Theatres to go digital?

[Lady]

Theaters To Go Digital -- By the Thousands


In a move that is likely to force the transition to digital projection in movie theaters, Carmike Cinemas, the nation's third-largest chain, said it would convert 2,300 auditoriums to digital by October 2007. The projectors will be provided by Christie Digital Systems Inc., while software will come from Access Integrated Technologies, Inc. Currently only about 100 theaters in the U.S. are equipped with digital systems. Bud Mayo, AccessIT's CEO, told the London Financial Times: "It would be hard to exaggerate the significance of today's development as a major milestone for the industry and for our respective companies." And in an interview with today's (Tuesday) Los Angeles Times, industry analyst Dennis McAlpine remarked, "Most of the [deals] have been bits and pieces. ... I think this is the one that says, 'OK, everyone is going to have some digital.'"


Someone explain the significance of this? Will this have any impact on dvds?

[Escapay]

Someone explain the significance of this? Will this have any impact on dvds?

No more grain, no more cigarette burns in the top corner, no more blurry pictures because the lens is screwed up, no more reels to thread through the projector. Essentially you'll get a high quality picture and the DVD will simply be the same picture, except on a TV.

Escapay

[magicalwands]

If they do this, they might as well try and invent a movie player where only our eyeballs are able to see the picture and video cameras can't. Thus they will record a blank screen and there will hardly be any pirated movies.

[dvdjunkie]

We already have five "digital" theatres here in Wichita. They are great, but one thing that they don't tell you is the the size of the screen is considerably smaller. Yeah, the picture is awesome and sharp and clear and the sound is second to none. But I prefer a full-size screen instead of the smaller down-size that they have to do with the digital picture.

Plus not all film companies are revved up to the digital process yet. There will still have to be some regular projection screens in most theater complexes that have multiple screens.

If you haven't seen "Star Wars" Chapter I, II, and III in full digital, you are really missing something. The picture is truly three-dimensional and sound is all around you. "The Chronicles of Narnia" is another great film to see in full digital projection.

The time is coming and it is sooner than we think. Let's hope that it won't be too long and we can have our large screens filled with a crystal clear digital image.