper Airplane" that distributes digital assets, but not paper ones. (Which is strange, considering the company name.) Our booker told me today that Disney is "self-distributing" their onesheets now, as opposed to using Deluxe/Technicolor.

And a lot of the big chains have gone to digital displays for their onesheets.

How long will it be until there just won't be physical onesheets and what are the display alternatives that are available? Anything that isn't priced in the stratosphere?

Even though we are a single screen, we have 11 one-sheet frames (3 outside, 8 inside) and it has been hard to keep them all filled lately with content that's really "coming soon." Of course I realize the pandemic has something to with this too, but like our booker told me today .... "it's not going to be the same anymore."

[Frank Cox]

What about using a TV that's about the same size as one of the movie posters and put it on its side, then drive it with a cheap computer of some kind and keep a graphic slideshow going there. "Now Playing..." *flip* "Coming next..." *flip* and so on. You would only need one and you could still present all of the information. You don't need anything particularly high-resolution to show something for passers-by to read.

My front windows are sized for displaying movie posters. So a TV in my front window would probably work for me if I have to go to something like that.

If the movie companies go to Internet distribution and digital movie posters then my freight bill would go to something close to zero. So there is that.

[Mike Blakesley]

Well we use RTS for tickets, and they include (no extra charge) poster/sign service with their software. So, we could do that for the current show with a door-hanging TV like you describe.

The good news (which I have found out since I made the initial post) is that RTS uses Chromecast to run their sign content, so all we would need to do is get a TV and a chromecast and we'd be set.

The biggest problem I have is our other poster cases. They provide our "wall decor" inside and of course, they are invaluable for advertising the upcoming movies. So, I would probably want to change those over as well, but I'm not exactly excited about the notion of buying a shitload of TVs. And of course getting power to all the TVs would be a bit of a chore. Then there's the question of how long they'd last.... can they be automated to turn on and off during the overnight period.... etc.

But..... we've done other upgrades that cost more but weren't as visible, so..... I guess we will see.

The notion of being able to change onesheets with a click of the mouse (and
have more than one poster in a specific location at a time) makes me positively giddy, I gotta admit.

[Martin McCaffery]

Seems, once again, they are shifting the cost to the exhibitor.

[Mike Blakesley]

Free onesheets haven't been forever... when I first got into the biz we had to pay for all onesheets, and also the shipping of said onesheets AND the trailers. Nowadays we get all of it for free, including shipping. The cost of the digital upgrade would be there, sure, but the labor in changing onesheets would be eliminated, plus the added advantage of all posters now being "lit" would be impressive.

[Per Hauberg]

I've got four outdoor frames for 3-sheets. -But very few danish distributors make 3-sheets anymore. -And for coming attractions outside space for eight one-sheets.
TV-screens in outdoor frames...? I can't see how that should go. They wouldn't live long enough on site to get moisture damaged.
But, om the other hand - if all our films will be on tv at the same time, people can be orientated that way of, what I'm showing -IF they choose to slip off the coach and go to the cinema at all...
Our best time is over, Gentlemen ! -Unless we come up with something very smart very soon...

[Marcel Birgelen]

Well we use RTS for tickets, and they include (no extra charge) poster/sign service with their software. So, we could do that for the current show with a door-hanging TV like you describe.

The good news (which I have found out since I made the initial post) is that RTS uses Chromecast to run their sign content, so all we would need to do is get a TV and a chromecast and we'd be set.

The biggest problem I have is our other poster cases. They provide our "wall decor" inside and of course, they are invaluable for advertising the upcoming movies. So, I would probably want to change those over as well, but I'm not exactly excited about the notion of buying a shitload of TVs. And of course getting power to all the TVs would be a bit of a chore. Then there's the question of how long they'd last.... can they be automated to turn on and off during the overnight period.... etc.

But..... we've done other upgrades that cost more but weren't as visible, so..... I guess we will see.

The notion of being able to change onesheets with a click of the mouse (and
have more than one poster in a specific location at a time) makes me positively giddy, I gotta admit.

The good thing about TVs is that they're really cheap now and you don't need a fancy 4K TV for it. The professional screens have the distinctive advantage of allowing something like serial control, which is more reliable in turning on and off those screens.

Yes, getting power to them may be a bit of a challenge, depending on your building layout. But you can often hook them up to the ceiling lightning, that way, you can also easily switch them off, together with the lights.

Make sure you don't buy expensive OLED screens. While they may look gorgeous at first, they WILL burn in if you use them for the purpose of displaying still images for prolonged time. While most cheap (and even many expensive) LCD screens also suffer from screen retention, those artifacts are usually just temporary.

If possible, try to block the IR ports with some tape, to avoid some jokers playing around with your screens.

[David Ferguson]

Before COVID, I used to go round cinemas near me, getting posters for films I liked (and learning which chains were receptive to this, and which weren't!). I had noticed that in 2018 and 2019 some cinemas had switched to digital posters using TV screens that were probably about the same size as one sheets and quads.

It does make me wonder how long it'll be before they're playing short trailer-like clips on them, rather than just static posters. And then how long it'll take for adverts to be on them too...

[Jarod Reddig]

My local AMC 8plex has been playing previews on their digital signage in the lobby for years.

Man with anything that gets converted permanately to something digital, a small piece of me dies. Digital signage is cool but I love a good one sheet over all that. The savings in shipping is nice tho.

[Bobby Henderson]

I'm not the biggest fan of HDTV screens doubling as movie poster cases in theater lobbies. The TV screens are brighter than a back-lit one sheet print. But they're not nearly as high in resolution. All the credits, company logos and other graphics are going to be far sharper on the printed one sheet. Even a UHD TV panel won't display the text and graphics items as sharp as a printed one sheet.

[Frank Cox]

I don't think the resolution will matter greatly since very few people are going to stop and study the one-sheet. "Look at this, Dad." "Ok, we can come and see that when it gets here. Now where do you want to sit?"

[Marcel Birgelen]

I think that non-oversized UHD panels and certainly those 8K panels can come close to the resolution of one-sheets when viewed from most common viewing distances. Obviously, there is no true black in any LCD screen, though with sufficient ambient light, this will probably not really be a problem.

I'm not a fan of showing trailers on those screens. First of all, to simulate a traditional onesheet, you want to mount your screen at a 90 degree angle, so you get a portrait aspect ratio. Trailers aren't in that same resolution. What would be cool would be an "animated onesheet". Keep the onesheet static for most parts, but animate parts of it, in a seamless, endless loop.

While screens allowing for dynamic content is great, that doesn't mean that we should now animate everything. For example, I hate those digital menus that flip menu items around. You were just looking at the item you wanted to order... but now it's gone... GREAT!

[Mike Blakesley]

I hate those digital menus that flip menu items around. You were just looking at the item you wanted to order... but now it's gone...

I hate those too. Then your'e standing there and the guy is wanting you to order but your menu choice is gone and you have to wait for it to come around again.

I suppose they do that to avoid screen burn in.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Most of them are LCD screens. They don't really burn in, but they can suffer from image retention. Image retention is a temporary condition that will fade away. Also, many of those screens have the tendency to leave logos and other stuff in place, even if they shuffle stuff around. I think in most cases it's simply ignorance about the fact how annoying this kind of stuff is.

[Bob Ezra]

Gotta have one sheets...