Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Finally, Datasat has a new snipe

This is topic Finally, Datasat has a new snipe in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by David E. Nedrow (Member # 4981) on 04-12-2011, 07:54 PM:

Datasat released their new Datasat Digital Sound tag.

First to video, and 35mm to follow in Summer 2011.

It's "eh", as in ok. All CGI, cartoon alien thing.

BTW, has anyone seen DTS - The Speaker Orchestra. Datasat should have licensed that and just stuck their moniker on it.

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 04-12-2011, 09:10 PM:

Weird, I think it's kind of lame. Maybe I'm just too nostalgic of DTS branding. Also, it just seems to slow for a snipe.

AJG

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 04-12-2011, 09:26 PM:

Seems kind of slow but I'd have to hear it in 5.1.

I still can't get over the extra-shitty "Datasat" name, though. Not a name that will be time-remembered like Dolby or DTS, that's for sure.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-13-2011, 11:04 AM:

It's about 20 seconds too long, IMHO.

Posted by Marco Giustini (Member # 4544) on 04-13-2011, 11:08 AM:

It reminds me 'Lifted', Pixar short on Ratatouille if I correctly remember [Smile]

Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 04-13-2011, 11:31 AM:

Just saw my first film in a theatre 'Limitless' that had a Datasat logo in the end credits crawl.

Posted by Andy Frodsham (Member # 4061) on 04-14-2011, 06:22 AM:

Too long, too slow and too specifically geared-up to hi-tech content.

How will this work in front of, say, a period film based on a story by Charles Dickens or Jane Austin???

Posted by David E. Nedrow (Member # 4981) on 04-16-2011, 03:04 PM:

Maybe this was made specifically for one of the big films do out in the summer. I would prefer Sparks, or even the old DTS Experience flying disc over this.

And it is way too long.

I still wish Datasat had struck a deal with DTS to use the DTS name for theatrical use only. DTS could use it on everything else, stereos, video games, etc.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 04-16-2011, 03:13 PM:

I really don't even know why they felt the need to break up. It's not like companies can't have two lines of product due to some weird law of physics.

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 04-16-2011, 10:41 PM:

I'm with Joe on this one....why the f**k did they bother to essentially abandon the DTS name? It just generates confusion in the customer's minds, such that they are.

I would never play a "Datasat" logo here at UCI since everyone here already knows we have DTS.

Corporate heads are notorious for making stupid decisions and sadly, DTS/Datasat has joined that dubious group.

Posted by Jake Spell (Member # 5294) on 04-16-2011, 11:06 PM:

I wonder how much it would cost to have a new DTS SPARKS or FLYING DISK 35mm trailer made? I throughly prefer them to the new Datasat trailer

Posted by Ian Parfrey (Member # 5122) on 04-17-2011, 05:03 AM:

Datasat automatically conjures images of Satellite Data transmission- which as we all know has everything to do with Cinema Digital Audio. [Confused]

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 04-17-2011, 06:37 AM:

At 47 seconds, that snipe's way too long. I doubt it would be programmed too often at that length.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-17-2011, 11:19 AM:

SDDS had that REALLY long snipe that was something around 90 seconds.

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 04-17-2011, 01:27 PM:

Could a cinema get "in trouble" for running an old DTS snipe even though all their equipment may still say DTS all over it?

AJG

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 04-17-2011, 02:08 PM:

Aaron, no they could not get into trouble.

quote: Brad Miller
SDDS had that REALLY long snipe that was something around 90 seconds.

The only SDDS snipe I've seen is the original WOOSH-WOOSH WOOSH-WOOSH - BAM - UPNOTE (I call it "The Triangle"). Really not impressive at all, but it was very short.

Posted by Marco Giustini (Member # 4544) on 04-18-2011, 07:36 AM:

I think the logo Brad is talking is the QUEST : a selection of the other three SDDS logos: way too long!

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-18-2011, 10:41 AM:

With all the times I've seen movies shown with SDDS audio I saw SDDS trailers only a couple or so times. The AMC Grand 24 in Dallas used the SDDS snipes routinely when the theater first opened in 1995. But that was the only theater where I saw the trailer used. I saw the SDDS "quest" trailer only once: at the AMC Quail Springs Mall 24 in Oklahoma City. The snipe was attached to the front of The Matrix.

Posted by Kris Verhanneman (Member # 5562) on 04-18-2011, 11:31 AM:

We had also one for SDDS with a volcano.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-18-2011, 06:07 PM:

Any executive that OKs these things ought to be made to watch it about 100 times in a row and then see if he still likes it.

Posted by Jeremy Weigel (Member # 4208) on 04-18-2011, 06:23 PM:

The "Quest" trailer was also broken up into its 3 main sections: "Volcano", "Jungle" and "Underwater". We played the "Quest" for a long time and actually had a lot of positive feedback from customers.

Posted by Scott Jentsch (Member # 1681) on 04-19-2011, 09:27 AM:

The new DTS trailer is unimpressive as presented, but maybe it's better in-theater.

I agree that Datasat is a goofy name, and the decision to turn away from years of branding was a bad one. Few enough people understood DTS, and now no one knows the Datasat name. Unless they're going to do a massive push to transition people from one brand to the other and to educate people as to why they should care, they shouldn't even advertise to the public and stick to just marketing to the industry instead.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-19-2011, 10:17 AM:

Yeah, I have a very difficult time seeing any point to going with the "Datasat" name for the DTS theatrical process. I only see it creating brand confusion for both viewers and even theater operators.

There are so many businesses making a go of it in the digital cinema market. The companies with the best brand equity (Dolby, Sony, etc.) certainly have some advantage over others with unfamiliar (and often unimaginative) names.

Over the past decade DTS has developed quite a lot of brand equity. Even if the average member of the general public doesn't understand what exactly DTS does they have definitely been exposed to the brand name countless numbers of times unless they've been living in a cave for the past decade.

The DTS logo is found in more places than ever before. In the 1990s it grew from just being seen in movie end credits (and sometimes the flying disc trailer before the show) to being printed on packaging for Laserdisc, DVDs, some music CDs and screened on the front panels of surround controllers and receivers. Today, the DTS logo can be found on just about any DVD or Blu-ray player, PS3 console, computer sound card packaging and other pieces of electronics hardware equipped with DTS decoding capability. Lately I've been seeing the DTS logo pop up on more and more HDTV sets. And that's with good reason since the vast majority of Hollywood releases on Blu-ray now have the audio encoded in DTS-HD.

The former DTS company, Datasat, may have been spun off from the company still calling itself DTS. Still, I think it's a bad marketing strategy to change the name of the theatrical unit. Ultimately it can hurt both companies. Datasat is an unfamiliar name that doesn't make me think of anything involving movie theaters at all. And the home unit of DTS ends up losing its link to the theatrical side of the movie industry, making the home brand less relevant in delivering movie audio.

We certainly don't see Dolby ditching the "Dolby" name on any of its home or theatrical processes. Instead Dolby is trying to apply brands like "Dolby Surround 7.1" to Linear PCM audio that was not invented by Dolby. And then it's funny when the Blu-ray is released the audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 instead of Dolby TrueHD 7.1. Oh well.

Many companies have been split apart yet maintained the same brand name to preserve brand equity. I think DTS and Datasat ought to be working together keep the DTS brand name alive in movie theaters as long as possible. Movie studios are itching to get rid of 35mm film prints. I think Datasat will have an easier time trying to market digital cinema oriented products under the DTS brand name, a brand with 18 years of history, instead of starting from scratch.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-19-2011, 01:06 PM:

I agree. I've never liked the "Datasat" name, in fact I don't see why any company would want the word "data" as part of their name because it's pronounced two different ways by people -- some say "day-ta" and others say "dah-ta."

I guess it's a way to exploit the high-techness of the company, since the previous DTS name (even though it originally stood for Digital Theatre Systems) doesn't seem high-tech enough.

Maybe I should change the name of my theatre, so the public will know we are a high-tech outfit with digital projection. I was thinking of DigiRoxy, DataRoxy or maybe Digidataroxy. How about it Bobby, want to help me with a logo? [Big Grin]

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 04-19-2011, 02:06 PM:

[Roll Eyes]

I shaved my legs for THAT !?

Posted by Daniel Schulz (Member # 1881) on 04-19-2011, 02:32 PM:

I can speak to a couple of the issues raised here, hopefully by way of clarification.

DTS, Inc. made the decision to exit the cinema business, in order to focus on the consumer electronics end of things. I can't really speak to their motivations for doing so, but that was the decision made by management at DTS, Inc. They sold the cinema business to a UK satellite telecommunications firm called Datasat Communications - which is where the Datasat Digital Entertainment moniker comes from. Interestingly, all of the old hands from DTS came over to Datasat - all of the staff who had been with the company from the early 90s are now with Datasat. We continue to support the inherited 35mm CD-based soundtrack business, as well as develop new audio products (seriously give the AP20 audio processor a listen - it is the best-sounding and most flexible cinema processor on the market). We are also manufacturing the DC20 D-Cinema server, and licensing use of our Digital Booking System, and have other products and services in the works.

Hopefully that explains a bit about where we're coming from.

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 04-19-2011, 03:10 PM:

Daniel, thank you for joining this discussion. Your post explains the internal reasons for the name change, but it still won't mean squat to the consumers and theatre owners (maybe some in the UK who are familiar with Datasat, but here in the US...plonko) and it generates the confusion Bobby and everyone else alluded to.

Why can't Datasat get smart and retain the DTS company name and logo, with the subscript "A Datasat Communications UK division" or something similar.

It would allow the brand identity of DTS to be recognized while acknowledging the new ownership. (Think of RCA and Thompson for example, they did it right.)

And since d-cinema is STILL not being handled by satellite transmission, even the new logo is grossly inaccurate and irrelevant.

Datasat's executives and marketing folks failed BIG TIME with this one, but they can still correct it if they do it soon.

And they can start by revising this new snipe with the DTS name..should be easy since it's all CGI.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 04-19-2011, 04:20 PM:

I knew Datasat was originally British (like BP) but I don't think they have much experience with marketing, especially in the cinema. Nobody is claiming that Datasat's products are inferior or the staff less capable compared to when it was called DTS, but Datasat really should have thought the naming of their new cinema line through and struck some sort of deal. Like Bobby mentioned, it would have been in DTS,inc's best interest as well.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 04-19-2011, 06:07 PM:

So, Digital Theater Systems (DTS) does not actually make any products for theatres (or theaters)? It seems that they have name-related issues, too. [Razz]

Posted by Daniel Schulz (Member # 1881) on 04-19-2011, 06:40 PM:

Scott - that's right, DTS no longer manufactures any products for motion picture exhibition. The cinema hardware and technology business was sold in its entirety to Datasat. They did formally change their name from Digital Theatre Systems, Inc. to plain DTS, Inc. quite some time ago (even before they sold the cinema business). Sort of like DVD used to mean Digital Video Disc, then Digital Versatile Disc, then, well nothing at all, just DVD.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 04-19-2011, 08:17 PM:

Sounds like Datasat should've created a subsidiary called Digital Theater Systems.

Posted by Andy Frodsham (Member # 4061) on 05-14-2011, 12:15 AM:

I've already had several people ask me about this new Datasat sound system they've heard about - they think it's something new, nothing to do with DTS!

DTS is a known entity, with a reasonably positive reputation. There are more than a few people who consider it their soundtrack of choice!

Posted by Kris Verhanneman (Member # 5562) on 05-14-2011, 07:49 AM:

The sound of this Datasat AP20 is good.
Easy install and setup.