$525 million for 4K digital cinemas coming soon

[Robert Null]

JP Morgan is about to unleash $525 million to Digital Cinema Implementation Partners, the group in charge of the digital conversions for AMC, Regal, and Cinemark. All of these will be 4k; Sony projectors for AMC and Regal and Barco projectors for Cinemark. Starting by the end of the year, the conversions will be at a rate of 500 a month, with a total of 15,000 screens. The number of 4k screens will soon pass 2k. This will spur smaller chains to demand 4k from 3rd party integrators as well. Can't wait for my local AMC theater to go all 4K!

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i85a75f3355f4093d7cb396ac259a5407

[Tom Lowe]

This validates those who have been saying and predicting for the last two or three years that 4K is "just around the corner" and coming much sooner than most people expect. And those clowns at C.com claimed it would take another "10 to 15" years for 4K display. :smilielol5:

[Craig Ryan]

This is huge. Exciting.

[dino g]

been here many times before boys...see below...



we installed 26 systems in indie theatres across the country in 2002 for the BMW film series using microsoft WM9 as playback and DPI 2k projectors and thought we were going to take over the world...since then these kind of announcements have come from all the major players over and over again....until they are installed and up and running, then get excited...not to be a downer, but it is the same old press release just less money and more screens since the prices have come down.

Business Editors and High-Tech Writers

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 7, 2001

Technicolor/QUALCOMM Joint Venture to Kick-Start Transition by

Providing First 1,000 Digital Cinema Installations at Theatres

Nationwide

Company Showcases Complete System and Service for Digital Delivery

and Exhibition of Movies

[M Most]

Can't wait for my local AMC theater to go all 4K!


Allow me to show you another quote:

"Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP) is a joint venture owned equally by exhibition industry leaders AMC Entertainment Inc., Cinemark USA, Inc. and Regal Entertainment Group, representing more than 14,000 screens in the U.S. and Canada. Recently DCIP announced a deal to install thousands of digital movie projectors starting next year in the US. Each new theater will cost about $70000 each. DCIP is receiving help from several major movie studios including Lion’s Gate, Paramount, Fox, Universal Studios and Disney. In order to show their films, the studios will be paying between $800 and $1000 per film. DCIP has also announced that they plan to make a separate deal with Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures to install digital projectors around the world. The deal with Sony will involve using Sony’s 4K SXRD projectors, the SRX-R210 and SRX-R220. The new theaters are expected to be able to display not only digital movies, but 3D movies as well. This is good news for the dozen 3D movies expected to debut next year. Both the DCIP and the major movie studios expect this deal to help lure guests back to the theaters and away from their HDTVs."

That's from a press release dated October 1, 2008.

Here's another one:

"Proving it can play well with others, Sony Pictures has decided to throw in with most of the other major studios in the Digital Cinema Implementation Partners to fund digital projection switches across North America. Similar to its existing deal with RealD to go straight to 3D with 4K SXRD equipment, these digital cinemas can be converted to 3D later. Since we first heard about the group's plans to upgrade movie theaters, plans have slowed due to the credit crisis, but with every major studio except Warner Bros. on board, it would seem they've got the backing to make 20,000 digital perfect -- and cheap digital print movie distribution compatible -- sooner rather than later."

That one is dated April 17, 2009.

I wouldn't be holding my breath on any of this. The wheels of equipment replacement move very, very slowly, especially during a worldwide economic meltdown. Just ask a good friend of mine who was hired by DCIP to spearhead the digital rollout in early 2008. He was let go later in 2008 because DCIP decided that their plans were too ambitious and that the rollout would proceed at a much slower pace than planned.

[Mark L. Pederson]

I'm sure glad Offhollywood is now in the business of making 4K & 3D DCPs!

[Jim Perry, Jr.]

It feels like Red's mission of changing the world is coming to light.
Do you think we will see a change in the broadcast arena?
poorly compressed 1080p -> 4k+

[Tom Lowe]

People who underestimate 4K will be proven wrong more quickly than they can imagine, IMO. I've had people claim that 4K LCD monitors for homes are "decades" away. Hehe. We'll see about that! Watch what happens when gamers get a taste of 4K gaming, and Audio-Visual/Home Theater buffs get a chance to watch a 4K REDRAY. Things will happen very fast.

[GlennChan]

For the "TV" world, next generation will be 1080p60.

Beyond that, everything would have to support the higher bandwidth... from the broadcaster to the home (e.g. equipment that would handle whatever the new format is).

2- For home video/theatre, you could see 4k sometime in the nearish future. e.g. when manufacturer start making more high-end 4k displays (which make sense even when you don't have 4k material yet) + something like Red Ray.

3- Over the air will likely stay the way it is for a long time.

4- Cable and satellite may continue to be poorly compressed if people don't notice it and would rather prefer more channels.

[Blair S. Paulsen]

Eventually 4K will be the standard for 2D theatrical distro and implementation for the home a few years behind. The issue is WHEN.

In a theatrical setting the existing experience is typically enthralling for the audience as it is. Assuming its in focus, the print isn't trashed and the people sitting near you keep quiet a 35mm projection looks great. If you could do a split screen with a properly prepared 4K version of the same flick then you might get some converts, but does anyone see that happening on a mass basis?

Nobody wants 4K in their living room more than I do but IMHO the big missing piece is bottom up consumer demand. Doubt that? Explain why most people think anything 16x9 is HiDef or why Blu-Ray is unable to displace DVD on a picture quality basis? Look up the polls and even internal industry numbers - its pathetic, I sometimes wonder if these people have eyes. Of course, if you are sitting 10 feet (3m) away from a 42" LCD being fed MPEG-2 compressed imagery its no wonder you can't see the difference - but that's another thread.

Announcements like the one's Mike cited are great even if the reality is rather different because it can alter popular perception. My 4K pitch is always future proofing and asset shelf life. Virtually any media created has a potential value in the future and the higher the quality the better the equation. The closer 4K seems the more sense that makes to producers.

FWIW the only way I see this happening faster is if more people get a chance to see 4K for themselves in a proper viewing environment. Then, its game on!

Cheers - #19

[Tom Lowe]

Wasn't REDRAY already demonstrated at bandwidth similar to today's broadcast HD? BTW, I see fiber being installed all around California right now.

I do agree that broadcast TV will be the last to get onboard with 4K, but there are worlds of other content possibilities other than broadcast TV - on demand, Bit Torrents, direct downloads, optical discs, etc. This is how people will get 4K onto their 4K LCDs.

[Tom Lowe]

FWIW the only way I see this happening faster is if more people get a chance to see 4K for themselves in a proper viewing environment. Then, its game on!


Well they will be getting chances in 15,000 theaters across the country if this article is correct. But getting people to view 4K up close on a 4K monitor with super pristine 4K material will convert them even faster, I think.

People say, "Oh the economy is terrible... 4K will be delayed." But the economy isn't terrible for the thousands of people sitting in 3 million dollar beach houses around here. Never underestimate these Home Theater AV aficionados. These are people paying $2,000 for gold-plated HDMI cables! :smilielol5:

[Ian Laurie]

... paying $2,000 for gold-plated HDMI cables! :smilielol5:

Thats almost as bad as the people paying for gold plated fiber optic cables.

As for 4k, I think it will happen very steadily over the next year or two. I am personally tired of watching scratched and damaged film projections, and 2k is not enough of an improvement to draw me away from my tv with only a minor improvement in resolution. with 4k they would be matching the crispness of my 1080p on a much larger scale. and if recessions teach us anything, it should be noted they are good for theatre viewership.

[Joseph Ward]

I would love to see a comparison technically and visually 4K SXRD VS 4K DLP when that arrives.

http://www.cinemark.com/pressreleasesform_general.asp?step=2&PressReleaseItem=644

http://www.barco.com/investors/en/Pressreleases/show.asp?index=2348

http://www.christiedigital.com/EMEAEN/Corporate/MediaCenter/PressRelease/Christie4KDLPCinemaEN.htm

http://www.dlp.com/tech/press_releases_details.aspx?id=1362

[Stephen Williams]

This validates those who have been saying and predicting for the last two or three years that 4K is "just around the corner" and coming much sooner than most people expect. And those clowns at C.com claimed it would take another "10 to 15" years for 4K display. :smilielol5:

Hi Tom,

Saw the RED showreel on a 2k Christie projector at IBC, Jim asked me if i was bothered that it was only 2k, I was not. (Sony pulled out of IBC so their projector was not available)

Looks like you will loose your bet with 2 of the clowns.

Stephen

[Tom Lowe]

Hi Tom,

Saw the RED showreel on a 2k Christie projector at IBC, Jim asked me if i was bothered that it was only 2k, I was not. (Sony pulled out of IBC so their projector was not available)

Looks like you will loose your bet with 2 of the clowns.

Stephen

Hi Stephen, we still have a year and a half to go, so don't start celebrating just yet :)

[Gavin Greenwalt]

Watch what happens when gamers get a taste of 4K gaming[...] Things will happen very fast.

Almost 0 console games render at 1080i let alone 1080p. Most render at 720p or something 540 and upsample.

And even then I would much rather the GPUs be put into rendering better shaders than more pixels.

I don't see 4k selling anything in the gaming market. Resolution just isn't that important until we improve the quality of the rendering.

[Tom Lowe]

Almost 0 console games render at 1080i let alone 1080p. Most render at 720p or something 540 and upsample.

And even then I would much rather the GPUs be put into rendering better shaders than more pixels.

I don't see 4k selling anything in the gaming market. Resolution just isn't that important until we improve the quality of the rendering.

We'll see about this prediction. 4k is coming, and gaming won't lag.

[Joseph Ward]

Gaming has been lagging. These new consoles Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo Wii, is more like 1.5 as far as graphics. Its not so much about the hardware tech that's been missing now, but the software tech. Maybe when the Unreal Engine 4 comes out? 4K gaming would be killer!

[Gavin Greenwalt]

But which would you rather have photoreal or 4k?

You can either have more detail, better shaders and better textures or you can render at a higher resolution.

I would rather get Global Illumination and better AI/Animation than higher resolution.

'Soft' Photoreal > Razor sharp fake and I think most would agree with me.

[Roberto Lequeux]

1080 resolution screens at home and 4k at the theater feel right. How many houses have 1080 TVs now, and how long did it take? The "switch" isn't over. I doubt that 4k screens will come to homes soon other than possibly as a high end exclusive item for those with serious setups. There needs to be a noticeable difference between the average home and the local theater, or they'll need to lace popcorn with crack. :)

If this moves ahead and we start 2010 with 2,500 adding 500 a month... that will be very good selling point for Red over the likes of the F35, the new Arri, and all others that said 4k was a waste of time.

I guess 4k finishing isn't impossible for smaller films. What would be involved?

What comes to mind is making sure you can get your VFX's rendered at (and for) 4k. The only other thing I can think of is to use a 4k friendly finishing software and to have to rent a room with a proper 4k projector for your colorist to spend a few days tweaking the 2k grade at 4k. Not a walk in the park but it seems like that is "all". Anything else?

[dino g]

next innovation in home theatre is 3d not 4k...everyone (manufacturers) will have them for sale at sub $4,000.00 in less than 18 months. ( with a partner we own the world's best 3D surfing footage and all the relevant companies are fighting over the license for our content to show on screen at the best buys of the world, thats how i know)...4k is still a very very insider term, like streaming media was in 1995...it just takes time for everyone to catch up...

congratulations! good news is, if you are reading this, you are already in the 1/1000% of the world that knows or cares now...your job is to profit from it, because if you don't some one else will.