Digital cinema

This article focuses on digital projection and distribution in cinemas. For digital image capture, see digital cinematography.

Digital cinema refers to the use of digital technology to distribute, or project motion pictures as opposed to the historical use of motion picture film. A movie can be distributed via hard drives, the Internet, dedicated satellite links or optical disks such as DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. Digital movies are projected using a digital projector instead of a conventional film projector. Digital cinema is distinct from high-definition television and is not dependent on using television or high-definition video standards, aspect ratios, or frame rates. In digital cinema, resolutions are represented by the horizontal pixel count, usually 2K (2048×1080 or 2.2 megapixels) or 4K (4096×2160 or 8.8 megapixels).

History

Digital media playback of hi-resolution 2K files has at least a 20 year history with early RAIDs feeding custom frame buffer systems with large memories. Content was usually restricted to several minutes of material. Transfer of content between remote locations was slow and had limited capacity. It wasn't until the late 1990s that feature length projects could be sent over the 'wire' (Internet or dedicated fiber links).

On June 18, 1999 DLP CINEMA projector technology was publicly demonstrated for the first time on two screens in North America (Los Angeles and New York) for the release of Lucasfilm's Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. On January 19, 2000 the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, in North America, initiated the first standards group dedicated towards developing Digital Cinema. On February 2, 2000 : Philippe Binant (Gaumont) realized the first digital cinema projection in Europe (Paris) with DLP CINEMA technology for the release of Toy Story II.

By December 2000, there were 15 digital cinema screens in North America, 11 in Western Europe, 4 in Asia, and 1 in South America. Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) was formed in March 2002 as a joint project of many motion picture studios (Disney, Fox, MGM, Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal and Warner Bros. Studios) to develop a system specification for digital cinema.

In April 2004, in cooperation with the American Society of Cinematographers, DCI created standard evaluation material (the ASC/DCI StEM material) for testing of 2K and 4K playback and compression technologies. DCI selected JPEG2000 as the basis for the compression in the system the same year.

In China, an E-Cinema System called "dMs" was established on June 2005, and is used in over 15,000 screens spread across China's 30 provinces. dMS estimates that the system will expand to 40,000 screens in 2009.

By mid 2006, about 400 theaters were equipped with 2K digital projectors with the number increasing every month. Several digital 3D films surfaced in 2006 and several prominent filmmakers committed to making their next productions in stereo 3D.^{[citation needed]} In August 2006, the Malayalam digital movie Moonnamathoral, produced by Mrs. Benzy Martin, was distributed via satellite to cinemas, thus becoming the first Indian digital cinema. This was done by Emil and Eric Digital Films, a company based at Thrissur using the end-to-end digital cinema system developed by Singapore-based DG2L Technologies.

In 2007 the UK became home to Europe's first DCI-compliant fully digital multiplex cinemas, Odeon Hatfield and Odeon Surrey Quays (London) with a total of 18 digital screens were launched on Friday 9 February 2007. By March 2007, with the release of Disney's Meet the Robinsons, about 600 screens had been equipped with 2K digital projectors that feature Real D Cinema's stereoscopic 3D technology, marketed under the Disney Digital 3-D brand. In June 2007, Arts Alliance Media announced the first European commercial digital cinema Virtual Print Fee (VPF) agreements (with Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Pictures).

As of July 2007, there were some cinemas in Singapore showing digital 4K films to public using Sony 4K digital projectors. They are located at Golden Village Cinema in Vivocity (Hall 11), Eng Wah Cinema in Suntec (Hall 3), Shaw Cinema in Bugis (Hall 1 & 3) and at Cathay Cineplex (Hall 7). In September 2007, Muvico Theaters Rosemont 18 in Rosemont, Illinois became the first theater in North America to have Sony's 4K digital projectors for all 18 screens. In January 2007, "Guru" became the first Indian movie mastered in the DCI compliant Jpeg2000 Interop format and also the first Indian film to be previewed digitally, internationally, at the Elgin Winter Garden in Toronto. "Guru" was digitally mastered at Real Image Media Technologies, India.

In March 2009 AMC Theatres announced that it closed on a $315 million deal with Sony to replace all of its movie projectors with 4K digital projectors starting in the second quarter of 2009 and completing in 2012.

By June 2010, there were close to 16,000 digital cinema screens, with over 5000 of them being stereoscopic setups. Considering an article written by David Hancock (http://www.isuppli.com/media-research/marketwatch/pages/digital-screen-numbers-and-forecasts-to-2015-are-finalised.aspx), the total number of d-screens worldwide came in at 36,242, up from 16,339 at end 2009 or a growth rate of 121.8 percent during the year. There were 10,083 d-screens in Europe as a whole (28.2 percent of global figure), 16,522 in North America (46.2 percent of global figure) and 7,703 in Asia (21.6 percent of global figure). As regards digital 3D screens, there were a total of 21,936 3D screens, which equals 60.5 percent of all d-screens. This was a rise from the 55 percent in 2009 but is expected to drop slightly in 2011 to 57.5 percent.

By the end of 2012, according to Screen Digest, 91.4% of UK screens had been converted to digital and the rest expected to be so by the the middle of 2013. Worldwide progress was slower as in some territories, particularly Latin America and Africa, progess was much slower. However almost all screens worldwide were expected to be converted by the end of 2015.

The first movie to be exhibited digitally in 48 frames per second was The Hobbit

How Digital Cinema Works

In addition to the equipment already found in a film-based movie theatre a DCI-compliant digital cinema screen requires a digital projector and a computer known as a "server"

Movies are supplied to the theatre as a digital file called a "Digital Cinema Package"(DCP). For a typical feature film this file will be of the order of 200-300GB and may arrive as a physical delivery on a conventional computer hard-drive or via satellite or fibre-optic broadband. Currently (Feb 2013) physical deliveries are most common, but this may well change in the near future. Advertisements and trailers are also supplied as DCPs but, due to their much smaller size, these will normally be supplied on DVD-ROM, USB stick or by internet download.

Regardless of how the DCP arrives it first needs to be copied onto the internal hard-drives of the server, a process known as "ingesting". DCPs can be, and in the case of feature films almost always are, encrypted. The necessary decryption keys are supplied separately, usually as email attachments. Keys are time limited and will expire after the end of the period for which the title has been booked. They are also locked to the hardware (server and projector) that is to screen the film, so if the theatre wishes to move the title to another screen or extend the run a new key must be obtained from the distributor.

The playback of the content is controlled by the server using a "playlist". As the name implies this is a list of all the content that is to be played as part of the performance, the playlist will be created by a member of the theatre's staff using proprietary software that runs on the server. In addition to listing the content to be played the playlist also includes automation cues that allow the playlist to control the projector, the sound system, auditorium lighting, tab curtains and screen masking (if present) etc. The playlist can be started manually, by clicking the "play" button on the server's monitor screen, or automatically at pre-set times.

Technology and standards

Digital Cinema Initiatives

Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI), a joint venture of the six major studios, published the first version (V1.0) of a system specification for digital cinema in July 2005. The main declared objectives of the specification was to define a digital cinema system that would "present a theatrical experience that is better than what one could achieve now with a traditional 35mm Answer Print", to provide global standards for interoperability such that any DCI-compliant content could play on any DCI-compliant hardware anywhere in the world and to provide robust protection for the intellectual property of the content providers.

Briefly, the specification calls for picture encoding using the ISO/IEC 15444-1 "JPEG2000" (.j2c) standard and use of the CIE XYZ color space at 12 bits per component encoded with a 2.6 gamma applied at projection. Two levels of resolution for both content and projectors are supported: 2K (2048×1080) or 2.2 MP at 24 or 48 frames per second, and 4K (4096×2160) or 8.85 MP at 24 frames per second. The specification ensures that 2K content can play on 4K projectors and vica-versa

For the sound component of the content the specification provides for up to 16 channels of uncompressed audio using the "Broadcast Wave" (.wav) format at 24 bits and 48 kHz or 96 kHz sampling.

Playback is controlled by an XML-format Composition Playlist, into an MXF-compliant file at a maximum data rate of 250 Mbit/s. Details about encryption, key management, and logging are all discussed in the specification as are the minimum specifications for the projectors employed including the color gamut, the contrast ratio and the brightness of the image. While much of the specification codifies work that had already been ongoing in the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), the specification is important in establishing a content owner framework for the distribution and security of first-release motion picture content.

In addition to DCI's work, the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) released its Digital Cinema System Requirements. The document addresses the requirements of digital cinema systems from the operational needs of the exhibitor, focusing on areas not addressed by DCI, including access for the visually impaired and hearing impaired, workflow inside the cinema, and equipment interoperability. In particular, NATO's document details requirements for the Theatre Management System (TMS), the governing software for digital cinema systems within a theatre complex, and provides direction for the development of security key management systems. As with DCI's document, NATO's document is also important to the SMPTE standards effort.

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) began work on standards for digital cinema in 2000. It was clear by that point in time that HDTV did not provide a sufficient technological basis for the foundation of digital cinema playback. (In Europe and Japan however, there is still a significant presence of HDTV for theatrical presentations. Agreements within the ISO standards body have led to these systems being referred to as Electronic Cinema Systems (E-Cinema).)

Digital cinema projectors

Only four manufacturers make DCI-approved digital cinema projectors; these are Sony, Barco, Christie and NEC. Except for Sony, who use their own SXRD technology, all use the Digital Light Processing technology developed by Texas Instruments (TI). Although D-Cinema projectors are similar in principle to digital projectors used in industry, education and domestic 'home cinemas' they differ in two important respects: firstly they must conform to the strict performance requirements of the DCI specification, secondly they must incorporate anti-piracy devices intended to protect the content copyright. For these reasons all projectors intended to be sold to theaters for screening current release movies must be approved by the DCI before being put on sale. Because feature films in digital form are encrypted and the decryption keys are locked to the make, model and serial number of the projector used, an unapproved projector simply will not work if an attempt is made to use it to screen current release feature films from a DCP.

DLP Cinema Projectors

Three manufacturers have licensed the DLP Cinema technology developed by Texas Instruments (TI): Christie Digital Systems, Barco, and NEC. While NEC is a relative newcomer to Digital Cinema, Christie is the main player in the U.S. and Barco takes the lead in Europe and Asia.^{[citation needed]} Initially DCI-compliant DLP projectors were available in 2K only, but from early 2012, when TI's 4K DLP chip went into full production, DLP projectors have been available in both 2K and 4K versions. Manufacturers of DLP-based cinema projectors are now offering 4K upgrades to many of their more recent 2K models. Early DLP Cinema projectors, which were deployed primarily in the U.S., used limited 1280×1024 resolution or the equivalent of 1.3 MP (megapixels). Digital Projection Incorporated (DPI) designed and sold a few DLP Cinema units when TI's 2K technology first debuted but then abandoned the D-Cinema market while continuing to offer DLP-based projectors for non-cinema purposes. Although based on the same 2K TI "light engine" as those of the major players they are so rare as to be virtually unknown in the industry. They are still widely used for pre-show advertising but not usually for feature presentations.

TI's technology is based on the use of "Digital Micromirror Devices" (DMDs). These devices are manufactured from silicon using similar technology to that of computer memory chips. The surface of these devices is covered by a very large number of microscopic mirrors, one for each pixel, so a 2K device has about 2.2 million mirrors and a 4K device about 8.8 million. Each mirror vibrates several thousand times a second between two positions, in one light from the projector's lamp is reflected towards the screen, in the other away from it. The proportion of the time the mirror is in each position varies according to the required brightness of each pixel.

Three DMD devices are used, one for each of the primary colors. Light from the lamp, usually a Xenon similar to those used in film projectors with a power between 1 kW and 7 kW, is split by colored filters into red, green and blue beams which are directed at the appropriate DMD. The 'forward' reflected beam from the three DMMDs is then re-combined and focused by the lens onto the cinema screen.

Sony SXRD Projectors

Alone amongst the manufacturers of DCI-compliant cinema projectors Sony decided to develop its own technology rather than use TI's DLP technology. SXRD projectors have only ever been manufactured in 4K form and, until the launch of the 4K DLP chip by TI, Sony SXRD projectors were the only 4K DCI-compatible projectors on the market. Unlike DLP projectors, however, SXRD projectors do not present the left and right eye images of stereoscopic movies sequentially but use half the available area on the SXRD chip for each eye image. Thus during stereoscopic presentations the SXRD projector functions as a 2K projector.

Stereo 3-D images

In late 2005, interest in digital 3-D stereoscopic projection led to a new willingness on the part of theaters to co-operate in installing 2K stereo installations to show Disney's Chicken Little in 3-D film. Six more digital 3-D movies were released in 2006 and 2007 (including Beowulf, Monster House and Meet the Robinsons). The technology combines a single digital projector fitted with either a polarizing filter (for use with polarized glasses and silver screens), a filter wheel or an emitter for LCD glasses. RealD uses a "ZScreen" for polarisation and MasterImage uses a filter wheel that changes the polarity of projector's light output several times per second to alternate quickly the left-and-right-eye views. Another system that uses a filter wheel is Dolby 3D. The wheel changes the wavelengths of the colours being displayed, and tinted glasses filter these changes so the incorrect wavelength cannot enter the wrong eye. XpanD makes use of an external emitter that sends a signal to the 3D glasses to block out the wrong image from the wrong eye.

Impact on distribution

Digital distribution of movies has the potential to save money for film distributors. To print an 80-minute feature film can cost US$1,500 to $2,500, so making thousands of prints for a wide-release movie can cost millions of dollars. In contrast, at the maximum 250 megabit-per-second data rate (as defined by DCI for digital cinema), a feature-length movie can be stored on an off-the-shelf 300 GB hard drive for $150 and a broad release of 4000 'digital prints' might cost $600,000. In addition hard drives can be returned to distributors for reuse. With several hundred movies distributed every year, the industry saves billions of dollars.

The digital cinema rollout was stalled (as can be seen by major equipment purchases and future commitments to new equipment during this time); exhibitors acknowledged that they would not purchase equipment to replace projectors since the savings would be seen not by themselves but by distribution companies. The Virtual Print Fee model was created to address this (some claim by Frank Stirling at Boeing - Boeing was involved in digital cinema deployment at that time) and this was successfully done, accelerating the rollout of this technology and with it the reduction of the barrier to entry. Given that digital projectors make low volume distribution at last an economic possibility it is the studios' support of the VPF model that has accelerated the introduction of competition, both in terms of alternative distributors and also alternative content including cinematic series.

Due to rapid conversion to digital projection, film prints have become an ever dwindling minority in theatrical releases.

Telecommunication

Realization and demonstration, on October 29, 2001, of the first digital cinema transmission by satellite in Europe of a feature film by Bernard Pauchon, Alain Lorentz, Raymond Melwig, Philippe Binant.

Live broadcasting to cinemas

Digital cinemas can deliver live broadcasts from performances or events. For example, there are regular live broadcasts to movie theaters of Metropolitan Opera performances. In February 2009, Cinedigm screened the first live multi-region 3D broadcast through a partnership with TNT. Previous attempts have been isolated to a small number of screens. In December 2011, the series finale of the BBC dance competition series Strictly Come Dancing was broadcast live in 3D in selected cinemas.

Criticism and concerns

High profile film directors such as Christopher Nolan, Paul Thomas Anderson and Quentin Tarantino have publicly criticized digital cinema, and advocated the use of film and film prints. Most famously, Tarantino has suggested he may retire because (although he can still shoot on film) he cannot project on 35mm prints in most American cinemas, because of the rapid conversion to digital. Steven Spielberg has called digital projection "inferior" compared to film, and attempted at one point to release Indiana Jones 4 on motion picture film only. Paul Thomas Anderson recently was able to create the most 70mm Film prints in years for his film The Master (2012 film).

Roger Ebert publicly criticized the use of DCP's after a cancelled film festival screening of Brian DePalma's film Passion (2012 film) at New York Film Festival caused by a lockup due to the coding system.

The theoretical resolution of 35 mm film is greater than that of 2K digital cinema. 2K resolution (2048×1080) is also only slightly greater than that of consumer based 1080p HD (1920x1080).

Costs

The initial costs for converting theaters to digital are high: $100,000 per screen on average. Theaters have been reluctant to switch without a cost-sharing arrangement with film distributors. A solution is a temporary Virtual Print Fee system, where the distributor (who saves the money of producing and transporting a physical copy) pays a fee per copy to help finance the digital systems of the theaters.

A theater can purchase a film projector for as little as US$10,000 (though projectors intended for commercial cinema use typically cost 2-3 times that figure to which had to be added the cost of a long-play system which typically also cost around $10,000, making a total of around $30,000 - $40,000) from which they could expect an average life of 30–40 years. By contrast a digital cinema playback system including server/media block/and projector can cost 2-3 times as much, and is at higher risk for component failures and technological obsolescence.

Archiving digital masters is also turning out to be both tricky and costly. In a 2007 study, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences found the cost of the long term storage of 4K digital masters to be "enormously higher - up to 11 times that of the cost of storing film masters." This is because of the insufficient temporal qualities of today's digital storage: no current media, be it optical discs, magnetic hard drives or digital tape, can reliably store a film for a hundred years, something that properly stored and handled film can do. requiring the periodic transfer of archived digital content to new physical media.

In image capture, the costs are not necessarily cheaper, and sometimes more expensive in digital image capture compared to motion picture film origination.

List of digital cinema companies

• Barco — digital projector manufacturer
• Blackmagic Design — digital cinema camera and distribution equipment manufacturer
• Christie — digital projector manufacturer
• Deluxe Digital Studios — distributor and theater system integrator
• Dolby Laboratories — theater system integrator
• Doremi Labs — Digital server and theater management system manufacturer
• GDC Tech — Digital server and theater management system manufacturer
• IMAX — digital projector manufacturer
• Kinoton — manufacturer of digital projection solutions
• Kodak — theater system integrator
• NEC — digital projector manufacturer
• MasterImage 3D — 3D cinema and mobile display technology
• Panavision 3D — 3D cinema display technology
• Qube Cinema — Digital Cinema mastering, distribution and server products manufacturer
• RealD Cinema — 3D cinema display technology
• RED Digital Cinema Camera Company — digital cinema camera manufacturer
• Silicon Imaging — digital cinema camera manufacturer
• Sony — manufacturer of 4K digital projector, cinema camera manufacturer and digital cinema servers and theater system integrator
• Technicolor — distributor and theater system integrator
• Texas Instruments — developers of DLP Cinema projector technology
• dcinex — theater system integrator & digital server manufacturer

See also

• JPEG 2000
• 4K resolution
• Digital cinematography
• Digital projector
• Digital intermediate
• Digital Cinema Initiatives
• Digital Cinema Package
• Display resolution
• Digital 3D
• 3-D film
• Color suite
• List of film-related topics (extensive alphabetical listing)

References

Bibliography

• Philippe BINANT, Au coeur de la projection numérique, Actions, 29, 12-13, Kodak, Paris, 2007. ISNN 1271-1519
• Charles S. SWARTZ (editor), Understanding digital cinema. A professional handbook, Elseiver, Oxford, 2005. ISBN 0-240-80617-4

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