Cinema goes digital

According to IHS Screen Digest, 35mm film in 2012 became the minority cinema format after nearly 90,000 screens went digital worldwide at the end of last year. This means, says the analysts, cinema has moved from what once was a technology-free zone to one driven by technology, particularly 3D. “The first foray into digital technology in cinemas came with sound, and then indirectly with online ticketing, moving afterward onto cinema advertising, then digital cinema, digital 3D and the use of social media,” said David Hancock, senior principal analyst for cinema at IHS.
Just a scant six years ago, in 2007, digital cinema was virtually nonexistent with only 5,158 screens worldwide, compared to 107,832 screens that were 35mm film. Starting in 2010, ISO-standard digital screens and 3D screens began to take hold with 12,743 digital 2D screens and 22,327 3D screens. But compared to the 82,105 screens that were 35mm, digital was still in the minority.
Nonetheless, digital 2D screens at the end of 2012 had increased to 43,796, with an additional 45,545 in 3D—as well as 5,500 lower-end e-cinema systems in India – pushing 35mm screens to the minority with just 35,087 remaining .
“Outside of the films themselves, the industry side of the film business is also dealing with issues such as high and variable frame rates (HFR and VFR), 4K image capture, digital archiving, object-based sound, electronic distribution and a wide range of other issues,” added Hancock. “Cinemas are now at the nexus of consumer and industrial technologies, and applications and cinema owners will continue to respond to this trend during the year ahead.”
Movies in 3D have provided a shot in the arm to the movie business for several years now, with Avatar at the very heart of this trend. As 3D matures, audiences are also increasingly seeking out the best 3D experiences, especially as the premium price needs to be justified in value on monetary terms.
Several new technologies are helping to elevate the 3D experience in theaters to make it more desirable, notably higher-frame-rate 3D, seen after the release of The Hobbit. This year the format will be more widely adopted across the globe as theaters decide to invest in advance of the second Hobbit movie and James Cameron’s HFR Avatar follow-up a year later. The development of laser-illuminated projectors as mentioned above, also enables much brighter 3-D presentation, something that audiences are demanding.
www.screendigest.com