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. We asked Michael Archer, VP, digital
cinema, at Doremi Labs, how his leading server company is poised
for the transition to 4K.
How well-positioned is Doremi for the coming wave of 4K
projectors?
Doremi is the best-positioned server manufacturer in digital
cinema. We have a commercially available 4K server today. We only
need to repackage our technology into an Internal Media Block (IMB)
for the DLP 4K projectors. We also have a patent pending for the 4K
decoding scheme.
What modifications, if any, are you making to your current line
of servers?
We will modify a DCP-2000 server to become the ShowVault. The
ShowVault will be an external server which will house the content
storage and Doremi Cinelister software for show control.
What kind of co-existence do you predict for 2K and
4K?
We feel the majority of screens will still be 2K. However, Doremi
is the only server manufacturer today which can offer 2K or 4K for
DLP projectors to the exhibitor. This allows the exhibitor to stay
with one server technology for the entire multiplex if they start
with 2K and move to 4K on some screens. This is very valuable for
the exhibitor.
What kinds of locations are best suited for 4K?
I'll leave this one for the projector manufacturers to argue.
How do you see the digital rollout proceeding over the next 12
months?
We have seen 95% of our sales in 2009 going toward 3D
installations. The sales have followed the various territories
globally as tentpole 3D features get released. Indications are that
funding will come soon in the U.S. to begin major deployments. This
should allow 2010 to start off strong.
How supportive is today’s exhibition community of the digital
transition?
Exhibitors are seeing huge benefits from installing 3D digital
screens. As with most technological advancements in cinema, it all
depends on content. The 3D pipeline is long enough to support the
3D screens for several years. Alternative content is also the key
in many regions to help offset the exhibitor’s investment. However,
without funding to help subsidize the rollouts, installations will
be limited.
Doremi: The 4K server perspective
Aug 24, 2009
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. We asked Michael Archer, VP, digital cinema, at Doremi Labs, how his leading server company is poised for the transition to 4K.
How well-positioned is Doremi for the coming wave of 4K projectors?
Doremi is the best-positioned server manufacturer in digital cinema. We have a commercially available 4K server today. We only need to repackage our technology into an Internal Media Block (IMB) for the DLP 4K projectors. We also have a patent pending for the 4K decoding scheme.
What modifications, if any, are you making to your current line of servers?
We will modify a DCP-2000 server to become the ShowVault. The ShowVault will be an external server which will house the content storage and Doremi Cinelister software for show control.
What kind of co-existence do you predict for 2K and 4K?
We feel the majority of screens will still be 2K. However, Doremi is the only server manufacturer today which can offer 2K or 4K for DLP projectors to the exhibitor. This allows the exhibitor to stay with one server technology for the entire multiplex if they start with 2K and move to 4K on some screens. This is very valuable for the exhibitor.
What kinds of locations are best suited for 4K?
I'll leave this one for the projector manufacturers to argue.
How do you see the digital rollout proceeding over the next 12 months?
We have seen 95% of our sales in 2009 going toward 3D installations. The sales have followed the various territories globally as tentpole 3D features get released. Indications are that funding will come soon in the U.S. to begin major deployments. This should allow 2010 to start off strong.
How supportive is today’s exhibition community of the digital transition?
Exhibitors are seeing huge benefits from installing 3D digital screens. As with most technological advancements in cinema, it all depends on content. The 3D pipeline is long enough to support the 3D screens for several years. Alternative content is also the key in many regions to help offset the exhibitor’s investment. However, without funding to help subsidize the rollouts, installations will be limited.
