Saturday, April 14, 2007

NAB April 14 Morning Sessions

*Digital Cinema Summit*

April 14

*3D Raise Your Glasses*
Tom Scott - Onstream Media
David Schnuelle - Dolby Lab
Lenny Lipton - NyVision
Boyd MacNaughton - Real D
Martin Sadoff - Digital Jungle
Kenbe Goertzen - QuVis

Scott - Since the last NAB there has been a 7 fold increase in digital
screens.

Scott - 3D is driving digital cinema adoption. Meet the Robinsons opened
in 3D on 700 screens.

Lipton - 3D cinema dates back to the times of Edison. It is not a new
phenomenon.

Lipton - A single digital projector is capable of creating a 3D image.

Lipton - Cinema ticket price increase has come as a result of
inflationary forces and greater technological investment.

Lipton - In the past, multi-projector systems have failed.

Lipton - When new technology is addopted it takes time for creatives to
use it to its full extent.

Lipton - DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) technology from TI is
installed on 2600 digital projectors around the world.

Lipton - "ZScreen" projectors have a high enough refresh rate to show
both left and right eye images with a single projector.

Lipton - CGI movies are leading in 3D.

Lipton - "Silver screens" lighten the load on the projector by
increasing the amount of reflected light.

Lipton - 3D films are doing over 3 times the revenue of their 2D
counterparts.

Lipton - Upcoming movies that may help speed 3D adoption are coming from
Robert Zemeckis and James Cameron.

Sadoff - There are 4 main different types of 3D systems currently.
Active glasses (1080i capable). Dolby. Polarized. Anaglyph (red and
cyan).

Sadoff - Each system requires a different combination of glasses,
digital intermediates, servers, and projectors.

Sadoff - 1080 is what the audiance wants. Not all systems are curently
capable of 1080 projection.

MacNaughton - Different parts of the theatre have a different quality of
experience.

Schnuelle - Jitter makes 3D difficult. This is why more stable systemes
such as IMAX and DLP are paving the way for 3D.

Schnuelle - Depth of field changes at sceen cuts makes 3D a jaring
experience for the viewer.

Schnuelle - Dolby does a 6 color seperation at different wavelengths of
light. Red, Green, and Blue each hit each eye. But the red seen by the
right eye is at a different wavelength from that seen by the left. If
the the glasses are removed the image looks 2D but not blurry.

Schnuelle - 3D requires spliting light between the eyes and thus dims
the image. The image is further dulled if the system use polarization or
another type of filtration.

Schnuelle - Glasses reuse is important becuase of the tremendous waste
product that would follow each release if the glasses were disposable.
Glasses washing is costly.

Goertzen - Accounting for the right and left eye synchronization in a
single file format can help maintain quality even after sensorship or
other unanticipated edits.

New terms -
- Anaglyph - classic two color 3D systems
- Silver Screen - has a high reflective quality required with most
polarized 3D systems
- Stereo polorizers (active v passive, linear v circular) - separates
image for right and left eyes

*Standards: DC-28*
Wendy Aylsworth - Warner Bros.

Aylsworth - The digital standards working groups have sections for
"mastering", "distribution", and "exhibition". They do not include a
creative section.

Aylsworth - Digital projectors have a 99.9% uptime. Traditional
projection has a 99.98% uptime.

Aylsworth - A standard for encryption has been encluded.

SMPTE is creating the DC-28 standard. Membership is open for a fee,
aproximately $200 / yr.

*Workflow in the Digital Theater*
Michael Karagosian - MKPE Consulting
Cliff De Young - Regal Entertainment Group
Jonathan Kramarsky - Deluxe Digital
Les Moore - Eastman Kodak
John Wolski - Strong Digital Systems

Karagosian - Early adoptors have instaled digital systems. However there
is now a break in the growth curve. It is likely a temporary pause
before the majority adopts.

Karagosian - The encryption key delivery chain is too slow and
inefficient today. If there were 10,000 digital screens today the system
would collapse.

Cliff De Young - Alternate content ("pre-show", ads before show, etc.)
will grow with the flexability of digital systems.

Cliff De Young - Electronic content delivery needs to be standardized at
the theater level.

Moore - A Theater Management System could report all film screenings,
pre-show information, and all ticket sales in a digital theater
context.

Kramarsky - KDMs can be delivered by physical means, Internet, or closed
network. Each poses its own unique problems.

New Terms -
- Interlocking - The sending of the same print through multiple
projectors to multiple screens to maximize revenue.
- Ext3 filesystem - Unix file system used for most digital cinema
distributions.
- KDM - Key Delivery Messages are the files that includes decrypting
information, 1) for a specific projector, 2) for a specific geographic
location 3) for a specific window of time only.


-- compsed on my hiptop --

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