The industry debate over the value of resolution in digital-cinema formats reached a turning point this past June, when Texas Instruments’ DLP Cinema division and its three projector manufacturing partners, Barco, Christie and NEC, announced that they were developing new 4K technologies. The news came within a few months of top theatre circuits Regal and AMC signing a deal to install thousands of Sony 4K systems, which offer a resolution of 4096 x 2160 pixels, compared to 2K’s resolution of 2048 x 1080 pixels.

For our annual special section on digital cinema, Film Journal International went directly to the manufacturers to get their vantage points on 4K vs. 2K.

Our coverage begins with the company at the forefront of 4K, Sony Electronics. FJI asked Gary Johns, VP of Sony Electronics’ Digital Cinema Systems Division, to elaborate on his company’s development of 4K technology and offer a glimpse of the road ahead.

How many 4K installations do you have to date? How many are expected by the end of 2009?
Our current base of installed 4K systems is now well over 500, and we expect it will be over 1,000 by the end of the year. Recent months have seen tremendous commitment and growth for Sony 4K digital cinema. We announced agreements with AMC Theatres and Regal Entertainment Group to install our 4K systems across their entire circuits over the next three years. Those two agreements bring our number of planned 4K screens to about 11,000.
In addition, we continue to work with existing clients to expand their Sony 4K deployment and are in negotiations with many other national and regional theatre chains who are interested in offering their customers the premier cinema experience. Contracted theatre chains include Muvico Theaters, Landmark Theatres, Channelside, Alamo, Camera Cinemas and Lincoln Square, and we expect to make several new announcements shortly.

What are the major advantages of 4K?
From an audience perspective, it starts with improved quality: unprecedented levels of resolution and contrast and, ultimately, a much more dynamic, engaging and immersive entertainment experience in a movie theatre. For exhibitors, offering 4K projection is a significant competitive advantage, offering the best image quality available. Sony 4K digital cinema systems are just that—complete projection systems designed and built to work together from the ground up...backed by Sony, a global leader in electronics.

Another important benefit of Sony 4K systems is that they are extremely scalable and flexible. Of course, our 4K system is able to play back 4K content, but it is also able to play back 2K content—better than 2K projectors—as well as a variety of other formats to meet our customers’ needs. One other advantage of our 4K system is the ability to create stunning 3D presentations. 4K allows the use of two 2K images for full-time display of left eye/right eye images. This, coupled with high-quality image processing and optics, creates 3D images that are recognizably superior.

Sony’s 4K 3D is relatively new—tell us about its progress in the past year.
The 3D landscape has exploded, with new releases being announced each month. Sony has joined forces with another company that is leading the 3D revolution, RealD, on a sales and distribution agreement that combines our 4K projector with RealD’s 3D technology, offering exhibitors the best technology solution on the market. Since we announced our single-projector 3D lens solution, we are confident that Sony’s 3D on 4K absolutely delivers the best 3D experience available, which should drive the installation of over 500 Sony 3D systems by the end of the year, establishing Sony as a leader in 3D presentation.

What 4K-related technological advances can we expect in the future?
As a total entertainment company, Sony is committed to developing a full 4K system and workflow components, including a camera, storage and post-production products, and of course, 4K projection. We are also working diligently to develop and offer the next steps in product development, including alternative light sources, expanded software offerings and state-of-the-art monitoring systems, to name a few.



What kind of co-existence do you expect for 2K and 4K technologies?
Clearly, we believe that Sony 4K provides the ultimate offering for moviegoers and research shows that most customers can see the difference between Sony 4K systems and 2K systems, regardless of screen size. We have published a white paper, available on our website, www.sony.com/4K, which clearly explains the science behind this reality. As a further sign of recognition of the superiority of 4K technology, other projector manufacturers have announced plans to make 4K projectors in the next couple of years, so it would appear there is a clear move toward 4K. Fortunately, we have been committed to 4K from the beginning and are confident that we will continue to make the best projectors in the business.

How do you see the digital rollout proceeding over the next 12 months?
The entire industry—manufacturers, exhibitors, studios and other organizations—are all working extremely hard to ensure that digital cinema is rolled out in the most effective way. Everyone understands that this is the industry’s direction and that the movie theatres of the future will be digital. Now that the industry has recognized the value of 4K, the final hurdles will be meeting the financial realities of conversion, implementing an effective business model and tackling the logistics of rolling out digital technology in a theatre. We’re optimistic that soon, this industry will be well on its way to being a—mostly 4K—digital community.
How supportive is today’s exhibition community of the digital transition?

Exhibitors are extremely supportive of a digital conversion, realizing the benefits that a digital environment can bring, including operational efficiency, expanded format offerings (like 3D) and alternative content to increase traffic to theatres.

What are your predictions for the future of live events projected in 4K?
As 4K cameras come onto the market, 4K workflow costs decrease and more Sony 4K projection systems get deployed, we expect it to become more and more common for live events to be delivered in 4K. There has already been tremendous progress in this area and we expect that we will see significant 4K live content in the next few years.

What is Sony doing to encourage more 4K content from the Hollywood studios?
We continue to work closely with each studio on delivering the right digital solution. The studios are very supportive of digital distribution, and specifically 4K resolution, with many executives citing that as their future direction. For example, Sony Pictures Entertainment has already made 4K a centerpiece of its distribution plans for the majority of its motion pictures. But perhaps the best example of the growing acceptance of, and demand for, 4K content occurred recently when three major studio motion pictures—which were all released within a month of each other—were made available to theatres for 4K projection.