The main reason at least here in the states.. is that it would be a violation of many federal statutes, not limited to rico, and also including the decades old agreement probiting studios and distributors from controlling what can play. If the studios want to go digital, they will have to accept that independants will get a piece of the playing time, and at the operators discretion..

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Anschutz may talk like they are going to drive UA, Regal and Edwards into leading the industry on converting to DLP, but I think all of their talk is just that: talk. And if they actually go through with it, the expense of those systems and their rapid depreciation rate of obsolescence will bring ruin upon those theater circuits.

yet, JVC is said to introduce in 2002 4000x2000 DILA projectors..... fill factor is 95%+ ( pixels less visible than DLP). when I see a tweaked home theater DILA can reach 1300:1 REAL contrast ratio...

Also the new PANASONIC 9600 3DLP is stunning too.

I still disagree about d-cinema benefitting indies. The ones who pay to install it are the ones who get to decide how it goes. And if that ends up being the studios and distributors, they will see to it that they end up with more control, not less. Exhibitors can complain all they want, but unless they are the ones who are actually laying down the money, they will have no say.

I also wouldn't put too much faith in the federal government to prevent anti-trust violations. There is no way any politician will risk angering the media giants these days. They will willingly look the other way if studios and distributors start grabbing more control over theatrical exhibition.

I hope I'm wrong, but I just can't imagine for a second that these big businesses will simply sit back and allow independents to gain a foothold.

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Theatres have essentially 4 things to sell: Biggest picture, highest resolution, the shared viewing experience, and first run. I'm leaving sound off the list because the best home systems can probably equal or exceed all but the very best theatre systems.

Locking into an E-cinema standard that is no better (and possibly worse) than one can obtain at home is throwing away an important selling point.

When people can see the same picture on their home theatre setups and have it be identical to the theatre picture (and the the big screen advantage is partly made up by simply sitting closer--% of one's field of view etc.) then even more will choose to do so. Day & date pay-per-view experiments bombed in the past but theatre owners won't be laughing when there is a large enough universe of HD home theatres to feed. A monopoly on first run? Don't count on it. First run follow whatever business model brings the largest and fastest return

So what would that leave us? The communal viewing experience? Many of us treasure that but a huge percentage equate it with inconvenience, sticky floors, overpriced concessions and will bail at first opportunity. That only leaves teenagers who need to get out of the house.

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The rules would prohibit any studio from doing so, but not distributors, and as we have so little of them, I do not see ANY operator agreeing to lock themselves out of other pictures.

I do not believe that this will even become an issue anyway. By the time the quality becomes true and correct, the systems will be so far down in price that every operator will be able to afford them.

I also think that theater days are not limited. Home theaters do provide a wonderful viewing experience, and that gives me pause. The way for operators to stay viable is to utilize and exploit the communal experience, wether it be short performances or shows in place of previews, comedians, or contests and giveaways. You will not get that kind of fun sitting in front of a very sterile and potentially cancer causing lazer system

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I don't have much of any problem with digital audio recording these days since bit rates and sample rates are so high in professional studios. They exceed what the best analog recording technology can do. But when it comes to actually playing rock music, I gladly defer to my trusty analog electric guitars and vacuum tube driven stack. It just sounds better. Transistors and DSP chips still can't quite create the same kind of natural sound a tube amp will provide.

35mm and 70mm film are analog technologies that still work great. And they are better than any form of digital right now.