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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Topic: Christie Opens New China Manufacturing Facility
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Aaron Mehocic
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 804
From: New Castle, PA, USA
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 06-19-2010 08:55 PM
Yes, but what we are talking about here is what an economist would call Export-Led Growth. "White man", according to Mark, came up with this idea after World War II and we all know the reasons why. Bottom line: Its a great concept - as long as you don't have to fight the guy who gets all your factories (That is one of the reasons why China has MFN [Most Favored Nation] status).
In my lectures, I am a big proponent for Import Substitution. This is where a nation places high tariffs on imports to the point where nobody wants to send their product there. In the meantime, small start-ups develop meeting the needs of the domestic consumer with their products. These start-ups then perfect the product and go to market with it. After enough home-based companies are up and running the tariffs are removed, and foreign-made goods can now compete fairly along side domestic products. The consumer then decides who's product they want to purchase and QUALITY not QUANTITY rules the marketplace.
The United States did this very thing after the War of 1812 and the legacy of this action is still with us today in the form of DuPont Chemical and Remington Arms. Of course, this same form of protectionism was the basis of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930 and as we are all aware that was a meaningless piece of legislation since most foreign imports dried up anyway shortly after the October, 1929 Stock Market crash. In truth, if Import Substitution was attempted today by the United States along these same proportions as explained here . . . the current economic downturn would be yearned for as "Happy Days".
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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!
Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 06-20-2010 09:36 AM
Yes Mark, any group of most anything has its share of crap and gold...USA included, for sure. I do come from an era where Japan = Junk and watched that change to the point where Japan = Great and the USA stuff was more suspect. This notion was highlighted in the film Back to the Future when Doc Brown noted all of the electronics were made in Japan.
However, China = Junk seemingly is holding on. Furthermore, this business of substituting materials, putting lead in paint, cadmium into drinking cups...etc...they are not just isolated problems...they take shortcuts and there is no denying that buying from there is little different to exploiting slave labor. There is not great mystery...they are not more efficient/smarter. They don't have the environmental, labor and other laws that most civilized nations have. It is like going to the Olympics and running a 100m dash but putting hurtles up on every country buy China....who do you think would win? It is time we stop "protecting" China's industry...Protectionism is supposed to be bad.
The NEC stuff is "okay" and offers very few advantages. At present, other than initial cost (yes it is notably less expensive) it has four (4) HDSDI spigots. Few will take advantage of that but some of my clients definitely would.
quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
For many the less expensive NEC is an excellent option and it is a big money saver especially when installing them in large plexs.
It all depends...IF you can get the light you need on a standard cinema lamps...then yes, they will be cheap solution. If you are needing over 10,000 lumens...then no...the lamp costs will get you over other DLP solutions. Depending on how long you plan on keeping the unit, the lamp costs will not only erase the installation cost advantage, but you will spend more on the long haul in both electricity and the lamp itself.
quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
The matching EPRAD bases not only blow away every other D-Cinema base option out there today but they too also make installation faster and wiring a breeze.
Define "blow away." EPRAD does have several base solutions (and Strong has one too that has some nifty features). One thing the Christie and Barco pedestals have going for them is size...they are easier to move into a booth up a narrow stairway. Cost...at least the Barco pedestal is a bit cheaper than the others. I do like that EPRAD makes several so one can decide just what features are important and get the pedestal that fits their needs best. The documentation on them is interesting but last I checked, they lacked dimensions...which sometimes is the critical factor. The Strong pedestal can have the racking configured many ways and the breakers they use if you get the Power distribution option are genuine Square-D QOs. It makes for a nice transition from a Console as it is a 3-phase panel, even if you only need single phase.
quote:
No software issues here so far. The setup software works fine and is quite fast. I can't answer for series one although there are lots of them in the SLC area and I've heard no complaints in regards to color correction issues. You simply can not work with any of this gear and expect to not have any software issues at all!
I have only worked with the series 2 NEC so I can't comment on the series 1 software (appears to be the same)...mine refused to take color correction numbers...I had to back door it in using the TI software (ICP Enigma). There was a new version posted on 6/14/10...so that might have the fix in it. As for software issues...that was the only non-functional part...but the besides that NEC's DCC software is a bit on the weak side overall. It isn't as slow as Christie's web based ones but all are way far behind Barco's Communicator. I don't know if I've ever had a non-functioning part of Barco's software, going back to DCine Communicator (1.3K projectors through the DP100). If you want to do special venue stuff, Barco's software is going to let you do it and overall is the best laid out that I've used. It is also the best functionality.
As for the eCNA...if you have an eCNA-200 from the film installations...you are in luck...it will give you most/all of the eCNA 10/eCNA-5 capabilities. All of those relays are addressable via commands (a bit cryptic commands but they all follow the same flow... CMD,OUT,0,<relay function,N,?? so you can get direct control. Or, if you choose, you can have it run a program just like from film and merely have your DCinema system send "cues" back to the eCNA to step it through the program. It will be the fastest most pain free DCinema installation for that. It will then also show up on your status monitors just like the film theatres. If you know the eCNA-200, you'll be okay with the eCNA-10 and, for Gods sakes, use the Web interface for the programming. the eCNA-5 also looks to be a nifty, real low cost, set of "hands" for your DCinema player. Ins/Outs on it. Probably all most will need to control lighting and masking.
As for test targets...NEC definitely has the lamest set that comes with it. I don't think I ever found a "framing" target on the NC2000 and it definitely didn't have a focus target. Like with the series ones, I'm starting to acquire ones for series 2s that I'm carrying with me so I can always have my preferred targets. Series 1 machines used ".tga" files, series 2 use ".png" files. I guess one can even make their own as they are just graphics files. One could also convert their .TGAs to .PNGs. But how hard would it have been to have a focus and framing target already loaded? I too use a server based framing chart when I do the screen files. I carry them around on our "CRU" drive and make sure they (and other) targets we might need are loaded on the servers I'm aligning. I agree that the server based targets are the ones to use for critical alignments. I do like the "Framing2" target from the DLP projectors since it has all of the various non-DCinema lines/dims on it for setting up alternative content. Of course, I carry a generator for that too but for quick set ups, it is quite the handy target.
Yes, resolution targets would be nice though I'm sure the thought is...the resolution is fixed (they are pixels). One thing I'm seeing is that the various projectors have varying degrees of color smear. That is...Blue may have a smeared appearance or Red even multiple colors. It isn't model specific, either. I've had my best and worst on the same model. I have noted that Christie has the LEAST amount of this...and thus far, NEC the most.
I agree, there ought to be a way of qualifying lenses too. I don't think they are all created equal (they were not in film). There are several brands out there and I don't think they all do equal jobs on all models. I wish Schneider would make some zooms to give the others a run for the money. They are making some fixed focal length lenses including one for Curved screens (finally).
Steve
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Brad Miller
Administrator
Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99
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posted 06-20-2010 11:52 AM
I really hope people out there can comprehend the logic and intelligence in Steve's comment here. Buying NEC for anything but a very small screen is about the stupidest thing anyone can do. It is infuriating how many stupid people are out there in the industry that can't do simple elementary school math and realize the NEC in most all situations COSTS THEM MORE. There is FAR more than simply basing a decision on the initial price tag. Yeah the price is cheaper, but just how much more will it COST you? I'm not just picking on this specific example of NEC's projector...just think about other digital cinema equipment such as servers.
quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
For many the less expensive NEC is an excellent option and it is a big money saver especially when installing them in large plexs.
quote: Steve Guttag
It all depends...IF you can get the light you need on a standard cinema lamps...then yes, they will be cheap solution. If you are needing over 10,000 lumens...then no...the lamp costs will get you over other DLP solutions. Depending on how long you plan on keeping the unit, the lamp costs will not only erase the installation cost advantage, but you will spend more on the long haul in both electricity and the lamp itself.
On a different, but similar note, bear in mind when it comes to digital cinema, there is bribing going on and a lot of under the table money being passed along to people responsible for making purchasing decisions. I've heard this from multiple people who it has been offered to now, to the tune of tens of thousands payable cash direct to the person who helps push a purchasing decision. The smarter crowd can analyze the companies out there and figure out which of the companies NEED to resort to that tactic.
Whatever happened to the notion of building a better product to increase sales???
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