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Digital Cinema

The technology used into day's movie theater hasn't changed all that much since the first showing of motion pictures on a large screen at the beginning of the last century. The quality of the image and sound has indeed improved. But movies have been shot, printed, and distributed on film for over a hundred years.

The way movies are made and distributed is beginning to change. Currently, most motion pictures remain photographed on film stock. But some are now digitized in post-production for distribution.  The compressed and encrypted file is transmitted to a theater that has been equipped with a digital projector.

The transmission of the movie from distributor to theater is by a broadband Internet connection or satellite. The theater's projection system then uses a decryption key from the distributor allowing the digital movie to be projected. The high-resolution images and sound provide the audience with a picture often better than that of 35mm prints - although some critics disagree. Recent films such as, Star Wars Episode II, Spy Kids 2, Oceans Eleven, Signs, Banger Sisters are examples of large-scale Hollywood films that have been projected both digitally and in their traditional film format, often in the same cinema complex

An advantage of a digital movie is that, unlike a film print, there are no scratches or dust particles that degrade the projected image. The film looks as good on the last day of a theatrical run as it did on the first.

Digital movies reduce a number of distribution costs. Film prints are expensive, as are reprints. Shipping and handling is also expensive especially when it comes to worldwide distribution.

The future of film is both digital production and distribution. There are currently 39 digital theaters around the world today. But the L.A.-based Landmark chain, for example, is equipping 177 screens in all making 53 of its theaters across the US digital cinema theaters. And Regal Entertainment Corporation, the nation's largest movie theater chain, plans to retrofit nearly 80% of its locations by the end of this year with digital projectors, high-speed data networking equipment and satellite links. Even with these changes the movie theater will remain that magical place where vicarious experiences provided by the moving image will continue to entertain.

The following references explain the basics of digital cinema.

What is digital cinema? This site provides an overview of digital cinema and then links readers to informative technical papers related to digital cinema. A good site for those who want to learn more about this new medium.

How Digital Cinema Works. This is a "lighter" read than the more technical articles at the site listed above. It provides an easy to understand overview of digital technology related to the production and distribution of motion pictures. I found this to be an informative article with many hypertext links to supplementary information.