Barco digital projection exclusive choice for Premiere Cinema Corp.

http://www.dcinematoday.com/dc/PR.aspx?newsID=1280

 

Kortrijk—Dec 12, 2008

Following closely on the signing of the Phase II Supply Agreement for Digital Cinema systems with Cinedigm (formerly AccessIT), Premiere Cinema Corp. exclusively selects Barco for its digital projectors and complete systems integration solution.

Digital Cinema pioneer Barco announced today the signing of an agreement with Premiere Cinema Corp. to be their sole provider of digital cinema projectors and full systems integration for the digital conversion of their circuit. The deployment includes the complete Barco family of projectors on the .98” platform (DP-1200, DP-1500 and DP-2000 digital cinema projectors) in both 2D and 3D configurations with screen servers from both Doremi and GDC.

Texas-based Premiere Cinema Corp is expanding digital cinema’s reach throughout the southeast, as they add 137 projectors to their digital deployment which currently has 42 Barco-enabled digital screens in three theatre locations.

Premiere currently operates 169 screens in Florida, Alabama and Texas, and in conjunction with Cinedigm’s technology and platforms, is scheduled to complete this phase of their deployment in the first half of 2009. Premiere will be installing many of the systems in their unique non-mezzanine theatres. In these innovative installations, Barco projectors are mounted on small pedestals above the last row of stadium seats, a configuration made possible by the projectors’ light weight and compact footprint.

As an innovator and early adopter of digital cinema technology, Premiere CEO Gary Moore extolled the virtues of his cinema conversions with Barco. “Our inauguration into the digital era occurred in the spring of 2007, with seven Barco DP-100 projectors at our theatre in Orlando’s Fashion Square Mall,” said Moore. “Our management staff and operators have had nothing but praise for the Barco systems, and have been clamoring for us to complete their theatre complexes immediately.”

Full conversion in conjunction with Barco and Cinedigm is beginning immediately. “We’re very satisfied with Barco’s digital projectors and service, and look forward to completing our circuit,” explained Moore.

“The entire Barco organization is pleased with every aspect of deploying a complete circuit for Premiere, a company with exceedingly high standards and creative ideas,” said Terri Westhafer, Director of Business Development for Barco’s digital cinema business. “The quality and dedication of each theatre’s management and technical staff within the Premiere family is exceptional. We have entered into a valued partnership with Gary Moore and his team, and look forward to supporting them as they continue their digital expedition.”

 

New Christie AutostackT Helps to Quickly and Accurately Stack and Blend Projector Arrays

http://www.christiedigital.com/AMEN/Corporate/MediaCenter/PressRelease/NewChristieAutostackHelpstoQuicklyandAccuratelyStackandBlendProjectorArrays.htm

   Christie AutoStack™ is a powerful, yet cost-effective and easy-to-use image-blending solution that automatically calibrates and blends multiple projector displays with unsurpassed speed and accuracy.

   Used in conjunction with the industry-leading Christie Twist™ warping and blending solution, the system supports various screen sizes and aspect ratios, utilizing screen points for quick geometric calibration.

   Christie AutoStack is also ideal for blended and stacked projection displays that are permanently installed. 

 

Overview

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Amsterdam/INTEGRATED SYSTEMS EUROPE – (January 29, 2008) – Christie, a global leader in visual solutions for business, entertainment and industry, introduces Christie AutoStack™, a powerful, yet cost-effective and easy-to-use image-blending solution that automatically calibrates and blends multiple projector displays with unsurpassed speed and accuracy.  The first of its kind to be purpose-built for the Rental/Staging market, Christie AutoStack addresses the market’s “need for speed” in the set-up of increasingly complex projector arrays, utilizing a minimal level of technical expertise to achieve quality, professional results. 

Today’s staging events demand ever-more sophisticated visual displays that employ intricate networking, blending and stacking.  Christie AutoStack features an innovative, camera-based solution and intuitive user interface that achieves highly accurate blending of up to twelve projectors in an average of just two minutes per projector – faster than manual set-ups by the best professional.  Used in conjunction with the industry-leading Christie Twist™ warping and blending solution, the system supports various screen sizes and aspect ratios, utilizing screen points for quick geometric calibration.  In addition, it supports horizontal and vertical blending, with a live camera preview to aid in quick set-up. 

Christie AutoStack is also ideal for blended and stacked projection displays that are permanently installed.  End users can tweak and align their systems to maintain optimal performance and image quality without spending excess time and labor.

“The experience level required to create and maintain blended systems in today’s sophisticated staging venues is very high, while at the same time the cost of experienced labor makes it difficult to stay on budget,” observed Joel St-Denis, value-add product manager, Business Products.  “With Christie AutoStack, less experienced users can simply point the projector to overlap the desired screen area, set up the Christie AutoStack camera, input their instructions, and the software does the rest.  It’s a powerful, economical solution that solves one of the industry’s most critical challenges.”

He noted: “Christie AutoStack is ideal for many of our customers.  It represents the competitive edge that will allow them to cost-effectively meet the needs of their most demanding clients, while maintaining the highest standards of quality.”

Christie AutoStack is part of the Christie TrueIMAGE™ family of integration solutions that includes the industry-leading Automatic Display System Calibration and Motorized Optical Blending for projection arrays.
 
Visit Christie at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2008, Stand F82, for a demonstration of the new Christie AutoStack.  ISE takes place at the Amsterdam RAI conference center in the Netherlands, from the 29th – 31st of January.

About Christie
Christie is a leader in visual solutions for world-class organizations, offering diverse applications for business, entertainment, and industry. A leading innovator in film projection since 1929 and a pioneer in digital projection systems since 1979, Christie has established a global reputation as a total service provider and the world's single source manufacturer of a variety of display technologies and solutions.  With its recent acquisition of Vista Controls Systems, Corp., Christie offers the most complete and advanced solutions for cinema, live venues, control rooms, business presentations, training facilities, 3D and Virtual Reality, simulation and education as well as industrial and government environments. For more information, visit www.christiedigital.com and www.vistasystems.net.

 

A Step Towards the Classification of 3-D Displays

http://community.reald.com/blogs/real_d_blog/archive/2008/06/27/612.aspx

A recent article in a prestigious journal has inspired this blog.  In it was included a foldout chart classifying stereoscopic moving image systems.  The chart was obscure and confusing.  I prefer to have people understand stereoscopic imaging, and the chart is of no help.  It isn’t as if the classification of stereoscopic imaging systems is at the same level of complexity as that of the Periodic Table.  But classifying a technology family, a system created by the human mind, can also be challenging.

I divide the field into two parts: projection systems and other displays such as flat panels.  There are only three ways that a plano-stereoscopic image (a two-view system) can be selected.  You can select the image based on color (or wavelength), time, and polarization.  One interesting thing about this is that the time selection technique can work with the other two.  In fact, for the present generation of stereoscopic projection systems using the Texas Instruments DMD engine, time is combined with the other two methods to provide a shuttering system; so you can’t classify any of the present projection systems under one category, except for shuttering eyewear that use time for selection. 

You can have a train of left-right images, variously described as field-sequential or time-multiplexed, in which shuttering eyewear like CrystalEyes are used.  XpanD eyewear are used in some theatrical installations and their eyewear shutters open and close in synchrony with the video field rate and, by a well-known principle, when the left image is on the screen the left eye is seeing an image (and the right is blocked), and vice versa..  Provided that the repetition rate is high enough, you see left images with the left eye, right images with the right eye, and a good-quality stereoscopic image (if everything else is done correctly) results.  This is time-division multiplexing or temporal multiplexing, and it uses a shutter.  There are two other systems that I alluded to.  One uses color and the other uses polarization.  As noted, both are combined with the temporal multiplexing or shuttering approach for projection. 

Color selection has been called the “anaglyph,” and I am not going to depart from that terminology.  Generally anaglyphs use broad filtering for two halves of the visual spectrum – one towards the reddish end and one towards the blue end.  Such a technique can use two projectors, or the images can be combined on a single file or print and projected using a single projector.

The Dolby system is the modern version of the anaglyph, and they license the technology from INFITEC.  It is a wavelength selection system but it uses very narrow spikes of filtration at three parts of the visual spectrum which are at different locations for the left and right eye.  In this way you can get good color images, unlike the traditional anaglyph (which I find to be an abomination for 3-D projection).  Dolby uses a spinning filter incorporated into the projector so that the output is a sequence of field-sequential color-encoded images.  When combined with proper selection device eyewear, the left eye sees only the left train of images and the right eye sees the right train of images.  One advantage is that you don’t need shuttering glasses, which are electronically driven devices that presumably would be more costly than passive devices that employ filtration.  Unfortunately, this isn’t the case with regard to the Dolby system in which the selection devices’ lenses, using retarder stacks, cost about as much as the shuttering eyewear. 

The next system I’ll describe uses polarization.  There are two kinds of polarization: linear and circular.  Circular polarization is outputted by my invention, the ZScreen.  The ZScreen, when combined with the single DMD projector, produces a selection technique that can be classified as both polarization-selection and temporal-selection.  When you’re designing a system like this you have to pay attention to both the polarization and shuttering aspects of the design.  That means you need a polarization-conserving screen, which both the Dolby and the XpanD shuttering system don’t require.  The ZScreen alternates the characteristic of polarized light at the frame rate to produce alternate trains of left and right images with polarization encoding.  When you put on polarizing glasses using this system you’re actually looking through a shutter and the parts of the shutter are distributed among the eyewear, the screen, and the ZScreen.  You can say the same thing about the Dolby system.  The Dolby system is a shuttering system as well as a color-selection system, with the parts of the shutter distributed among the eyewear, the screen, and the spinning color wheel incorporated in the projector.

For polarization, what has been done since the late ‘30s (and perhaps even earlier) is to put polarizing filters over the left and right projectors.  You need a polarization-conserving screen and everybody wears 3-D glasses with polarization filters which could be circular or linear. 

For projection systems the wavelength and polarization techniques are combined with the temporal technique for a single-display-device projector (in other words, a single projector coming out of a single optical path).  For flat panels or electronic displays of any type we can do the same thing, and we can also use a dot- or line-sequential (spatial) approach.  If you have a single display, somehow or other on the surface of the screen, either in time or in space, you need to share the image.  This sharing is then combined with the other selection techniques by a means that is analogous to what has been described with regard to single projector systems. 

Let’s take the case of a liquid crystal display, because that is the dominant display and will be the dominant display for years to come.  If you could make liquid crystal displays run fast enough, you could view the display stereoscopically using shuttering eyewear, for example.  The only viable means art this time is line-sequential selection combined with microscopic polarizer.  The dominant player in this field is Arisawa Corporation, and they manufacture a micro-retarding device that is applied to the surface of a liquid crystal display.  Because the display already uses a linear polarizer for image formation the combination produces areas of left and right handed circularly polarized light. This produces a line-sequential display that alternates, in the case of their embodiment, left- and right-handed circular polarization states in horizontal lines. 

The CRT display is history for the most part but for years it dominated desktop stereo displays using the field-sequential technique.  Flat panel displays can, without equivocation, locate each pixel, but you can’t do that with a CRT.  However, CRTs are fast enough to use either shuttering eyewear or a polarization modulator placed in front of the screen. CRTs have been supplanted almost entirely by liquid crystal displays.  That’s too bad, because they work very well for stereoscopic desktop applications for scientific imaging and visualization.

The other type of display that has characteristics similar to a CRT display is the rear-projection television (RPTV) sets made by a number of companies who license the technology from Texas Instruments.  To get a high resolution of 1920 pixels, and because of the physics of the DMD engine, they use the diagonal interlace technique, also called the checkerboard technique.  Because of the rapid refresh capability of the DMD they are able to use a time-sequential technique, so shuttering eyewear can be used with these kinds of monitors and produce an excellent image (albeit half resolution in each eye).
After I completed this blog article I hit upon the classification system I will present in the next blog (how I hate the sound of that word) article.

Published Friday, June 27, 2008 2:42 PM by Moderator

 

REAL D 3D Lexicon

2D to 3D conversion
The conversion of a standard film into the stereo format. Any 3D film can be converted to the REAL D Cinema format.

2K digital projector
Currently the projector of choice for REAL D Cinema with a native resolution of 2048 by 1080 pixels.

3D
The term that was used for years to describe stereoscopic movies that require two eyes to get the full effect. People in the computer graphics field use the term 3D to describe any realistic image even if you can see the effect with one eye.

Anaglyph
A stereo image that requires glasses with red and green (or blue) lenses for 3D viewing. It's been widely used for print media and lately for a few kids? movies. Most people complain about eye-strain and fatigue after only a short viewing experience.

Autostereoscopic
A term that describes seeing 3D without having to wear special glasses.

CGI (computer-generated imagery)
The modern process for creating cartoon animation using computer graphics. CGI films are particularly easy to convert to true stereoscopic 3D.

Circular polarization
Linear polarization has been the standard technique used for 3D projection since the 1930's. Circular polarization, unlike linear polarization, allows you to tip your head and still see a 3D image.

Crosstalk
Incomplete isolation of the left and right image channels. Crosstalk is a physical entity, whereas ghosting is a psychophysical entity. Crosstalk detracts from the enjoyment of a stereoscopic film.

DCI/Digital Cinema Initiatives compliant
Compliance with the standards set by Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC (DCI) for an open architecture for digital cinema that ensures a uniform and high level of technical performance, reliability and quality control.

D-cinema/digital cinema
The projection of movies in digital format using digital projectors such as the DLP units from TI.

Flicker rate
The number of individual images flashed on the movie screen per second. The conventional cinema uses 48 flashes of image per second. REAL D stereoscopic movies use 144 flashes per second.

Gain
Movie screens are rated on their reflectivity on a scale called gain in which a screen is compared to a flat white surface. A gain of 2, typical for 3D screens, means that the screen is twice as bright as the reference screen.

Ghosting
The perception of crosstalk is called ghosting.

Head tilt
Tilting your head will cause you to lose the stereo effect by increasing crosstalk for most linear 3D movie systems, but not for the REAL D system that uses circular polarization.

Polarized glasses
Glasses with polarizing filers that, when used in combination with the appropriate projection lens filters, select the left image for the left eye and the right for the right eye and block the unwanted images from the inappropriate eyes.

Shutter glasses
Glasses with electro-optical shutters that alternately close and open over one eye, and then the other, in synchronization with the field rate of a digital projector orvcomputer monitor. The projector/monitor alternately displays left and right perspectives. CrystalEyes is the original flicker-free product of this kind and has been in production serving scientific visualization of almost two decades.

Stereoscopic
A display that allows us to see the world with the unique depth sense (binocular stereopsis) that originates because we have two eyes.

Triple flash
REAL D's process where each picture frame is repeated three times, rather than twice as has been done in the past for stereoscopic projection. The result is you see no flicker and the motion looks as smooth as a conventional 2D movie.

NEW CHRISTIE DUAL PROJECTOR

http://www.digitalcinemainfo.com/christiedigitalcinema_03_06_08.php

March 6, 2008

Source: Christie Digital

Christie, a global leader in Digital Cinema now offers the industry’s most cost-effective and flexible 3D Digital Cinema system. With the power of two Christie DLP Cinema(r) projectors, the new Christie 3D2P offers more than double the brightness for presentations on screens of any size. Complete with an innovative stacking frame with rollers and adjustable racks, the system can be easily moved whenever and wherever needed within the complex.

“This is an exciting new offering from Christie,” says Brian Claypool senior product manager, Entertainment Solutions. “Not only does it provide the exhibitor with great flexibility, it also allows exhibitors to own the complete 3D system without recurring fees. It provides significant cost savings not available through systems requiring long-term licensing arrangements.”

The first to be installed in a commercial setting, the Christie 3D2P has been successfully deployed for groundbreaking 3D Digital Cinema features. The dual projector system is already winning praise from moviegoers at the widely acclaimed Krikorian Premiere Theatres, where it is presenting the latest 3D Digital Cinema releases.

“3D Digital Cinema is one of the most exciting developments in our industry. We looked at current single-projector 3D solutions and didn't like them for different reasons, including cost. We selected the Christie dual projector 3D2P solution because we can now screen the latest 3D features on any size screen in all of our complexes with no real concerns about light issues," remarks Todd Cummings, vice president of operations for Krikorian Theatres. “In fact, with the growing popularity of 3D, we will be utilizing the system on our larger 60-ft screens for 3D features. One of the distributors told us that they will be looking to increase the light through the polarized glasses by more than 30% for their future live action 3D films. Only a dual projector set-up can meet that requirement. A single projector system currently would not be bright enough to cover such a large screen.”

Cummings adds, “Because we own the entire 3D solution, Christie lets us bring the technology to our audiences at the lowest cost of ownership. The Christie support team worked with us every step of the way and they were willing to incorporate several of our ideas to make the system fit our needs. We wanted to make sure that we could deliver to our customers a perfect movie viewing experience right from the start.”

Claypool recounts, “Christie brings more than 75 years of experience to the cinema industry, with a history of innovations that has helped to revolutionize and dramatically redefine the movie viewing experience for every new generation. Christie’s new dual projector 3D system continues our proven track record of ensuring that exhibitors have available the widest range of cost-effective solutions to meet their needs.”

With the Christie 3D2P, exhibitors can utilize any of Christie’s comprehensive family of Digital Cinema projectors including their existing Christie projectors, in almost limitless combinations. The Christie CP2000 Series projectors also remain compatible with existing 3D technology providers.

 

Digital Cinema Conversions and New Installations

http://www.clacoequipment.com/Digital%20Cinema.html

Digital Cinema Conversions and New Installations

CLACO offers all aspects of Digital Cinema sales, installation, service, and repairs.  Digital systems designed for the smallest POST PRODUCTION SCREENING ROOM,to SINGLE SCREEN THEATRES, MULTIPLEX'S, to LARGE FORMAT THEATRES looking to get rid of the high costs of their 8/70 or 15/70 equipment.  We can help you design a high performance system to meet your needs be they 2D, 3D, Pre-Show or all three.

This page should help clarify what equipment will be required for your conversion to Digital Cinema. All of our recommendations come from extensive research and hands on experience of the different manufactures equipment available.  Our recommendations are not just based on Cost Factors involved, but also Quality, Reliability, Parts availability, and the Customer Service offered by the manufacturer after the sale.  

ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT DIGITAL

WHO ESTABLISHED THE EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS AND WHY:

The equipment specifications for Digital Cinema have been set forth by "Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers" (SMPTE) as well as "Digital Cinema Initiative" (DCI), which is comprised of the major studios. These requirements are in place to ensure consistent levels of picture quality, as well as to protect the content from being copied and distributed illegally. Compliance to the present DCI specifications regarding equipment utilized is required before any of the major studios will allow you to book content for presentation. Although the DCI Compliance specifications are still not quite nailed in place, most equipment manufacturers design and manufacture their equipment based on the requirements DCI has set so far. Most of this equipment, and all the equipment offered by CLACO, meets this requirement, or can be easily upgraded in the future to meet DCI compliance, should the present DCI specifications change.

WHAT IS 2K vs. 4K:

Sony Corporation and JVC are the only manufacturers offering 4K Projectors, the JVC being too small for actual theater usage.  4K stands for a picture quality of 4096 x 2160 pixels, or just over 8.8 million pixels in total. 

All of the other manufactures, Christie Digital Systems, BARCO, and NEC are 2K resolution.  Meaning that the DLP image area is 2048 x 1080pixels or just over 2.2 million pixels in total.  All three 2K manufacturers utilize three T.I. (Texas Instruments) DLP "chips" to reproduce the picture on screen, while 4K systems are utilizing three LCOS "Chips".  In both systems each chip represents a primary color... Green, Red, and Blue.  


LENSES FOR DIGITAL CINEMA:

Before we dive into lenses, a little knowledge on how the scope and flat formats work for D-Cinema:

During this discussion keep in mind that the actual DLP chips are compromised of an area of 2048 pixels wide by 1080 pixels high, a little over 2.2 million pixels!

Flat, or 1:85 ratio, in D-Cinema is the higher resolution of the two formats and it covers an area of 1980 pixels wide by 1080 pixels high on the DLP Chips. Scope, or 2:35 ratio, on the other hand is the lower resolution format covering only 2048 pixels wide by 858 pixels high, so scope is in effect "letterboxed" on the DLP chip. This smaller letter boxed image must be magnified by 1.26X in order to fill a constant height scope screen. Some manufacturers use zoom lenses with long ranges in them, so one end of the zoom range can be set for flat and the other for scope, this sometimes works alright. For situations that a single zoom doesn't work out to cover both formats.  Example being where you may land in the middle of a given range of two different zoom lenses.  On these occasions it may be necessary to actually purchase two different zoom lenses at great expense!

All present lenses for Digital Cinema are currently manufactured by Konica-Minolta and are of the zoom type.  Some lenses, for certain models of projectors, utilize zoom ranges that will cover both scope and flat formats only in specific ranges.  Then there are a few models of lenses offered, for a few specific projectors, with overlapping zoom ranges. It seems that none of these ideas worked 100% of the time, so Christie had Konica Minolta developed a zoom converter lens or magnifier (also commonly called the WCL 'Wide Converter Lens') to take care of the task of magnifying that letterboxed scope image for constant height screens. This extremely high quality 1.26 magnifier lens (WCL) is an extremely sharp lens, corner to corner, with very high efficiency. The sole purpose of the WCL is to go in front of the existing zoom lens to magnify the scope image so it will fill your screen.  It's our prefered way of handling a constant height screen situation, because it works in 95% of the situations, and also prevents you from having to purchase an extremely expensive second zoom lens.


WHAT IS A SERVER, AND WHICH ONE IS RIGHT FOR ME:

A Server is a storage device for the Digital Content. It contains the Server Storage Software as well as the Show Manager Software. It's where the files you receive on a hard drive are "ingested" and also where you build up your show by adding the previews, automation cues, etc. to the feature.  Once you have ingested the content to the Server, you then create your show.  

WHAT IS A LIBRARY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM:

Also called an LMS, the Library Server is a specialized server that can do quite a few different tasks.  Among them the LMS can store film, preview, header files, etc. and move these files either by scheduled means or manually to the individual auditorium Show Servers.  An LMS is used when the new films start arriving in the middle of the week, and when shows are moved between auditoriums.  These new films can be ingested into the LMS and then moved to an appropriate auditorium during off hours, utilizing a simple time schedule. When you come in the next morning all your shows will be in their proper auditoriums. This is very handy as some servers can not ingest content and play back at the same time.

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS WHEN CHOOSING MY 3D, AND DO I HAVE TO INSTALL A SILVER SCREEN:

So far there are 4 different options when it comes to 3D Digital Cinema.

2 STACKED PROJECTORS SYSTEM:

One way to present 3D would be a "Stacked" Two Projector System, requiring the use of 2 Digital Projectors, but utilizing one server.  Since each HDSDI link can transport 10 bit data streams one projector is fed from the "A" HDSDI Data Output and the other projector is fed from "B" HDSDI Data output.  This system does require the installation of a Silver Screen, and the system can utilize either linear or circularly polarized filters and glasses.  Circular polarization normally provides the higher quality image, free of the artifacts found in the linear polarization system.  In the Stacked system you would be able to use inexpensive (non-reusable) glasses.  The Polarization takes place in front of the lens of each projector by using optical quality glass polarizing filters.   Light loss is one of the biggest concerns with 3D and can be on the order of 50% loss due to the filters and glasses.  With the Stacked system, your light loss would be less due to doubling the light out put when using two projectors.  To use the stacked system, you would be able to buy the less expensive Doremi Server to run it.  Also with this system, there are no Re-Occurring fees, or licenses, paid to anyone once you have purchased the system.  So far almost all of the studios have approved the Stacked 3D System, but there is still one major studio (Disney) that has NOT yet approved it for 3D.

DOLBY 3D SYSTEM:

The Dolby Digital 3D Playback unit and the Dolby 3D Color filter wheel system. This system does run on only one Digital Projector and is reported to be compatable with all popular servers in use.  Dolby 3D projects alternating color images for the left eye/right eye that are not identical with respect to their color frequencies.  The viewer wears the special Dolby Glasses with filtering lenses that have been exactly trimmed to these color frequencies.  This way the left eye sees only the left eye image and the right eye sees only the right eye image.  Because it's based on color frequency, the Dolby System does not require a silver screen to function, just a normal white surface 1.8 gain screen.

The Dolby 3D system does require that you use their Dolby brand 3D Glasses.  In order to keep re-using these glasses, you are required to supply an Industrial washing-sterilizing (Dishwasher type) machine that will keep the glasses up to Health Department standards.  This machine can also be quite expensive and requires space to set up.  Please note that you would need to have on hand at least double the amount of glasses per seats available in the auditorium.  This allows you to be washing a complete set, and be showing the next movie with the freshly washed set.  Dolby has also embedded an RFID tag into each pair of glasses so that the theatre can purchase an Electronic Detection system, similar to like a record store entrance, to help deter theft of the glasses.  With this system, there are no Re-Occurring fees (Licenses) paid to anyone once you have purchased the system.  

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT DOLBY 3D

MASTER IMAGE 3D SYSTEM:

Another option is the Master Image 3D System that has recently been approved by all studios.  It is a Single Projector 3D system that will work with ANY Model and Brand of DCI Compliant Digital Projector.  With this system, you will be required to install a Silver Screen.  It is a Circular Polarity System and you would be able to use inexpensive (non-reusable) glasses.  Master Image can also supplies the 3D Glasses that will work on their system.  You can purchase the system outright, or Master Image had a Extended Payment Program. The Extended Payment Program has you put forth an initial down payment, then over a 5 year period they collect fee from every ticket sold to the 3D presentations.  At the end of the 5 years you own the equipment and the fees stop.  The unit comes with a 1 full year warranty, but additional years can be purchased to extend the warranty and maintenance on the unit for an additional 4 years (required if on the Extended Payment Plan, and Highly recommended if buying the unit outright).

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MASTER IMAGE 3D

REAL D 3D SYSTEM:

The last option for 3D is the Real D 3D system. This system requires a Silver Screen, but you can utilize the Cheaper Disposable (non-reusable) glasses.  Real D will also supply the Circular Polarized Glasses that will work on thier system.  The Real D system can run on one Projector and mounts in front of the Lens for the Polarization effect. Theaters interested in Real D have to contact Real D directly and negotiate their own contract.
Real D would normally charge you an upfront fee, then they also require a certain amount of Each Box Office Ticket Sale price per 3D Showing and possibly also a yearly fee. You must also sign an exclusivity agreement (contract) for a 5 or 10 year period with them to get their system during which no other brand of 3D system may be installed.  Real D does maintain and upgrade their systems when necessary as part of the contract.  The exact fees, agreements, or contracts must be worked out directly between the theatre and Real D, and my not reflect complelty the above descriptions.  

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT REAL D

HOW DOES THE SERVER TIE INTO MY EXISTING SOUND SYSTEM:

The audio output of most servers is pure 24 bit uncompressed 5.1 channel digital sound offering the best quality sound presentation that our industry has ever heard.  Almost all of the existing Sound Processors already in use are not capable of accepting this AES balanced digital signal.  If your processor does not, then you will need to have a Digital to Analog audio converter such as the DMA8Plus by Dolby Laboratories.  Or USL, Inc. offers the DAX-602 Basic Model or ECI-60 Multi Input Advanced Interface Model to convert the signal into a usable 5.1 channel analog format.  


WHAT IS CONSIDERED ALTERNATIVE CONTENT, AND HOW DO I PLAY IT:

Alternative content is any content that is not a regular release feature.  It consists of On-Screen advertising, Blue Ray DVD Players, Satellite feeds, HDTV, and Computer inputs such as business presentations etc.  Most of this content is in a format well below the 2048 X 1080 output of the projector, so the addition of an image processing and reformatter unit will be needed to put the content into usable signal at the highest quality possible. There are a myrad of format converters available, from single definite purpose converters, to 'all in one' boxes that can deal with almost any type of signal you want to feed in.  Your needs and budget will dictate which one will work best for your situation.

CLACO RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EQUIPMENT

 

PROJECTORS:

CLACO recommends the Christie Digital Systems line of projectors.  Not because over 80 percent of the existing installations are using their projectors.  Not because they have the best light output and contrast ratio over their competitors.  However both of those aspects are good reasons in their own right.  We recommend them because they offer the highest overall performance, highest reliability, and because they offer the best service before, during, and after the initial purchase of your equipment.  They have proven themselves over the years to be the most reliable, best built, and most user friendly of all the projectors out there.

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES AND SPECIFICATIONS OF CHRISTIE DIGITAL PROJECTORS

 

SERVERS:

CLACO recommends two different systems, both the Dolby Laboratories Server, and the Doremi Server.  Which Server to use depends on the customers requirements vs. the servers capabilities.  Including factors such as what type of 3D system, if any, you will be utilizing.  
The Dolby Server consists of two parts.  The DSP100 Show Player, and the DSS100 Show Store.  
The Doremi Server is a single unit system Model DCP 2000.  

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE DOLBY LABORATORIES WEBSITE OF DIGITAL PRODUCTS

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES AND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT DOREMI LABS SERVER

LIBRARY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS:

Dolby Laboratories offers the DSL100 Show Library that works with their DSP/DSS100 system.  
Doremi offers the SSR212MC2 Intel Storage Server.  
CLACO recommends using the system that matches your Server.

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES AND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DOLBY SHOW LIBRARY

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES AND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT DOREMI LABS SHOW LIBRARY

 

DIGITAL TO ANALOG CONVERTERS:

Dolby Laboratories offers the DMA8Plus Digital Media Adapter.  
USL, Inc. offers the DAX-602 Basic Model or the ECI-60 Electronic Cinema Interface for much greater input selections.  
CLACO recommends any of the above units, they are all excellent.

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES AND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DOLBY DMA8PLUS

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES AND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE USL, Inc D to A Converters

 

ALTERNATIVE CONTENT FORMATTER:

CLACO recommends the Christie CINE-IPM 2K Digital Cinema Image Processing Module for the overall multi-format input capabilities that it offers.  Additional Option cards can be added for even more flexability.  The CIN-IPM 2K reformats the input signal into a 2048 X 1080 resolution.

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES AND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CHRISTIE CINE-IPM 2K

 

AUTOMATION CONTROLLERS:

Dolby Laboratories offers the NA10 Network Automation Interface.  
Christie Digital Systems offers the the ACT Digital Cinema Automation Control.
CLACO recommends either unit.

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES AND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DOLBY

 

2008 Review of the Year - Crunch time

Michael Gubbins

19 Dec 2008 00:00

 

This has been the year of the reality check. Over the last few years, there has been reason for confidence about strong growth. Globalisation was opening or reopening territories, with vast populations seemingly all demanding to be entertained. New technologies were promising to crash through the limitations of the physical world and create new routes to market as well as breathe new life into theatres.

 

And at the beginning of 2007, there was excited talk of the hedge-fund boom in the studios stretching into at least the higher echelons of the international industry. Banks and international financiers were backing plans for new European studios that promised to stitch up multi-territory deals.

 

That finance has not totally evaporated. New deals are still intermittently declared; Stewart Till, for example, was able to announce in September the acquisition of Icon's international arm, backed by money from New York-based international industrial group Access Industries.

 

Yet as the year developed, worried talk of a 'credit crunch' turned to a realisation that much of the world was heading for full-scale recession. How that will affect the industry is unclear.

 

As there is no such homogenous body as the 'international film business', it is a pointless exercise to try to measure what effect the recession might have on it.

 

Downturns emphasise the reality that the industry is fragmented by country and region, by the scale of business and by different interests all along the value chain. How a South Korean producer sees the world right now is very different from a Norwegian exhibitor.

 

Nonetheless, generalisations quickly gain currency and for a while, there was talk of movies being 'recession proof', based on ageing historical data that remains untested.

 

It is true the box office has remained strong in many territories. Indeed, if content remains the one true king, this has been a good year. Demand remains high and the notion of an industry running out of ideas is provably wrong even before we enter a new 3D era.

 

The first big global hit of the year, Cloverfield, was an extraordinary exercise in exploiting boundaries that many thought had long passed into cliche. Reports of ambulance crews taking viewers to hospital may have been a wheeze from the marketing department, but the use of handheld cameras was disorientating and a very smart means of rethinking the monster movie at low cost.

 

Cannes produced Waltz With Bashir, Il Divo and The Class, which all told their stories in startling and different ways and with a power nothing but cinema could deliver.

 

The fact Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah, and the book on which it was based, should attract Mafia death threats and actual killings is a testament that the relevance of film remains.

 

Even a big hit such as Mamma Mia! The Movie showed there is nothing like the theatre for a shared feelgood factor. As one Indian producer pointed out in Dubai this week, the film is basically Eurovision Bollywood.

 

So from The Dark Knight to the smallest micro hit, film has retained its muscle; audiences have lost none of their appetite; and the theatrical bit of the industry that the neophiliacs had suggested was the most likely victim of a digital age is leading the way. But those facts only add to the reality check: this is a business without an efficient and transparent means to connect production with audiences.

 

 

Production outstrips demand

 

In most international territories, production is not linked to demand. The weakness of government support for production based on cultural protectionism is that films are made without actually reaching audiences. Figures from the European Audiovisual Observatory in Cannes this year revealed the number of films produced in Europe was growing steadily, with no relation to box office at all.

 

The contrast with the US studios is clear. With the end of the hedge-fund boom, the studios - and more to the point their multinational, diversified owners - are having to focus on real business.

 

The culture of easy money is gone, replaced by harsh business realities that are beginning to have an impact on jobs. The studios have been reducing the number of big productions, building around fewer but smarter franchises.

 

The new realities at least in part explain a difference in attitude from actors at the prospect of a strike compared to their writing colleagues at the start of the year.

 

Some of the studios are also working at the other end of the scale; at Berlin, Universal Pictures International revealed details of its plans to marry its distribution muscle with local film-makers, building out from local success to maximise reach.

 

The squeeze has come in the middle. Most dramatic has been the closure or restructure of some of the studios' specialty arms that were once seen as the future hope for Hollywood. The absorption of New Line Cinema into Warner Bros Entertainment as a genre unit in March is still having an effect on markets.

 

Even accepting Miramax president Daniel Battsek's suggestion in October that there was a danger in veering wildly from one end of the scale to the other, there is no question the specialty dream of studios and mini-majors has been getting a hefty dose of reality. That fact was emphasised this month when Bob Yari revealed his Yari Film Group's releasing division had been compelled by court order to go into involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

 

The perfect storm in the markets that Yari described has, however, not yet impacted on the production levels of many national industries. But while there have been major successes in local films, such as the record-breaking Welcome To The Sticks in France, it is difficult to see rising levels of production as anything other than over-production.

 

Certainly cinemas could not accommodate the level of films made, ostensibly for cultural reasons, and yet were unable to reach beyond small audiences in the big cities.

 

 

Online distribution moves

 

There are only two possible answers to over-production: fewer films or increased distribution through new channels.

 

'Straight to online' might have been a funny put-down a couple of years ago, but there have been significant signs of interest. Again, these have been relatively low-scale projects but name directors have tried their hand at reaching audiences through the internet. Wayne Wang's The Princess Of Nebraska premiered on YouTube and claimed 165,000 hits in its first two days. Michael Moore similarly opted to release his documentary Slacker Uprising online. In both cases, the critical issue was a desire to reach and influence a wider audience than arthouse cinema can deliver.

 

It is a long way from here to a mass acceptance of online distribution in film, but a generation of net-native film-makers who believe they can make a mark online are highly visible at virtually every conference and festival. At the very least, there are film-makers who see online work as an effective calling card. And yet, this year will have disappointed the revolutionaries. Digital may be finding its feet but the industry is scarcely shaking in its boots yet.

 

That is partly because DVD has proven highly resilient. Predictions of a big downturn for the physical format have proved premature. It remains the dominant format in terms of revenue and sales. The format war won by Blu-ray had a beneficial effect of driving down costs which may lead to a big leap forward in DVD sales during the holiday seasons, at least in key US and Japanese markets.

 

One factor is that online alternatives have failed to materialise. Apple's iTunes has established a lead in the legal download market with a movie service it launched this year, yet it is dwarfed by DVD sales and that may remain. A Screen Digest report suggested in December that online revenues would account for just a fraction of the market by 2012 - although predictions about virtually all online developments are difficult.

 

 

Digital cinema stalls

 

Perhaps the biggest digital disappointment, however, has been the achingly slow progress of the switch to digital cinema. Ironically, even as doubts about the inevitability of D-cinema change have evaporated, the progress has stalled.

 

The studios have been pumping millions into providing content they believe takes advantage of this trend - 2009 ought to be the year of 3D. Some are even more specific, believing James Cameron's Avatar will be the breakthrough 3D movie that starts an era just as surely as sound did. And Disney made an unequivocal commitment to the process, this year pledging to make all future animations in 3D.

 

Yet for much of the world, the third dimension is going to be missing. Indeed, in Europe in particular, pessimists are predicting mass closure of small cinemas.

 

Recession has turned that concern into a major issue. Even in the US, where installation was happening fast, there has been a slowdown. But in Europe, in particular, with its wide spread of smaller independent film sectors, the fear of a knock-on to the wider film industry is very real.

 

Fewer places to show film will exacerbate the over-supply issue and raise questions about the basis of film policy - how can you have a cultural justification for funding productions that few will see?

 

But new opportunities for smaller exhibitors are becoming clearer. The lucrative screening of live opera in cinemas around Europe has shown the power of cinema as a community venue. The possibility of showing a broader range of film is also promising and may throw up opportunities. In Brazil, this year, a new business model from MovieMobz is showing the potential of cinema-on-demand in which audiences can help fill programming.

 

A breakthrough in 2009 may come from a range of sources. Government at all levels may understand the need to protect a vital community resource, the bigger chains may decide that delaying the switch longer is dangerous in a highly competitive entertainment marketplace, or the industry may decide it needs to make a collective decision to look again at the deal on the table in the interests of all.

 

Either way, the future of theatrical depends on change.

 

Monsters Vs. Aliens will be the first movie trailer in Superbowl to be broadcast in 3D.

http://today3d.blogspot.com/

On February 1st, during the Superbowl, the 3D trailer will air. So where do you get the 3D glasses for this experiment? Well, as you might have heard, NBC is also airing a special 3D episode of Chuck later in the month (the trailer is likely to re-air in 3D at that time). Viewers will be instructed to pick up special glasses at any Sobe or Pepsi display at participating retailers to be able to watch the commercial and television show in 3D. I love the idea behind the concept, but the execution is pretty baffling.

Sadly, this is Anaglyphic 3D technology (aka Red eye/Blue eye) which is 50 year old technology. Jeffrey Katzenberg Spoke about the dangers of the public’s perception of that old technology. His big pitch is that the new technology is far superior, and that the concept of Anaglyph is holding the 3D movement back. I’ve been a big supporter of DreamWorks Animation’s 3D workflow, and the technology, but this seems backwards, even to me. James Cameron has also been outspoken against studios using Anaglyphic technology for DVD releases. So it seems strange that Katzenberg would use the old technology to promote the new technology.

 

Is 3D a cure-all for an ailing film economy?

http://today3d.blogspot.com/

 

As far as Jeffrey Katzenberg is concerned, up to now there have been but two "revolutions" in the movie business: the mass introduction of sound with 1927's The Jazz Singer (a process 30 years in the making) and, a year later, the debut of The Viking, the first feature presented in Technicolor.

 

All of cinema's other advancements, from CinemaScope's widening of screens in the early 1950s to Lucasfilm's THX sonic boom in 1983, were mere evolutions—giant steps, yes, but in others' tracks.

 

At least, this was the theory advanced by the chief executive officer of DreamWorks Animation as he traveled the country earlier this month touting the film business's "third revolution": 3D movies (a revolution more than a century in the making). No longer, says Katzenberg, will 3D serve as a cheap "gotcha" gimmick, an exploitation hustle; instead, it will be a way to advance storytelling and "emotionally immerse" the audience in the film. 3D, he insists, "captures the essence of being there in a unique way. And it re-energizes in a very big way what it means to come to the cinema...which is a shared, communal experience."

As opposed to, oh, that home-theater system and high-def TV keeping you home most nights. Especially now, as everyone's pinching their pennies instead of someone else's overpriced popcorn.

To prove his point, Katzenberg screened three scenes from DreamWorks' March 2009 release Monsters vs. Aliens, starring Seth Rogen and Stephen Colbert, in an homage to the kind of 1950s creature features that used paper-glasses 3D to compensate for the lack of, well, everything else. Katzenberg is right to be excited about the future: For the first time, a 3D movie isn't a gateway drug to ibuprofen. Specks of dust and chunks of rubble fill the theater, and a 50-foot-tall woman, voiced by Reese Witherspoon, does indeed look ready to bust out of the cineplex ceiling.

But rendering the passive into the visually interactive comes with a steep price tag at precisely the wrong time. A planned $150-million movie wound up costing an extra $15 million, for which DreamWorks will charge moviegoers an extra $5 at the ticket booth. And theaters will have to upgrade their equipment: Screens will need to be more reflective, and projectors will have to throw a brighter light. Such redos will cost theaters "tens and tens of thousands," Katzenberg acknowledges—an exorbitant price tag evidenced by the relatively few number of theaters that have made the upgrade thus far, despite such successful recent 3D releases as Journey to the Center of the Earth and the Hannah Montana and U2 concert films. Katzenberg had hoped there would be 5,000 3D screens ready to show Monsters vs. Aliens by March; in reality, he'll be lucky to find half that many.

"The implementation timeline has been extended by the economy," Katzenberg admits.

Indeed, though 2008 box-office receipts are on pace with 2007's record-setting $9.6 billion haul in the U.S. alone, actual ticket sales are down—due in large part to the rising cost of the average ticket (an estimated $7.08 per ticket in '08—or 20 cents more than in 2007).

"Even though we're having a pretty good year this year, movies are in decline," Katzenberg says. "Now, I'm talking about in movie theaters, not in life. Movies are seen in more ways, and at more times, and by more people than ever before, but the movie-theater experience is declining and has been declining for years and years and years. To me, this seems like an opportunity to reverse that. So it's a business opportunity and a creative opportunity.

"As of today, there are only three businesses in America that seem to be doing well: Wal-Mart, McDonald's, and movie sales. The gross revenue for movies is going to be slightly up from last year, which was a tremendous year. We'll be slightly under $10 billion, even though admissions are going to be a teeny bit down from last year. Tell me any business that can say that about themselves in 2008."

But a bit of history to keep in mind: Just as talkies were booming, literally and figuratively, the Great Depression struck—and yes, even then studio chiefs insisted theirs was a "depression-proof business." As Tom Schatz reminds in his definitive early-Hollywood history The Genius of the System, "1930 was Hollywood's biggest year ever, as theater admissions, gross revenues, and profits reached record levels. Economic reality quickly caught up with the movie industry, though, and the studios paid dearly for their blissful ignorance. Falling attendance, depleted reserves, and tight fiscal policies staggered the studios by 1931-32, especially those that had expanded most aggressively in the 1920s."

The current recession, expected to last well into 2010, may be the least of Hollywood's problems; that pesky actors' strike, now more promise than threat, may prove considerably more staggering than folks sitting on their couches and their wallets. And DreamWorks Animation is hardly the best benchmark: It released only two films in 2008—Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar 2—both of which were among the top-grossing films of the year. The fact that they were also smart, entertaining films aimed equally at children and adults didn't hurt. Beats the hell out of a second mortgage spent on a day at the amusement park.

Katzenberg probably has just the ticket to survive an economic meltdown: light, all-ages escapist fare presented in crystalline 3D—"the premium experience," he likes to call it. One need only look at the top-grossing films of the early 1930s: monster movies, Busby Berkeley musicals, and comedies starring the likes of the Marx Brothers and Mae West. Yesterday looks a whole lot like today, as Batman, Indiana Jones, Jack Black as a punching panda, a robot named WALL-E, and Meryl Streep singing Abba clog the box-office top 10 of 2008. Not a single somber, serious soul in sight. So, yeah, Seth Rogen as a 3D ball of goo? Maybe that's the very definition of depression-proof.

 

Taking 3-D to a new dimension: the TV - Los Angeles Times

http://today3d.blogspot.com/2009/01/taking-3-d-to-new-dimension-tv-los.html

By Alex Pham
January 5, 2009
For nearly a decade, television makers have been asking consumers to step into high definition. This week, they'll be asking buyers to step into three dimensions.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, companies such as Panasonic Corp., Samsung and Texas Instruments Inc. will show off TV technology capable of displaying 3-D-like pictures. The industry is billing it as the next big leap in TV technology.

The idea of bringing 3-D to screens in the home is making a comeback after failed attempts, in the 1950s and then again in the 1970s. Hoping the third time will be the charm, manufacturers are making a concerted push this year to promote 3-D TV as the best way to enjoy live sporting events and action films.

"Unlike earlier attempts, it's not just gimmick to try to sell a bad horror movie," said Doug Darrow, a Texas Instruments executive. "It's a whole different picture now."

Backers of 3-D say there are compelling forces behind the technology, which they say has evolved significantly from the days of the red and cyan glasses.

Already, some 1,500 U.S. theaters are capable of showing 3-D images. In recent years, movies such as "Bolt" and "Beowulf" were shown in 3-D. Rock band U2 last year recorded a concert film in 3-D with the help of Burbank production company 3ality Digital.

In December, the National Football League dipped its toe in the water by broadcasting a 3-D game between the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers to select theaters, and the National Basketball Assn. is doing the same with some events during next month's All-Star game weekend.

What's more, a slate of nearly two dozen movies that can be shown in 3-D is scheduled for release over the next two years, including "Toy Story 3," "A Christmas Carol" and "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs."

Now, those same forces are lining up to find a way to bring 3-D into the living room.

"In many ways you have the perfect storm brewing," said David Wertheimer, executive director of the Entertainment Technology Center at USC. "Content makers, electronics vendors and consumers are aligned in their interest in bringing 3-D from the theater to the home."

To defray the extra expense of creating 3-D movies, which can cost 15% more to make, Hollywood studios are taking a hard look at ways to deliver 3-D to the home.

"The studios are putting a lot of money into producing 3-D movies for digital cinema, and there's an incredible slate of 3-D movies coming" in 2009, said Brad Hunt, former chief technology officer of the Motion Picture Assn. of America and now president of Digital Media Directions, a consulting firm in Westlake Village. "They're now very interested in creating a thriving 3-D home video market to generate payback for their investments in making these movies."

It's too early to tell whether consumers will bite. So far, audiences have taken well to 3-D releases in theaters. Last year, half of the tickets sold for "Bolt" were for the 3-D version, even though 3-D screens represented just 32% of the total number of screens that played the movie, Wertheimer said.

A joint study by the Consumer Electronics Assn. and the Entertainment Technology Center that's scheduled to be released at this week's trade show found that nearly 15% of the 1,000 adults surveyed saw a 3-D movie at a theater in the last 12 months. And 16% said they were interested in watching 3-D movies and TV shows at home.

"While the numbers may appear small to some, it is important to remember that 3-D is a technology few consumers associate with a home experience," the study said.

One big question: Who will want to don 3-D glasses? The current generation is essentially miniature LCD screens that flicker at high speeds, filtering different images to the left and right eye to produce an image that appears three-dimensional.

"Early pairs looked like welders' goggles," said Dan Schinasi, senior manager of product planning at Samsung's consumer electronics division. "They functioned well but they weren't very stylish. Now, they're pretty lightweight and they look just like sunglasses.

"Of course, in a perfect world, we wouldn't need glasses," he added. "But at this point, we believe glasses produce the best optical experience."

Glasses or not, it will be several years before 3-D TVs become mainstream. That's because the consumer electronics industry, movie studios and broadcasters have yet to agree on standards for recording, transmitting, receiving and interpreting 3-D signals. Many are hoping those technical details can be ironed out this year, Hunt said. Only then can the work of creating discs, players and TV sets to display 3-D video begin in earnest, he said.

That hasn't stopped companies such as Philips, Samsung, Mitsubishi and Panasonic from introducing "3-D-ready" sets. Philips last fall demonstrated a 3-D display that didn't require glasses. Panasonic is expected to make announcements about its 3-D plasma technology at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Some 3-D-capable televisions are already in consumer homes, including a number of Mitsubishi rear-projection models as well as Samsung's rear-projection and plasma TVs. They still need the 3-D programming, conversion software and the glasses to display such images.

"There's in excess of a million TVs in homes today that are capable of showing 3-D, and most people don't even know it," said Darrow, the brand and marketing manager for Texas Instruments' DLP Group in Dallas, which makes high-end chips responsible for displaying 3-D images in the vast majority of rear-projection TVs.

Darrow said that figure would easily double by the end of the year as the format gained momentum.

 

3D games and films to launch in living rooms

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/20a925d0-da81-11dd-8c28-000077b07658,Authorised=true.html?nclick_check=1

 

By Chris Nuttall in San Francisco

 

Published: January 5 2009 05:08 | Last updated: January 5 2009 05:08

 

Three-dimensional technology is spreading from the cinema to the home with media companies and consumer electronics manufacturers gearing up for living-room launches of the viewing technology.

 

A number of 3D product announcements are expected at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, the biggest electronics trade fair of the year, with video game devices expected to be among the first to find their way into the hands of consumers.

 

The graphics chipmaker Nvidia will launch its GeForce 3D Vision product: 3D spectacles that link up wirelessly to a personal computer and allow gamers to play more than 350 existing PC games in 3D.

 

Nvidia has also developed a video player that will allow 3D films to be played on a PC monitor or through one of the “3D ready” television sets that will be on display at the show.

 

But one problem is that Hollywood studios have yet to agree on a common standard for 3D.

 

“It’s in its infancy. One studio is going one way and another in a different direction, but we plan to support all standards,” says Ujesh Desai, Nvidia’s GeForce general manager.

 

Also for gamers, a $400 22-inch 3D monitor from iZ3D, special glasses included, will go on sale across the US this week and the company will demonstrate at CES a version that displays Xbox and PlayStation 3 console games in 3D.

 

With high-definition television having come into the mainstream, consumer electronics manufacturers are seeing 3D as the next big innovation that will boost TV sales, although the initial sets on display have little content to show at present.

 

Consumers may be more ready for 3D than companies imagine. A recent survey by the Quixel research company of more than 750 HDTV owners found that about half were interested in watching 3D at home and more than a third expected 3D TV in one to two years’ time, with content coming from their cable and satellite operators and Blu-ray disc players.

 

“Consumers have a very positive outlook on 3D, but economic conditions are making people less likely to want to pay more for it,” says Tamaryn Pratt, Quixel research principal.

 

CES attendees will also be able to see a cinematic live sports presentation in 3D of the national college football championship game, filmed on specially modified Sony HD cameras and presented by Fox Sports.

 

David Hill, head of Fox Sports, has already warned TV makers not to expect 3D on broadcast television unless they agree to subsidise the cost of cameras and other equipment needed by the networks to convert to the format.

 

In the UK, the satellite broadcaster BSkyB has been trying out 3D cameras and testing the delivery of 3D programming through set-top boxes.

 

Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive of the DreamWorks Animation studio, told analysts recently that 3D on TV currently had to be watched close up in a darkened room to get the same impact as in a cinema.

 

He said: “It’s new hardware. It’s going to take a long time before there’s wide penetration”.

 

Additional reporting by Kenneth Li in New York

Could 2009 be the year of 3-D?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2009/jan/02/us-box-office-preview

 

With US cinema attendance dropping in 2008, studios and exhibitors are looking to the summer's blockbusters in the format, such as Monsters Vs Aliens and James Cameron's Avatar, to attract new audiences

Comments (…)

January is the month known in Hollywood as the dumping ground, which seems an unreasonably narrow opportunity given the quality of American cinema these days. The studios will unleash their slew of sub-par nonsense in the coming weeks, but today is very light as 2009 gets under way with only one new release of note – Ed Zwick's wartime thriller Defiance, starring Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber. The project was the talk of the town when it was announced at Cannes 2007, but the buzz died once people saw the finished product. The declining fortunes of the movie's moribund specialty distributor Paramount Vantage hasn't helped matters either, and the limited release probably won't live up to its name.

This means last weekend's reigning champions, a boisterous bunch led by Fox's hit comedy Marley & Me, can continue to make money untroubled by new blood. The week between Christmas and New Year's Eve is traditionally one of the biggest of the year and the gains made by Marley & Me, Paramount's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (it's released by Warner Bros in the UK), Disney's Bedtime Stories and MGM/UA's Valkyrie provided a useful year-end boost to the 2008 box office. At the final reckoning, 2008 box office came in at about $9.6bn (£6.57bn), just short of the all-time record of $9.68bn (£6.62bn) set in 2007.

Last year would have set a new record had Warner Bros gone ahead with its November launch of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The studio put the release back to this summer when it realised it didn't have a single bankable movie for the 2009 blockbuster season, which can't have left McG and Christian Bale, the director and star of Terminator: Salvation that's set to open on 22 May, feeling great. When Harry Potter vacated the Thanksgiving slot, in jumped a little picture called Twilight and the rest is history.

Except that in box-office terms, 2008 wasn't history. It almost was. Studio top brass love their box-office statistics because they create the illusion of success and handily side-step any sort of quality analysis. But the fact is that audiences, faced with an expanding array of alternative entertainment choices, are declining. Overall cinema attendance in 2008 actually dropped 5% from the previous year to just over 1.3bn, although Hollywood made up for the shortfall by raising ticket prices, as it always does. Studio executives – and their counterparts in the independent world – are terrified of the video game industry in particular because it's the biggest growth sector in entertainment and steals audiences. Cinema owners in particular are feeling the heat, which is why everyone is so excited about 3-D.

2008 saw several movies released in the revived format and this year it looks set to take off, with such anticipated blockbusters as Monsters Vs Aliens, A Christmas Carol and James Cameron's Avatar. The surge in the number of 3-D films in 2009 promises much considering how well the relatively limited releases of the Hannah Montana movie, Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Bolt did in 2008. The great thing about 3-D as far as cinema owners are concerned is they can charge a premium on tickets, just as they do with Imax screens. So audiences face another price hike, although all but the most cynical have to admit that 3-D and Imax are taking the theatrical experience in a new direction, something it sorely needs.

To get back to this weekend then, Marley & Me is expected to stay top and could reach a total gross of $100m (£68.4m) in the next few days if it grosses in the region of $25m (£17.1m), while The Curious Case of Benjamin Button could leapfrog the Adam Sandler family movie Bedtime Stories and surge towards $80m (£54.7m) with a second weekend haul of about $20m (£13.7m). Who'd have thought it? David Fincher's movie clocks in at nearly three hours and yet it's one of those rare movies that combines Oscar prospects with commercial appeal. Brad Pitt isn't known for opening a movie in the way that Will Smith does and he'll be enjoying the ride as Button heads for $100m (£68.4m). Bedtime Stories, the Tom Cruise Nazi thriller Valkyrie and Jim Carrey's Yes Man are expected to round out the top five.

Speaking of Smith, Sony's Seven Pounds has amassed less than $45m after two weekends. While that doesn't necessarily mean the man known as Mr July is losing his mojo, it does show that he's human after all and reminds us that audiences won't reward everything that's slung their way.