quote: Thomas Jonsson

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"If for any reason it would be desirable to upgrade your booth
with new 35mm projectors - would you do it? Or would you try
to keep your old machines running until digital happens? If it
happens"

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The main denominator in this topic is of course - $$MONEY$$ !

If you got the bucks to go digital, go for it! If you got the business to help you pay back what you spent for digital, then go for it!

Otherwise, be smart and keep what you got, new or old. If new, keep them new. If old and on a budget, keep the old properly maintained-machines will last a quite a long time.

Sad thing is that even with new 35mm projectors, they will still project the same film as with the old ones-just that they run nicer than the old ones.

Digital is way too new still - remember digital projectors are actually high stung computers that LOVE to fail.

Sure, everybody loves new this and new that, but is it worth it in the long run?

35mm has definitely proved itself in all of these 100 years of analog projection. Why stir up the pot if one medium has proved itself.

..but, it's your call and the ball is in your court.

-Monte
 

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Posted by Alan Gouger (Member # 543) on 10-02-2005, 05:04 PM:
 
As Monte said Digital is still new. New technology suffers very fast depreciation in value. Look at those who bought first generation DLP. That lasted about a year or a little longer to be replaced with 2k machines. Now they are talking 4k machines. A 2k res DLP runs about 150k and up. Sonys new 4K res SXRD/LCos will be half that price. Good ole price wars. Which of the technologies will have the better picture and which will win the technology war. Id wait until the dust settles.
No reason you cannot give a first rate 35mm presentation with well maintained 35mm equipment. Most of your customers will not know the difference or care anyway.

On the Flip side if your backed with big corperate money id go on a shopping spree
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 10-02-2005, 05:30 PM:
 
Yep, as I said "High strung computers"...remember, as with computers, this market is going to change rapidly. You go by a Christie 2k machine this year, by next year that 2k will be a "dinosaur" in computer terms when the 4k's come out. Then we'll be seein 8k's..are we seeing a parallelism here as with the computer market?

Wow, just think the first generation DLP's could be affordable now since their value could be plummeting with the newer stuff coming out - then one could think of digital on a McDonald's income.

..but still, you're gonna have to pay out the yingyang for the techs to come to your digital theatre to correct a small bug since that stuff is so complex. Whereas with 35mm, you can fix a lot of things yourself- for free.

-Monte
 

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Posted by Richard May (Member # 2627) on 10-02-2005, 06:01 PM:
 
As Monte said, if you have old 35MM machines, just maintain them. I have done many renovations in the last 10 years. I have yet to replace an old projector. I have repaired the ones that needed to be repaired. They will last forever if you maintain them. I'm still not convinced that digital projection is going to take over anytime soon.
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 10-02-2005, 06:19 PM:
 
Course, please don't think of me as an old fuddy-duddy since I'm being cautious of new things that is coming out. One has to look on a very long term on such an expensive investment.

Is it going to be worth spending such for such results - which has both the potential to be massively successful with little worry, or is it going be a pain in the neck due to complications with upkeep and upgrades.

Granted, Digital is nifty, nice, pretty, shiny and absolutely GREAT!! Filmmakers love it due to the reduced expense of shooting, editing and final release product. No film stock to purchase. Yes, Digital has its pros.

Let's just wait until prices come down comparitively to a new 35mm setup sans platter system and see if this market can equal or even be superior to 35mm presentations to where it would be profitable for the mass format change.

Maybe, they'll come out with a unit that will replace just the head of our existing machine(s), mounted on either pedestal or console where we could use our existing light source, to where if we want to revert back to 35mm, a 15 minute changeout of heads would all it have to be. A head that were the soundhead assembly could be left mounted on the console/pedestal bracket - as with the Century and the Simplex models.

Also, having the same, or even lesser price of a projection head to entice the conversion to this medium a lot more.

..in which all of this could take almost a generation of time for the results to be the same.

By then, must of us would have retired to forget about all of this, or be "pushing up dandelions" for our new hobby. (LOL)

-thx Monte
 

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Posted by Olivia Coleman (Member # 3193) on 10-02-2005, 06:43 PM:
 

quote: Alan Gouger

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Most of your customers will not know the difference or care anyway.

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Yep most don't know the difference. I work a Regal that has had the digital content 'commercials' for a year and half... Many a time I've had a call over the radio that there's something wrong with the picture in 'X' auditorium "The picture froze..." Yeah, that's cause I haven't started the FILM yet!
 

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Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 10-02-2005, 08:50 PM:
 
With financial managers firmly in control of everything technical in the large circuits, the only words you need are REVENUE STREAM.

It is factually true that an all new 35mm projector is a good deal less money than the Digital; will last longer than it, and will be operational with less fuss. 99+% of all revenue is generated with film projection.

Smart money is still on film until Digital "settles down." This is a bit of an unfortunate situation since even film had a "shaking out" period which ended when the big money stopped.

Note that nowhere did I mention quality. I think fellow film-techers are the last bastion of this. The money men are driven solely by the bottom line. The showmen are relics of a bygone era. Louis
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 10-02-2005, 09:24 PM:
 
Regal is opening a new 15-screen here in 2006. It will go head-to-head with Cinemark's very successful 17-screen. Wonder if Regal will install any digital projection systems as a possible competitive move. Naw, probably not - Nobody cares!
 

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 10-02-2005, 09:53 PM:
 
Even if the price of were to be reduced from $100k to $0 tomorrow, there would be issues with manufacturing capacity (in another thread, someone points out that even making 200 units by the end of the year would be too much for Christie). And, even if that issue were to be resolved, there is still the issue of product availability. How many films are even available for DLP? What about the last 100 years' worth of motion pictures? Many theatres show older films, at least occasionally. How long will it take for these films to be made available for DLP (if ever)? How many high-res film scanners even exist in the world? If they were all to be run 24/7, would they even be able to accommodate digitizing 100% of current product?

I'm confident that 35mm will be with us in some form for a very, very long time to come, regardless of what happens with . Look how many theatres _still_ haven't converted to red-LED soundheads. That was a < $1k modification five years ago. I guarantee that it will be years before we see theatres being built which don't have 35mm equipment installed next to the machine.
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 10-02-2005, 11:20 PM:
 
Louis is correct in everything he says. Film projection will be around for at least another 15 to 20 years and will live side by side with digital for some time after that. Production of enough units in this day and age is also certainly an issue as is built in obsolescence. I have a largish circuit based here in Salt Lake City that desperately needs to replace some first generation Christies and very old Ballantynes down in southern Utah but I doubt they will because of all the "Digital hype" thats being generated these days. These guys can afford even new film equipment but they certainly cannot afford even one digital projector at the moment!

I met with one customer a couple of weeks ago in Eastern Utah that swore to me that his theatre would be all digital within 5 years... what on earth are they telling these theatre owners at the conventions... its pretty obvious they are not telling the truth, all they are doing is feeding them a bunch of hype and they are eating it all up big time!! When I was done conversing with him about all this I think he finally realized that its a ways off and in fact won't happen in his working lifetime at his theatre.... while over in the next town about 30 miles west of the other the Female owner of a small circuit was concerned about upgrading her old Simplex lens changers to something that you can get parts for..... I find it quite odd that some owners latch onto all the hype immediately and look for free deliverys of expensive digital equipment in the next year whilst other owners are able to contaim themselves and remain smart buisness people and watch and wait. Someone certainly needs to set the industry straight!

Mark
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-03-2005, 01:13 AM:
 

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen

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what on earth are they telling these theatre owners at the conventions...

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quote:

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but not this year and maybe not next year,

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Then I'll say what is the source of his info..... Alot of hype from manufacturers and film distributers......John Fithian or not this is how it'll go......

but not this year and maybe not next year, or next year but film distributers announce they are working on a plan to monitarily support digital installations, or next year, not this year either, nor this year... Fithian resigns from frustration... says Film distributers harder to deal with than North Koreans, definately not this year because TI DLP plant is riuned by a fire, a few this year from cache of TI chips found in hollywood warehouse, none this year, a couple more this year, theatres have been told to start upgrading power and sound...TI profuction facility re-opens after massive fire 5 years ago, no not this year either, not yet, a few more this year, major progress has been made towards the film distributers working out a monitary deal to pay for digital but they are dragging Jack Valenti out of retorement to be sure of anti-piracy features, obsolete DLP units up for replacement this year because of parts unavailability and Valenti says the anti-piracy features not sound, still nothing happenning this year, 10 installed this year... Valenti dies...still no anti-piracy systems that are reliable, Manufacturers work towards finding a solution to produce enough units with China being a possibility, 20 this year, 40 this year, none this year... All obsolete DLP projectors replaced this year with new anti-piracy units designed by Chineese... replacement od all pre-existing DLP units is required ue to a couple of semiconductors being obsolete...... and incompatability with the chinese code now adopted for anti-piracy, China announdes it is now building a huge DLP production plant at Chunk Bung near pea-king... so none this year either, it'll employ 25,000 chinese each making 2 yen an hour, Christie Digital folds this year while Barco pulls plug on long awaited digital projction..... both companies lay off hundreds, 45,000 DLP projetors installed workdwide in just two years.... Jobless rate approaching 25% nation wide because of china landing the DLP production contract from cheap studio executives. Millions in electronics and film industry now out of work.

Mark
 

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Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 10-03-2005, 08:16 AM:
 
Thanks for the support, guys. It's lonely sometimes trying to seperate the good from the B.S. in the projection TV debate. Louis
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 10-03-2005, 09:45 AM:
 
Mark, the only factual error I see in your essay is the Chinese currency is the yuan, not the yen.

Just as a counterpoint, if film were a new technology being rolled out to thousands of public venues around the world today, you guys would be mocking it. Film??!! Tens of thousands of reels of fragile film to be processed and handled and shipped and dropped and spliced together by hand, all without being damaged? You gotta be shitting me!! Too fragile! Platters are Rube Goldberg's worst nightmare! Projectors are full of mechanical parts just waiting to break down! Xenon lamps will explode, maiming the underpaid and unskilled operators, who have no health insurance! Common sense says the whole concept is doomed to failure!
 

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Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 10-03-2005, 09:54 AM:
 
I am cautiously updating my 35MM equipment.

There can be no doubt that digital will happen one day, the studios have to much to gain, and they hold the cards. However, I agree with Mark. It will happen later rather then sooner.

I want to get into digital as late as possible. I do not want to be a guinea pig for an experiment. They can work the bugs out with someone else. I also don't to have to replace obsolete junk every two-five years.

Two questions that run through my mind are:

What equipment will need to be replaced, when the conversion comes? Obviously projectors, platters, and soundheads are out the door. But what the sound equipment and lamphouses?

Is there a saturation point where an increase in the pixels will not make a big difference in picture quality?
 

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Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 10-03-2005, 09:55 AM:
 

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen

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Jobless rate approaching 25% nation wide because of china landing the DLP production contract from cheap studio executives. Millions in electronics and film industry now out of work....

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.....People stop going to the movies due to the massive rise in ticket costs to help cover the unforseen exspenses incurred upon the exhibitors due to all the massive upgrades and changes over the years. Average ticket price jumps to $14 while gas prices sore to an average of $5.00 for the cheap gas due to two more massive hurricanes hitting the gulf cost and sinking New orleans and destroying the oil rigs. Luckily they were able to evacuate all the people to safer ground this time so not as many deaths occured. One guy was asked when coming out of a movie how he thought about the picture and sound. His reply was "Who gives a fuck...I can get a better picture and sound on my home theatre system and not have my wallet raped by these over inflated ticket prices. The word Digital is now listed as a vulgar term in the new Webster's Dictionary.....
 

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 10-03-2005, 10:09 AM:
 
Why would one need to upgrade a sound system to support ? Can't you just plug the server into anything from a Kelmar mono system to a CP650? Even if it requires an external D/A converter, that shouldn't preclude connecting it to whatever existing system is already installed.
 

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Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 10-03-2005, 10:14 AM:
 

quote: David Stambaugh

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if film were a new technology being rolled out to thousands of public venues around the world today, you guys would be mocking it.

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quote:

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It's lonely sometimes trying to separate the good from the B.S. in the projection TV debate.

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Not really Lou....just remember, anytime you hear someone say that the "rollout" is going to happen in a "big way" or that digital will replace film in the next 2 to 5 years, just stamp ASSHOLE on their foreheads and walk away. OK, if you find that socially unacceptable, then just ask them "And that statement is based on WHAT, fool? What FACTS that you know that no one else is privy to?" I am so sick of hearing this crap being thrown around as if it has come from some industry study that takes into account ALL the variables, of which there are many, some that have not even surfaced as yet.

These same people were saying that the "big rollout" was just around the corner almost a decade ago. Well, if less that 100 screens in 8 years is a "big rollout," then yea, maybe they were right. But given the nearly 25 years it took for that "rollout" of the $700 red readers, I think you can bet that exhibitors will not swallow hype when they take a look at the bill for the change to digital -- the REAL bill, not just the cost of installation, but of maintenance and energy consumption. They will be looking at the hype with the skepticism of a guy having to actually open his wallet for this change. Even if some sort of a co-op deal is arranged, it still all comes down to a change that is, at its heart, so studios can save print costs. Then to rub salt in the wound, it passes the extra, substantial energy costs on to the exhibitor who gets NOTHING in return for it on a day in and day out operation. I think it is safe to say that if anything is certain, it is that the exhibitor is not wanton with his money. He is savvy enough to want to completely understand the long-term financial impact of running digital as opposed to film before he plunks down one red cent. He's not going to increase his operation overhead just so patrons see a steadier picture (you think he would ever give a refund because a patron came out and said, "I want my money back because that image in Cinema 3 has an unsteady picture" or "I saw some scratches in the image, I couldn't enjoy it?" If he gave a damn about that, he would be spending more money in the booth NOW.

Past a certain point, and it isn't much past -- is there a picture on the screen? is there sound in the theatre? -- he isn't too terribly concerned about more nuances than that. So what makes any rational person think all of a sudden he's going to say, "Oh sure, I will gladly take on the on-going, substantial economic burden of running digital, just so the studio can save the cost of prints and I can get a rock steady image on the screen? I just don't see exhibitors gleefully switching to ANY technology without first making sure it is going to benefit their bottom line. Studios may have power to dictate lots of things, but they can't make an exhibitor incur an expenditure that gives him no return on his dollar. Picture steadiness, pristine even after the 1000th screening, environmental issues -- they all can be damned if it's going to cost him more money to operate. It changes nothing for him -- he gets the same number of seats sold -- with everything for the studio. Yah, he just can't WAIT to buy into that!

And if he somehow comes down with dementia and DOES replace all his 35mm equipment for video projectors, woe is the movie goer. How many screens will have dull, underlite images because he has always looked for ways to scrip on anything booth related; he'll be hot to offset the additional electrical cost by "saving" on electricity when he finds bills 30% higher in an economy where energy prices continue to rise. How many screens will have blemishes all over them because of the thousands of little nano-mirrors that have died, yet Mr. Exhibitor sees no reason to replace the DLP module, mostly because it COSTS GOBS OF MONEY.

Some tell me how this is good for the exhibitor. As for the studios trying to force this down the exhibitor's throat....it won't be the first time an exhibitor will shut a theatre down rather than run it at a loss. Studios are not going to make that coveted 50 million in opening weekend if all they've got are a few hundred digital screens to play it on.

Then again, the way around this for the studios would be to just buy their own theatres and install whatever the hell they want in them. When they see the price tag for digital that THEY have to pay for, their bean counters may be screaming at them to look for nice, refurbished 35mm projectors instead!
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 10-03-2005, 10:33 AM:
 
Go all digital. Especially if you're a google-plex. That way, you'll only ever be able to show about twelve movies a year.


 

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Posted by Thomas Jonsson (Member # 1902) on 10-03-2005, 03:05 PM:
 
In Sweden the number of digital theaters are now around 40
and will probably reach 50 at the end of the year. Most of
these are single theaters located in small communities. The
equipment is leased from a Belgium company - XDC Cinema. As
far as I know, only two machines are 2 k, the rest are 1,2 k.

Not many titles have been available in DLP. Mostly Swedish
films and some of the more popular American titles.
The experiment hasn´t paid off very well so far. With few
exceptions, audience attendance have been a dissapointment
even with brand new films. Waiting for a 35mm print for a
couple of weeks would probably not make a big difference.
I don´t have any figures, this is what I´ve been told by
some of the distributors.

As for the distributors, even if they don´t get their money
back on their DLP releases at the moment, the very figure
50 (digital theaters) seems to awake some interest in releasing
more titles in DLP.

The big theater chains in Sweden are showing no signs to go
digital so far. Not to my knowledge, anyway.

One thing I find very disturbing if/when digital happens - lots
of expensive 35mm equipment will suddenly become worthless junk!
What a waste of money it will be!

Thomas
 

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Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 10-03-2005, 06:20 PM:
 
Mark, I can't wait for the 13th year of your story. I heard there was an untimely death.
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 10-03-2005, 06:52 PM:
 

quote: Daryl C. W. O'Shea

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Mark, I can't wait for the 13th year of your story. I heard there was an untimely death.

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quote:

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Kodak Digital Cinema: NETWORK-BASED SOLUTION BUILT ON LINUX PLATFORM WITH ALL SYSTEMS AND SERVICES:
Fully compliant with today's — and will be compliant with tomorrow's — evolving interoperability standards of DCI and SMPTE. Supporting a choice of projectors — up to 2K resolution today, with upgrade to 4K tomorrow. Driven by unique KODAK Software and supported by KODAK Service worldwide

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quote:

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Kodak LaserPacific now plays an integral part in the motion picture process from the beginning of photography in dailies digital preview, digital intermediate, all the way to the home video delivery elements, as well as through delivery directly to cinemas in collaboration with Kodak Digital Cinema. LaserPacific has gathered the technology, expert staff and operational acumen to change the landscape once again. Utilizing a deep understanding of the post production process and drawing upon Kodak’s unparalleled expertise in image science, LaserPacific continues to enable the creative community with powerful new digital tools to help tell the stories the whole world watches.

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[ 10-05-2005, 09:44 AM: Message edited by: John Pytlak ]
 

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Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 10-05-2005, 09:39 AM:
 
I just opened a second screen at my drive-in, and the threat of digital projection didn't even cross my mind. My second booth was opened with all used equipment, but it puts on a fantastic show none the less. I picked up a beautiful "barely used" (it looks almost new) platter from Louis, used an existing projector and soundhead I had in the garage, upgraded the sound reader to LED, and got a 4kw Christie lamphouse from another drive-in owner.

It would be hard for me to invest in brand NEW equipment that may / or may not be able to be used in 5-10 years.

I've yet to hear or see the words "digital projection" and "drive-in theatre" used in the same sentence from anybody at NATO or the DCI. That scares me more than anything.
 

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Posted by Jim Bedford (Member # 4) on 10-05-2005, 10:13 AM:
 
The real question here should be: "Would you invest in Digital projection today?" Fat chance!

We too are "cautiously updating" our 35mm equipment.

I think I'll continue to use John and Kodak a barometers. When Kodak starts running away from 35mm like the film industry ran away from silent film, it will be a signal that can't be ignored.
 

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Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 10-05-2005, 12:38 PM:
 
My understanding is that there is currently a technological limitation to Video. This means that very large indoor and all drive ins are excluded by lack of light. Louis
 

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Posted by Alan Gouger (Member # 543) on 10-05-2005, 12:50 PM:
 
What I find strange about the digital transition is we are the driving force behind the technology yet over seas governments have committed to financing their change over and are going all digital yet US theaters have no financial backing or government funding.
 

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Posted by Joseph L. Kleiman (Member # 3097) on 10-05-2005, 01:11 PM:
 
There just aren't any more digital projectors left to buy. Dolby bought every available Christie (51) and then every available Barco (34) available in North America and they still ended up short of the 100 screens originally scheduled for Chicken Little.

I say spend the $1.5 million and get an IMAX system.
 

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Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 10-05-2005, 01:11 PM:
 
Based on the way our Government usually works, it is probably not desireable to involve them. I regard this as sane people avoiding unnecessary red tape. Louis
 

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 10-05-2005, 01:55 PM:
 
Why would a government subsidize theatres? Or, worse, subisdize the conversion to equipment which is of dubious economic advantage and which produces demonstrably inferior image quality to the current technology?
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 10-05-2005, 02:08 PM:
 
HA! Good one! If the US government starts financing new projectors for movie theaters, the shit will hit the fan. Besides, then the new projectors would cost $10M each, not a mere $100K.

So, are you guys saying that Barco and Christie built a small inventory of projectors on speculation, and now they've sold them all at once, but they don't have ongoing production of said projectors to replenish their stock? WTF?!
 

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Posted by Joseph L. Kleiman (Member # 3097) on 10-05-2005, 02:30 PM:
 
Christie had not anticipated having to get 100 systems ready in only four months. Up until now, they've been turning out two to four systems per month, so suddenly to have hundreds (they've also delivered the first 100 to Access IT) in such a short period, they discovered problems in ramping up production. They were only able to deliver 51 systems to Dolby, which is why Dolby bought up Barco's existing North American stock to supplement what Christie couldn't produce. What I don't understand is why Dolby isn't using Strong for the remaining 15, since Strong distributes the third DLP Cinema licensee, NEC.
 

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Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 10-05-2005, 03:19 PM:
 
NEC is the only one of the three that have their own servers as part of their package....so they may not have stock available or would rather sell more than just the projector.
 

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Posted by Joseph L. Kleiman (Member # 3097) on 10-05-2005, 03:30 PM:
 
What makes things interesting is that the three DLP Cinema licensees have started sub-licensing their licenses to other companies. For instance, Kinoton will be releasing a Kinoton-branded DLP Cinema projector using the Barco license. And when IMAX sold off DPI, DPI sold their DLP Cinema license to NEC, with whom they developed the NEC DLP Cinema projectors. NEC then in turn shared the license with DPI who is now set to install 500 DPI DLP Cinema projectors in India.
 

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Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 10-06-2005, 08:15 AM:
 
Cinemeccanica also has a Barco relationship.
 

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Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 10-06-2005, 12:26 PM:
 

quote: Richard Fowler

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Cinemeccanica also has a Barco relationship.

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quote:

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Two Leading Digital Cinema Companies – Kodak and Barco – Forge Strategic Alliance to Serve the Worldwide Digital Cinema Market

Kodak’s Expertise in Color Science and Imaging and Barco’s Leadership in Digital Cinema Projection Systems Come Together to Create Integrated Solutions for the Digital Cinema Market

Eastman Kodak Company and Barco announced today they have formed a strategic alliance to more effectively serve the worldwide digital cinema market with a full menu of products, systems, and services, including installation and support.

Kodak has a legacy of innovation in entertainment imaging and is the world’s leading independent supplier of digital cinema systems for pre-show use; Barco is a worldwide leader in high-quality, high-resolution digital cinema projection systems and is one of only three licensees of Texas Instruments DLP Cinema™ Technology.

The new alliance has two purposes: It enables each company to sell – and to provide support for – complete integrated digital cinema solutions. The solutions will combine systems and services from each company, optimized for image quality and reliability. The alliance also will allow Kodak and Barco to collaborate on innovative and differentiated solutions for the future.

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Posted by Brian Guckian (Member # 1678) on 10-06-2005, 08:22 PM:
 
Investing in 35mm and being digital-ready must be the smart move for any cinema owner today.

It means they get the best of all worlds - and importantly can run everything. In a typical multiplex, it makes sense now to have perhaps 2 screens Digital / 35mm and the rest 35mm, but being able to add more digital screens as time goes on.

BTW I think they've gone down a cul-de-sac in trying to replace 35mm, setting up what I think is an entirely false film versus digital opposition.

If they could really start thinking about it, digital has some pretty amazing possibilities alongside 35mm. Concerts and sports are only the tip of the iceberg - for example you could reinvent the classic Saturday-morning serial for the modern era, or screen the opening episode of a major new TV drama (many of which are already shot in a cinematic style).

You can have this type of "convergence" programming projected alongside finely-crafted feature films in 35mm which continue to be made...ultimately digital is seen as another medium or format, just as today the filmmaker can shoot in several different formats and aspect ratios.

I certainly find this approach far more inspiring than the "saving costs" argument
 

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