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This topic comprises 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5
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Author
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Topic: Digital cinema may not be ready to roll
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Bruce Hansen
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 847
From: Stone Mountain, GA, USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 03-16-2006 06:16 PM
I have seen what a no-nothing, know-it-all can do to a video projector, it isn't pretty. When the usher-want-to-be-a-projectionist is told to "fix it, fix it" by the managemnet-moron types, things will go very wrong, and will end up costing lots of money, and will put that screen out of service for a few days. And you know people will be trying to hack the servers, CRASH! This will also cost big bucks, and take some time to fix. As with most greedy corporations, they only think about this quater, there is no thought about the future.
What happened to the Sony 4K projector? Is it still not ready, or is there no server that can supply data that fast for 2 or 3 hours?
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Allison Parsons
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 630
From: East Peoria, IL
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 03-16-2006 08:05 PM
quote: Darryl Spicer
Moreover, Carmike Cinemas Inc. (CKEC.O: Quote, Profile, Research), the No. 3 U.S. theater chain, began installing digital systems on all its 2,300 screens after receiving assurances from Christie/AIX, a venture of AccessIT and projector maker Christie Systems, that non-compliant components will be upgraded.
So what does this mean for Carmike? Is it a bust or will they still got thru with the installation? I was crossing my fingers my theater would get one, just so I could say "yeah...we have a DLP...."
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Ron Curran
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 504
From: Springwood NSW Australia
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 03-16-2006 08:13 PM
Bobby poses the argument that the future of exhibition will be large format film and 2K digital and his reasoning is sound.
Can you see distributors giving a $100,000 DC projector to community-run cinemas in rural areas? Or to an indie single screen that grosses $200,000 per annum?
There is an alternative scenario.
The evolution that is here now could be the actual path to the future.
In Australia and New Zealand (and I am sure elsewhere), film distributors are already distributing limited-release features on hard drive via Maxtor-type units for video projection on 1K+ projectors. When the feature was originated on tape or 16mm, this is a satisfactory presentation because, in my experience, by the time you get the used 35mm print it looks fairly shoddy, the digital track doesn’t work and the heat has gone off the demand. Also, the distributor is not insisting on more sessions than would be viable for the film – they don’t need the “print” back. Conversely, the hard drive is on the cinema’s computer so if there is a demand for a few more sessions it is possible.
The kind of video projectors in use for this purpose in Oz are typically 1-2K, adapted for cinemas (including Isco lenses).
The transfers to hard drive are done by a specialist and the image is acceptable for 16x9 screening on the more intimate cinemas where these films would usually be wanted anyway. With these limited releases the alternative is that the films would not get outside capital cities where the few prints are tied up for many months.
The same goes for the other side of the camera. For low budget film makers, the choice is usually video or 16 (occasionally Super 8), sometimes with basic production values, including lighting, so a 35mm blow-up doesn’t give a better result on the screen than the hard drive copy. Perhaps a new print might be different but this doesn’t happen with these films outside the cities.
We have screened features this way but this is not mainstream cinema and we refuse to accept this method where a decent film print is available and never for 2.4 format. We wait for a print, but not forever. If the quality isn’t there in the first place, a better projector is not going to help. Yes, I have had the opportunity to check them side by side. I repeat that this is not a substitute for 35mm film presentation but people outside capital cities can now be given the opportunity of enjoying specialist films in a cinema environment.
The projectors currently in use for this specialist product are improving with every new model, to the extent that I can see the massively expensive DC models missing out. Why spend $100,000 when a $15,000 video projector will do this job and 35mm film (also developing more rapidly than DC proponents will admit) is superior and more reliable. The video projectors enjoy a healthy market in big convention rooms, so their makers can afford the R & D to compete. It is doubtful that the monster DC machines would be competitive in that market.
Kodak has a solid R & D programme for film and I hear that other film manufacturers are not sitting on their hands.
The DC guys are salivating over the 100,000 sales potential of their projectors but that is also a good market for film projection at a fraction of the cost. 70mm for huge screens and 35mm for screens that are comfortably big.
As the commercial lower-cost video projectors have gone into booths for pre-show and specialist releases, they sit beside 35 and 70 film equipment showing everything else. DC’s main competition might be the evolution of these species. Unless the VERY expensive DC models go 4K+ at $50,000 they could miss out. Before we pronounce film as dead it might be sobering to consider what is happening right now in the marketplace. Does the industry need a 16-wheeler when a van can deliver the same goods? And the van has got there first.
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Stephen Furley
Film God
Posts: 3059
From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England
Registered: May 2002
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posted 03-17-2006 02:13 AM
That's pretty much what the UKFC scheme is doing, or claims to be doing, though mainstream-ish cinemas in London do seem to be getting more than their share of the allocations, from the list that I saw. I also understand that some cinemas which were selected have dropped out, due to either practical difficulties with installing the equipment, i.e. finding space for it, or the cost to the cinema to undertake the necessary building, electrical or other necessary upgrade works being too high for them to afford.
Has anybody heard any further news on the UKFC scheme? How many cinemas have now had the equipment installed? How many of them are regularly using it? What films have been screened with it? Are there film prints of those films which could have been screened, if the digital equipment had not ben available? How many people have been able to see a film that they could not have seen, or which they could only have seen a poor print of, have been able to see it using the digital equipment? What about the cinemas that applied, but were not selected, and will therefore be at a disadvantage if less, or no, prints are made of the type of films involved, due to the large number of cinemas which will have had the digital equipment provided for them? Lots of questions; but not many answers yet.
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Scott Norwood
Film God
Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 03-17-2006 09:23 AM
quote:
Those that I've encountered in Englandcestershire are mainly being used for powerpoint presentations and screenings from DVD thus far. Nice work if you can get it!
No, it's not. DVD is a really crappy presentation format. Every disk is authored differently and things that should be simple (like turning on subtitles) work differently on every disk (some require using menus, some require hitting the "subtitle" button on the remote, some disks just don't play at all due to region coding or poor authoring, etc., etc.). Also, unskippablele content and on-screen displays from the players are no fun, either.
Give me 35mm, 16mm, or a professional video format (Beta, Digi-Beta, HDCAM, etc.) any day over DVD for public exhibition.
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