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I think that at the end of the day the Digital vs film argument will be settled by the audience.

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In the US, the answer to that is "not a hope in hell".

In most markets, all the theaters are owned by one or two chains.
If those two chains offer only e-cinema, the studios are giving price breaks to theaters for e-prints & making it harder still to operate an independent in a market with a big company, & the audience will have the choice to either go to an e-movie or stay home.

Scott Norwood is also right about it becoming more difficult for independents. Once the studios & theaters become vertically integrated via sharing costs to install e-cinema, there is no way they can be expected (or required!) to show any product other than their own.

The US went through this before in the 1920's, it seems now that everyone has forgotten & believes that monopolies are cool again.

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William Hooper
Junk drawer: http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/theater/3622
Theatre Empire: http://members.nbci.com/saenger.1

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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

Who ran the course? Texas Instruments, one of the DLP-Cinema projector vendors, a theatre circuit, BKSTS?

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Phil Barlow I believe deserves credit for being the first distributor exec to openly acknowledge the need for distributors to bear most of the costs of transitioning to d-cinema.

Good to see you on the list.

The Hollywood Reporter notes quite a lively debate between Disney's Phil Barlow and exhibitors at Cine-Expo, regarding Digital Cinema implementation:

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CineExpo Digital Cinema Panel Projects Discord

June 26, 2001 Weekly Hollywood Reporter

By Stuart Kemp

AMSTERDAM -- Tempers flared Monday during a panel discussion on the future of digital cinema at this year's Cinema Expo International convention.

The annual conference, which focuses on the European exhibition industry, was only two hours old when sparks flew. Exhibition chiefs argued with distributors and manufacturers about who should carry the cost of the technology and whether moviegoers even care about digital presentations.

Richard Segal, managing director of the United Kingdom's Odeon Cinemas, said: "As a pure cinema operator, the most important thing to me is the customer. My biggest concern is: Does the customer who goes to the cinema give a damn about digital shows? I don't think he does."

Segal also echoed last year's concerns about the cost of implementing digital technology. "The people who are pushing for digital cinema are the people who will make cost savings in the long term: the studios and the distributors," he said.

Segal and fellow exhibitor and panelist Joost Bert, CEO of Kinepolis, also complained about the lack of content being made available to them and the lack of availability of digital content.

"We kept asking, 'Please, can we get a digital print?' Our customers are ready to pay something extra to see such presentations," Bert said. "We are frustrated at having such an expensive piece of equipment sitting there in our cinema, doing nothing."

But fellow panel member Phil Barlow, executive vp of Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, fired an unrestrained and angry response back at Segal and Joost.

"I am sorry we haven't made enough product available. It is not fast and it is not smooth just yet, but it will solve everyone's problems," Barlow snapped. "I am tired of everyone saying it is the studios that are making the money. We are not going to make anything from digital cinema for at least seven years. It is just bullshit that no one wants digital presentations. It is hugely popular. The studios will end up paying for digital cinema."

After the initial heated exchanges, however, the panelists settled down to discuss further implications raised from the seminar, titled "Digital Cinema: Why the Wait?"

It emerged that maintaining dialogue between distributors, digital technology manufacturers and exhibitors will be essential if the technology is to roll out across the globe during the next three years.

But predictions by the panelists for how deep digital penetration would go by 2004 varied considerably.

Barlow predicted there would be north of 1,500 digital projectors operating across Europe by 2004. But Segal refused to put a number on it, simply saying that "35mm would still rule the roost by 2004."

Bert said he anticipated having one digital projector in every multiplex theater with eight or more screens by 2004, but he would not be more specific.

The panel, moderated by Screen Digest's Ben Keen, also included Technicolor Digital Cinema's Russ Wintner, Boeing Digital Cinema's David Baker and RMB International's Patrick Van Dijck.

Denis Kelly, Eastman Kodak film operations manager for Europe, hosted the event, which was attended by about 300 delegates. CineExpo runs through Thursday

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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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Greg Mueller
Amateur Astronomer, Machinist, Filmnut http://www.muellersatomics.com/

My bottom line is that, usually, 16mm film is pretty grainy, and this is visible even on current television, never mind HDTV.

Obviously I don't know that much about the BEST that 16mm has to offer, but I've seen the average.

Steve