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Author
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Topic: Hollywood Extends Term for Digital Cinema Group
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Bevan Wright
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 176
From: Fountain Valley, CA, USA
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 09-03-2004 07:26 PM
Hollywood Extends Term for Digital Cinema Group
Thu Sep 2, 3:55 PM ET Add Movies - Reuters to My Yahoo!
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood's major studios have given a year-long extension to a group that is working on technical standards for new digital movie projection systems in theaters, a person familiar with the plans said on Thursday.
But studios have also decided to narrow the mandate of the Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) to focus exclusively on technology standards, leaving related business decisions to the studios, theater owners and individual companies now working in the field, said the person who asked not to be named.
Digital cinema would allow the studios to distribute movies to theaters in digital files via satellite or high-speed cable systems, cutting film print and distribution costs by tens of millions of dollars.
Theater owners, however, have balked at paying for the expensive systems that, until recently, cost as much as $100,000 to $150,000 per theater to install.
"There has been unanimous approval by the seven current members of DCI to extend the group, but it will be focused on technical work and not any business planning," said the source.
The DCI will likely issue a detailed statement on its future plans next week, the person said.
The DCI declined to comment.
The industry-funded group had been set to end its work ahead of the industry's ShowEast motion picture industry convention in Florida in late October.
At March's ShoWest in Las Vegas, DCI chief Chuck Goldwater offered a broad outline for several "starting points" for a business plan to pay for the expensive systems.
He had said then that a draft set of technology standards was nearly complete.
The equipment manufacturers see a lucrative market for the systems if, and when, issues over technology standards and business plans can be finalized.
In June, Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news) (news - web sites). was in Los Angeles to show off a new projection system it said would cost $60,000 to $80,000. Texas Instruments Inc has long been a player in the field.
Hollywood's major movie studios funding DCI are units of Time Warner Inc, The Walt Disney Co, Viacom Inc, News Corp Ltd, General Electric Co, Sony Corp and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc .
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William Hooper
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1879
From: Mobile, AL USA
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 09-07-2004 01:44 AM
quote: Bevan Wright
But studios have also decided to narrow the mandate of the Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) to focus exclusively on technology standards, leaving related business decisions to the studios, theater owners and individual companies now working in the field, said the person who asked not to be named.
I think that the reduction in scope for the 'tech standards' group is pretty much an indication that the studios have become less panicked & better able to see how electronic delivery & projection to theaters will work.
Like China, India, AMC & others have found, it's the same as in broadcast radio, TV, & cable - the tech parts are just what the latest available boxes will offer in cost & features like networkability, distribution, etc., & within each distribution venue the hardware & software can be proprietary. "Standards" are less significant.
SMPTE is pretty much on its way to just being a magazine in which to get papers published. Right now, the only thing SMPTE remains in any contact with as far as standards in TV is what happens between the transmitter & the tuner. Everything else is anything goes, stuff from all over, in the broadcast facility up the line to program origination, & from the tuner to the tube - there's nothing SMPTE really has anything to do with as far as keeping mfrs. or viewers from stretching 4:3 pictures out to fill their 16:9 sets.
You can also see how this non-standardized distribution is becoming a norm in media on the internet - you download the software to play a file. New format, download new software, "migrate" the program material to the new format & distribute it in whatever way for which it's been optimized.
I figure that with digital TV (& radio), the next step with data streams is manufacture of receivers which download codecs (like MS Media Player's design) to be continuously adaptible to new formats. It is interesting in that it could very much initiate new single-ended (radio, TV, cable, theatrical exhibition, etc.) media types - we're used to pretty concrete & discrete ideas of what each type is, but with adaptible receivers for new media types, wild new things may come our way. That'll usher the end of "broadcast quality" standards outside of just bandwidth allocation & policing as is the bare bones of the FCC now.
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