quote:

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On a positive note, thank you Kodak for taking a step in the right direction, and designing a system with the exhibitor in mind.

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Yes, thanks. Now, please take it one step further and get Distribution to pay for it, since they will reap most of the benefits.

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You can get a "peek" at the first version of the Kodak Cinema Operating System (theatre management) in the QuickTime movie that is on the Kodak Digital Cinema website:
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/digital/vnr.shtml

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

They showed their prototype D-ILA-based projector with the engineering sample QXGA chips, in a small screening/seminar room, projecting a 16-foot wide image, side-by-side with a 35mm projector whose image was also of the same width. Both images were shown on an extra-wide screen. I sat about 1.5 screen heights away from the screen.

They showed two comparisons. The first was a clip from Kodak's own test cinematography footage. The film was the output from a 2k scan of the original 35mm IP, and the digital played back the direct, full RGB (4:4:4) data of this 2k scan.

Then a clip from Paramount's "The Truman Show" was played. The film was an answer print, and the digital was full RGB of the 2k scan of the IP. The data came off of a server from Sun Microsystems, controlled by Kodak's proprietary software.

The digital image certainly looks impressive, and it seemed to appear sharper and at times a little more vibrant-looking. But the film did edge out in terms of depth of blacks and richness in terms of color saturation. Not by much though. To me, the digital image is very good at this stage of progress, and I didn't notice any screen door effect from my view. The answer print looked great, but the film's jitter and weave were noticeable too.

Kodak also demonstrated a working version of its d-cinema operating and interfacing software for theatres, which operates on the Unix platform. The GUI seemed quite simple and intuitive, and operation of the software and programming the automation and sequencing of trailers, ads, features did not seem difficult at all.

Let’s not get off track and misunderstand a quote. When Glenn Kennel said that it was as good as film he is referring mainly to the ability to make side by side images in digital and film look the same. Most people that view this material want to make sure that electronically we can achieve the same look as film.

The actual goals set forth by the MPA are listed below. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by what they are requiring.

MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION

GOALS FOR DIGITAL CINEMA

August 31, 2000

The member companies of the Motion Picture Association believe that the introduction of digital cinema represents the greatest opportunity for enhancing the theatrical film experience since the introduction of sound and the advent of color. The conversion from photographic film distribution and display to an all-digital system has the potential of providing real benefits to theater audiences, theater owners, filmmakers, and feature film distributors. But in order for these benefits to be fully realized, digital cinema must be defined, standardized, and implemented in a way that ensures that the benefits accrue to all stakeholders.

The MPA member companies have been involved in public demonstrations of prototype digital cinema systems. We have also held meetings with equipment manufacturers, service suppliers, theater owners, and the creative community to better understand the views of others concerning the implementation of digital cinema. The MPA and its member companies have also participated in the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE) Digital Cinema DC28 engineering study groups in the preparation of their reports on considerations in the standardization of digital cinema. Through these activities and the dialogue with other stakeholders, we have developed a list of ten goals that we believe are critical to the successful implementation of a digital cinema system that provides real benefits to all stakeholders. These goals consist of the following:

1. ENHANCED THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE - The introduction of digital cinema must be used by the motion picture industry as an opportunity to significantly enhance the theatrical film experience and thus bring real benefits to theater audiences.

2. QUALITY - The picture and sound quality of digital cinema should represent as accurately as possible the creative intent of the filmmaker. To that end, its quality must exceed the quality of a projected 35mm “answer print” shown under optimum studio screening theater conditions. Any image compression that is used should be visually lossless.

3. WORLDWIDE COMPATIBILITY - The system should be based around global standards so that content can be distributed and played anywhere in the world as can be done today with a 35mm film print.

4. OPEN STANDARDS - The components and technologies used should be based on open standards that foster competition amongst multiple vendors of equipment and services.

5. INTEROPERABLE - Each of the components of the system should be built around clearly defined standards and interfaces that insure interoperability between different equipment.

6. EXTENSIBLE - The hardware used in the system should be easily upgraded as advances in technology are made. This is especially important in evolving to higher quality levels.

7. SINGLE INVENTORY – Once a consensus on digital cinema standards is reached and implemented, upgrades to the system should be designed so that a single inventory of content can be distributed and compatibly played on all equipment installations.

8. TRANSPORT – The system should accommodate a variety of secure content transport mechanisms, including electronic as well as a physical media delivery.

9. SECURE CONTENT PROTECTION – The system must include a highly secure, end-to-end, conditional access content protection system, including digital rights management and content watermarking, because of the serious harm associated with the theft of digital content at this stage of its distribution life cycle. Playback devices must use on-line authentication with the decrypted content files never accessible in the clear.

10. REASONABLE COST - The system standards and mastering format(s) should be chosen so that the capital equipment and operational costs are reasonable. All required technology licenses should be available on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.

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Al Barton
Sony
GM SDDS Customer Support Group
GM Digital Cinema
10950 West Washington Boulevard
Suite 200
Culver City, CA 90232

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

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"You obviously can't put a price tag on a product that is in
development, but most industry financial analysts believe that digital
cinema will begin to become attractive somewhere around $75,000 per
projector. As for when, it won't happen overnight. The projector and storage
hardware that are available today are much more expensive than that. I
believe we will begin delivering projectors within a year or two, though there
may be test sites earlier."
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/digital/kennel.shtml