Sunday, July 31, 2005
Member since:
May 2004
May 2004
BY USA TODAY. SORRY FOR THE MISTYPE ON THE TITLE
NEW YORK — Digital cinema, the long-awaited technology to make movies in the theater more vivid and versatile, took a big step from fantasy to reality Wednesday.
All of Hollywood's top studios endorsed a set of technical specifications defining how sharp digital films must be and creating mechanisms to fight piracy. They vowed to begin using them to offer digital versions of their new productions to theater owners as early as this year in some cases.
"It's a giant leap forward for those of us who create movies and ... for everyone who sees them," Star Wars director George Lucas, a longtime digital cinema advocate, said in a statement. "Digital cinema will increasingly become the standard and will change the way movies are made, seen and experienced around the world."
Unlike celluloid, movies in digital form won't scratch or smudge. They can include multiple soundtracks in different languages, and can easily project 3-D images.
Supporters say digital theaters will be able to offer ticket-buyers a viewing experience superior to what they can get at home with high-definition TVs.
The new specifications, from studio-backed consortium Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI), require digital movies to have at least twice as many lines of resolution as a high-definition television — and clear the way for an alternative that's four times as sharp.
HDTVs "give most of the colors of the rainbow, but not all of them," says DCI Chief Technology Officer Walt Ordway. "There is no color that appears in the spectrum that cannot be digitally represented" in the files studios will use.
The big concern, though, has been security. About half of DCI's 176-page specifications describe ways to prevent the keys that decode encrypted digital films from falling into the wrong hands.
"It's about the production of the keys and how they're used," Ordway says. "There was a lot of feedback and fine-tuning. They're comfortable now."
The deal nearly clears the way for studios, theater owners and equipment makers to begin the $3 billion transition from analog. The remaining hurdle is ongoing negotiation between theater owners and the studios about who pays how much. Digital movies — which can be transmitted via satellite or high-speed lines, or shipped on a hard drive — will slash much of the $1.2 billion a year studios spend making and shipping celluloid prints.
"For the industry to flourish and to provide a smooth transition to an all-digital future, it is essential there be one digital distribution and exhibition format. That format is the DCI specification," Twentieth Century Fox's Bruce Snyder and Paul Hanneman said in a joint statement. Warner Bros., Sony, Disney, Paramount and Universal also expressed support.
NEW YORK — Digital cinema, the long-awaited technology to make movies in the theater more vivid and versatile, took a big step from fantasy to reality Wednesday.
All of Hollywood's top studios endorsed a set of technical specifications defining how sharp digital films must be and creating mechanisms to fight piracy. They vowed to begin using them to offer digital versions of their new productions to theater owners as early as this year in some cases.
"It's a giant leap forward for those of us who create movies and ... for everyone who sees them," Star Wars director George Lucas, a longtime digital cinema advocate, said in a statement. "Digital cinema will increasingly become the standard and will change the way movies are made, seen and experienced around the world."
Unlike celluloid, movies in digital form won't scratch or smudge. They can include multiple soundtracks in different languages, and can easily project 3-D images.
Supporters say digital theaters will be able to offer ticket-buyers a viewing experience superior to what they can get at home with high-definition TVs.
The new specifications, from studio-backed consortium Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI), require digital movies to have at least twice as many lines of resolution as a high-definition television — and clear the way for an alternative that's four times as sharp.
HDTVs "give most of the colors of the rainbow, but not all of them," says DCI Chief Technology Officer Walt Ordway. "There is no color that appears in the spectrum that cannot be digitally represented" in the files studios will use.
The big concern, though, has been security. About half of DCI's 176-page specifications describe ways to prevent the keys that decode encrypted digital films from falling into the wrong hands.
"It's about the production of the keys and how they're used," Ordway says. "There was a lot of feedback and fine-tuning. They're comfortable now."
The deal nearly clears the way for studios, theater owners and equipment makers to begin the $3 billion transition from analog. The remaining hurdle is ongoing negotiation between theater owners and the studios about who pays how much. Digital movies — which can be transmitted via satellite or high-speed lines, or shipped on a hard drive — will slash much of the $1.2 billion a year studios spend making and shipping celluloid prints.
"For the industry to flourish and to provide a smooth transition to an all-digital future, it is essential there be one digital distribution and exhibition format. That format is the DCI specification," Twentieth Century Fox's Bruce Snyder and Paul Hanneman said in a joint statement. Warner Bros., Sony, Disney, Paramount and Universal also expressed support.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Member since:
March 2002
March 2002
"The new specifications, from studio-backed consortium Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI), require digital movies to have at least twice as many lines of resolution as a high-definition television"
I assume that means that digital filming and digital projection in theaters will have to have a little over 2,000 lines of horizontal resolution rather than the 1,080 lines now used. Remember that John Lowery, whose studio transfers some of Hollywood's best-looking movies (e.g., "Star Wars," episodes 4-6) to the DVD domain, has said it takes from 4,000-5,000 horizontal scan lines per frame to fully do justice to a good photographic print.
John
I assume that means that digital filming and digital projection in theaters will have to have a little over 2,000 lines of horizontal resolution rather than the 1,080 lines now used. Remember that John Lowery, whose studio transfers some of Hollywood's best-looking movies (e.g., "Star Wars," episodes 4-6) to the DVD domain, has said it takes from 4,000-5,000 horizontal scan lines per frame to fully do justice to a good photographic print.
John
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
Member since:
May 2004
May 2004
Exactly. The encoder needs a high quality original source to "compress"
Well, studios are looking at the financial side of the digital movie domain. It takes down budget a bit. and for the average viewer, it doesnt look any different than older films.
A very good way to proove the superiority of film is to take a 35mm film and a new digital movie (i.e. Ep.3) and create one 1080p sample from each one.
The 35mm one will look far more better.
Well, studios are looking at the financial side of the digital movie domain. It takes down budget a bit. and for the average viewer, it doesnt look any different than older films.
A very good way to proove the superiority of film is to take a 35mm film and a new digital movie (i.e. Ep.3) and create one 1080p sample from each one.
The 35mm one will look far more better.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Member since:
January 2006
January 2006
I have been waiting for a long time for this to take off. I have not been able to see any digital movies sinee there are not digital projections theatres in my area. I always compare my digital camera images with a image from a regualr 3mm disposapl camera and the digital is far more superior in quality. Same way with my HDTV. I am always comparing the HD channels to their normal station counterpart stations and HD is far superior. Long will be gone the days when the films that have been out for a while and it seems the film will snap because the ware and tare of the film through the projector. No more dirt or dust particles showing on the screen. No more Black dot on the top right when the next reel is about to be switched. The qualty of watching a film the first day will be the same on its 100th. Very cool Glad to see this is finally happening.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Member since:
March 2002
March 2002
"I always compare my digital camera images with a image from a regualr 3mm disposapl camera and the digital is far more superior in quality. Same way with my HDTV. I am always comparing the HD channels to their normal station counterpart stations and HD is far superior." --Ekenobi
Well, I think we're talking about two different things here. High-definition television is superior to regular broadcast television and HD DVDs are superior to regular-definition DVDs because HD uses more pixels to reproduce the image.
But in a motion picture theater, it's different. You blow up even 2,000 pixels to giant screen proportions, and the picture loses definition. You need at least 4,000-5,000 horizontal rows of pixels to do justice to a good 35 mm photographic film print.
The advantages of digital technology in theaters are, as you say, less deterioration of the source material and cheaper shipping costs to the theaters and back. (Don't think this will decrease ticket prices, however; it just means more money for the theater, the distributer, and the studio.)
John
Well, I think we're talking about two different things here. High-definition television is superior to regular broadcast television and HD DVDs are superior to regular-definition DVDs because HD uses more pixels to reproduce the image.
But in a motion picture theater, it's different. You blow up even 2,000 pixels to giant screen proportions, and the picture loses definition. You need at least 4,000-5,000 horizontal rows of pixels to do justice to a good 35 mm photographic film print.
The advantages of digital technology in theaters are, as you say, less deterioration of the source material and cheaper shipping costs to the theaters and back. (Don't think this will decrease ticket prices, however; it just means more money for the theater, the distributer, and the studio.)
John
Monday, January 16, 2006
Member since:
February 2002
February 2002
It could also mean that a movie is made in more copies reaching more people and allowing small cities to have premieres on movies.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Member since:
March 2002
March 2002
I hope digital copies of movies will reach small theaters in small cities, but I suspect that small theaters in small cities will be the last ones able to afford the expensive digital playback equipment necessary to show all-digital movies.
John
John
Monday, January 16, 2006
Member since:
March 2002
March 2002
I like Ekenobi comparing HD digital video with a crappy disposable camera. It's the most hilarious false analogy I've seen in a while.
