As Digital Cinema expands, and it is going slower than anyone has predicted, the 35mm inventory may decrease, but it will never go away. I'll be "food for worms" long before the last 35mm print is made.

Yours, Ted

Some proponets of digital projection might argue about the supposed sharpness of the image, but that is all relative. I mean, look at a 15 inch computer screen displaying a basic 640 X 480 desktop. You can argue that picture is pretty darned sharp, but it doesn't hold squat for actual image detail. That's why DLP has to improve by a few leaps before I think the image quality standards will be good enough to replace 35mm film projectors.

The same image quality standards have to extend over to film photography as well. A good 35mm motion picture camera and good film stock is going to do a better job of capturing image detail than a glorified HDTV 1080 camera. Perhaps when digital video technology matures to a level perhaps double the 1080 standard, then arguments for digital origination might make more sense.

Dr. Morton's work shows that 35mm film supports resolution of at least 4096 lines horizontal. Scanning and recording technology for this high resolution is becoming more available and cost-effective:
http://www.cinesite.com/CineonTech/resoultions/ResChart.html
http://www.arri.com/entry/products.htm

For example, Cinematographer Steven Poster ASC photographed the movie "Stuart Little 2" on 35mm KODAK VISION Expression 500T Film 5284, which was then scanned at 4K resolution for the effects, and then recorded back to film at 4K.

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
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

Our little AAFES (Army & Air Force) theaters all around the world are no match for the glitter of the megaplexes back stateside but we do manage to attract some big celebrities on opening night.

The entire cast of the movie "Ocean's 11" recently deployed to Incirlik Air Base for the world premier of their latest movie.

Jerry Weintraub, producer of the film headed an all star cast, which included George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. Our theater staff rolled out the red carpet, literally, for the entourage to arrive with all the fanfare of a Hollywood premier. The crew and ushers were outfitted in Las Vegas casino regalia....just to add more flair to the excitement.

Even European Motion Picture Technicians got envolved, helping by fine tuning the projection and sound system. Technician Alain Orgnon did a superb job making the system perform at peak capacity.

The theater posted six performances, with each show having a maximum participation of 244. The stars spoke to the audience for the first two events before having to be whisked away to London, England. An additional three performances were added to meet the community's needs and maintain the excitement.

Kudos to the stars who took the time to stop and see our forward deployed troops at the 39th Wing and Operation Northern Watch.
http://www.af.mil/news/n20011210_1764.shtml http://www.etonline.com/celebrity/a7959.htm

I have never personally visited this site but can assume they are running 1950 vintage Simplex XL changeovers with a Dolby CP55. Probably still using RCA 9030 soundhead too.

D-Cinema is not about getting rid of film. I think we all know this. It is partly about lower distribution costs, constant presentation quality and other items that the "non-caring" projectionists do to film.

You also have to look at DLP costs with this in mind. The components involved in the manufacture are being custom made. Custom circuit boards, heads, all the stuff. Once a production run is made, these costs will come down. Take a look at any new invention. These costs are high until production can happen. I don't see how the DLP is more complex. The playback units tie into your existing automation system.

Another thing to think about since we are talking about Technology Adaptation.

How long did it take the industry to accept new sound formats and were the "same" complaints being waged then? How long did it take the theatre chains to add in digital sound and did they complain when a new technology was introduced?

(I may not have these in the right order and for that I apologize)

Dolby --> Dolby SR --> DTS --> Dolby Digital --> THX --> SDDS

Did the proponents of sound in film say that I'm not going to accept this digital stuff, my analog sound is great. Yes, analog sound can be great and is still in use today (when the digital track fails) and has not been replaced totally. It can't be because of the reliability of digital readers. Same with D-Cinema. It will not replace film.

There are people on this forum that I know will prefer to see film over D-Cinema. They have a keen eye and a great film presentation adds to their fulfilment of watching a movie. This should never go away. However, for Movie Companies, distributors, and all others involved, this technology will become more accepted.

One last item. What are we as comsumers going to do if they replace DVD technology with something else in say 20 years? Just let it happen and throw away our DVD players or force manufactures to keep this technology alive. I would suspect that DVD players will still be made just like turntables are still made today.

Paul: IIRC the sequence on sound runs

Dolby > Dolby SR > THX > Dolby Digital > DTS > SDDS

How can I tell? General Cinema opened Bridgewater Commons around 1988 with THX in the largest hall. That theater installed Dolby Digital for The Crying Game and DTS for Jurassic Park.

"Dolby > Dolby SR > THX > Dolby Digital > DTS > SDDS"

I would make it:

Kodak 16mm Prototype Stereo Demo (Ron Uhlig) > Dolby > Dolby SR > THX > John Allen Fantasia demo > Kodak CDS >Dolby Digital > DTS > SDDS

Kodak's Ron Uhlig demonstrated a prototype 16mm stereo optical soundtrack that used Dolby noise reduction in October 1972 (published SMPTE Journal April 1973), showing the feasibility of using stereo variable area analog tracks with efficient noise reduction.

John F. Allen's demo showed the promise of digital sound in theatres. February, 1985:
"HPS-4000® and the Century Plaza Theatre make history once again
with the first ever public presentations of a film with a digital stereo soundtrack. The film used for this historic occasion is Walt Disney’s FANTASIA, coincidentally, the first film ever presented in stereo. In May, 1985, Digital film sound makes its east coast premiere in Washington D.C.Again, the film is FANTASIA, presented in HPS-4000® and digital sound":
http://www.hps4000.com/pages/articles_page_.html

Kodak worked with Optical Radiation Corporation to develop Cinema Digital Sound (CDS), the first sound-on-film optical digital soundtrack, introduced in 1990. Although not commercially successful, it led to the development of digital sound by Dolby, DTS and Sony:
http://members.aol.com/cds3570/

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
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

Century City Lowes Cineplex Century Plaza (4 screens)
Santa Monica AMC Santa Monica 7 (2 screens)
Burbank AMC Media Center North 6 (1 screen)
Irvine Edwards 21 Megaplex (1 screen)

No DLP of any kind anywhere near where I am at the moment.

Cheers!

Paul
On the road somewhere in northern New Mexico

Actually THX belongs inbetween Dolby A and Dolby SR, as THX debuted in 1983 with 'Return Of The Jedi' and Dolby SR debuted in 1987 with 'Innerspace'.