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MOVIES
Landmark to upgrade to digital theaters
By P.J. Huffstutter
Friday, April 4, 2003
Landmark Theaters Inc., the nation's
largest independent movie theater chain, cut a deal Thursday to install a
digital movie projection system based on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows software in
its 53 theaters nationwide.
The win is a modest one for Microsoft, which
has yet to persuade mainstream theater chains to adopt its technology. Part of
the problem is that its Windows Media 9 software does not offer the film
resolution needed to project crystal-clear images on large screens.
But
Bert Manzari, executive vice president of film and marketing for Los
Angeles-based Landmark, said independent filmmakers will appreciate the system
because it will help them stretch their production budgets by eliminating the
need for expensive film prints.
"We live in the world of smaller screens,
and we see that there will be real significant savings to be incurred by using
this technology for smaller films," he said.
Landmark plans to roll out
the systems in the next three months and have them installed in the projection
booths for each of its 177 screens by December.
Privately held Landmark
declined to say how much it is spending on the retrofit.
The deal, made
as an industry consortium is still wrestling to establish uniform technology
standards, underscores the eagerness of exhibitors to embrace a future without
film.
"We don't want to wait while the technical standards [are] still
being debated," Manzari said.
The system will combine digital projectors,
computer hardware, networking equipment and software assembled by Digital Cinema
Solution, a Los Angeles company that relies on off-the-shelf PCs and Microsoft
software. A complete system for a single screen costs from $50,000 to $80,000,
according to DCS executives.
That's a fraction of what it typically costs
to upgrade a theater for digital cinema.
Digital projection systems
promise to rid movies of visual problems, including wear on celluloid prints and
on-screen flaws caused by mechanical projectors. And by eliminating film,
studios expect to save hundreds of millions of dollars in print production and
distribution costs.
Still, the conversion costs are considerable. One of
the biggest roadblocks has been determining who will pick up the $150,000 tab
for each high-end digital projector, let alone the costs tied to computers,
networking equipment and other necessary technology.
Kansas City,
Mo.-based AMC Entertainment Inc. has bought a handful of such digital projectors
and installed them in some of its top-market theaters. Regal Entertainment
Group, the nation's largest movie theater chain, is spending an initial $70
million to retrofit nearly 80% of its 524 locations with digital projectors,
high-speed data-networking equipment and satellite links by the end of this
year. So far, the Knoxville, Tenn., company has upgraded 2,300 screens in 200 of
its theaters.
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