The technology Choices Facing the Cinema Industry

The industrys biggest fear is that technology in the home is rising faster than the tech in the cinema, warned Howard Lukk, Vice President, Production Technology at Walt Disney Studios. So how do we make the cinema experience the premium experience?

Lukk was speaking at IBC2013s state of the nation digital cinema summit in a session exploring the future of cinema featuring stakeholders from Hollywood studios, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, exhibitors and SMPTE.

There is an air of inevitability about the introduction of Ultra HD TV. Even the iPad 4, Playstation 4 and the new Xbox console support 4K and further out plans are fomenting in Japan to air the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at sixteen times HD resolution.

Bluntly, we are in an arms race with other leisure experiences, said Phil Clapp, President of the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC). The cinema industry must be like a shark: moving forward, otherwise it wont survive. We need to keep cinema at the cutting edge.

A number of technology options are being discussed to upgrade the visual bar. These include higher spatial resolution, larger colour space, extended dynamic range, improved temporal resolution, improved compression and laser projection. Which, if any or all, of these will audiences notice, or which can exhibitors market as a gold standard?

Resolution alone is not sufficient, according to the IBC panel because of limitations in the human visual system. The cost of the resolution (to implement from capture to screen) probably exceeds the value to the viewer, especially if you are sitting way back from the screen, argued David Monk, CEO, European Digital Cinema Forum. The same is true for cinema or TV. Going beyond 4K in an auditorium environment is a total waste of money.

To see the difference between HD and Ultra HD you have to be standing quite close to the screen, agreed Wendy Aylsworth, SVP technology at Warner Bros. Technical Operations - and president of SMPTE. She believes greater dynamic range and broader colour range are of greater visual benefit.

High frame rates (HFR) are believed to smooth motion blur and provide a more intensely realistic image. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey introduced HFR to mainstream audiences but audience responses were mixed.

The industry as a whole failed in the way it marketed HFR to consumers, declared Clapp. Where HFR was locally marketed not only did it drive audience numbers but exhibitors were able to charge a premium for it.

Upping the light levels is another incremental advantage with proponents claiming that laser illumination will lift stereoscopic films from their current gloom. Laser projectors are only just hitting the market and are currently too expensive to excite more than a handful of premium theatre owners.

Exhibitors have spent money on new digital projectors and are now being told that they have to upgrade again, or worse, that they need a whole new system, said Clapp. That is a difficult sell in this economic climate.

SMPTE and the studios are inclined toward moving forward on all characteristics hand in hand but its a slow process. Any change needs a revision of the Digital Cinema Package.

Exhibitors might eye alternative content as a means to increase revenue and make better use of existing theatre infrastructure. Estimated at $300m worldwide today, event cinema, is predicted to achieve $1bn by 2020 [IHS Screen Digest] with the November 23 simulcast of Dr Whos 3D 75-minute 50th anniversary episode in UK cinemas with a broadcast on BBC one and networks worldwide, one example.

Another avenue of alternate uses of theatre space is to actively encourage audiences to interact with movies on the big screen with their smartphones and iPads.

Weve had some successful trials of second screening but it only works for repeat customers of a movie they have already seen, revealed Lukk. It wont work on new features because its a big distraction to other customers. I wouldnt even consider it a theatrical experience. People love it, but they dont come with a cinematic expectation.

He pointed out that for second screening to take-off, the woefully inadequate theatre infrastructure has to be upgraded: Imagine the WiFi you need for 200 iPads.

Anathema as the idea may be to a filmmakers traditional understanding of cinema, Clapp urged an open-minded approach.

We have to think about product placement with databases of on-screen action linked to iPads. Its about taking metadata out of the projector and creating a new participatory experience. There are some opportunities to make second screen interaction a deliberate part of cinema going.

Ironically the single technology that may make the biggest difference just now to the perception of the picture, is better sound. IBC2013s session on Immersive Audio aired this debate too.

There are several competing next generation sound systems most notably Barcos Auro 11.1 which is backed by DTS Multi Dimensional Audio, and the Atmos system from Dolby. Theatre owners and studios have asked for a common file format for immersive sound in DCPs in order to protect their investments in new sound systems but with a potential goldmine for the audio system that can monopolise the future of cinema sound, this is one battle which has barely begun.

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