The renowned Jagadamba Theatre on the eastern coast of India recently completed its digital-cinema conversion, which included three new Harkness Spectal™ 240 3D screens.

Opened in October 1970, the cinema was one of two 70mm theatres in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The cinema featured a then state-of-the-art six-track stereophonic sound system and the main auditorium named “Jagadamba” had an unprecedented 70’x 30’ picture size.

“Up until now, the cinema has kept pace with audio technology as it’s evolved. However, with the advent of digital projection, everything has changed and the entire projection setup has changed, from projector to screen, so we have recently embarked on a program to totally upgrade our presentation equipment and give our audience a state-of-the-art experience,” says Jagadish Lumbar Vegi, managing director at the Jagadamba Theatre.

The new equipment installed in the massive 1,200-plus-seat auditorium consists of twin Barco 4K projectors and a 70’ x 30’ Harkness Spectral 240 3D silver screen.

“Given the size of the screen and the steep curve of the frame, there were a number of challenges we faced while installing the screen,” says Jagadish. “However, with proper installation guidance supplied to us from Harkness, we were able to install the screen without a blemish. The result is amazing and 3D presentation in particular with the new screen is stunning.”

The theatre has also upgraded both of its other two smaller auditoria, including installations of Harkness Spectral 240 3D screens.

Spectral 240 is a high-brightness silver screen that gives first-rate performance with “passive” 3D applications using polarized light such as RealD and with 2D presentations.