Digital Cinema

Technology

 Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC (DCI) was created in March, 2002, and is a joint venture of Disney, Fox, Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal and Warner Bros. Studios. DCI's primary purpose is to establish and document voluntary specifications for an open architecture for digital cinema that ensures a uniform and high level of technical performance, reliability and quality control. Digital Cinema Initiatives published a system specification for digital cinema. The specification calls for picture encoding using the ISO/IEC 15444-1 "JPEG2000" (.jp2) standard and use of the CIE XYZ color space at 12 bits per component encoded with a 2.6 gamma applied at projection, and audio using the "Broadcast Wave" (.wav) format at 24 bits and 48 kHz or 96 kHz sampling, controlled by an XML-format Composition Playlist, into an MXF-compliant file at a maximum data rate of 250 Mbit/s. Details about encryption, key management, and logging are all discussed in the specification as are the minimum specifications for the projectors employed including the color gamut, the contrast ratio and the brightness of the image. While much of the specification codifies work that had already been ongoing in the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), the specification is important in establishing a content owner framework for the distribution and security of first-release motion picture content. The DCI standards were made with the intention of standing the test of time, much like 35 mm film which has evolved but still retained compatibility over a substantial part of a century. DCI Specs has been updated twice. The latest update, DCI Specification, Version 1.2 were published on June 10 2008

 In addition to DCI's work, the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) released its Digital Cinema System Requirements. The document addresses the requirements of digital cinema systems from the operational needs of the exhibitor, focusing on areas not addressed by DCI, including access for the visually impaired and hearing impaired, workflow inside the cinema, and equipment interoperability. In particular, NATO's document details requirements for the Theatre Management System (TMS), the governing software for digital cinema systems within a theatre complex, and provides direction for the development of security key management systems. As with DCI's document, NATO's document is also important to the SMPTE standards effort.

 On July 11, 2007, DCI published the Stereoscopic Digital Cinema Addendum Version 1.0 addressing the growing market of 3D Cinema. This document defines high-level technical requirements and specifications for the mastering, distribution and theatrical playback of stereoscopic digital cinema content. The documents defines that a single stereoscopic DCP shall be able to be used for all stereoscopic implementations and that no signal pre-processing unique to any single stereoscopic exhibition technology shall be required of a stereoscopic Digital Cinema Distribution Master (DCDM) or DCP.

The Stereoscopic DCPs for stereoscopic presentations shall interleave the left and right eye frames alternating at a 48 frames per second rate. The left and right eye material shall be captured for 24 frames per second presentation. The first frame of each reel shall be left eye, and the last frame of each reel shall be right eye. Image and audio edit points of track files shall only be left eye based. Audio track files for non-stereoscopic DCPs and stereoscopic DCPs shall be interchangeable. A single KDM shall be required to decrypt a stereoscopic DCP. It is acceptable, but not recommended, to allow color subsampling over a dual link interface. Color subsampling is only allowed in the single combination of a DCDM* at 2K, 48 FPS being transported over a link encrypted connection. Images WILL BE 4:2:2 color subsampled, Y,Cx,Cz, 12 bits per sample.

The Compliance Test Plan (CTP) was developed by DCI to provide uniform testing procedures for d-cinema equipment. The CTP details testing procedures, reference files, design evaluation methods and directed test sequences for content packages and specific types of equipment. These instructions will guide the Test Operator through the testing process and the creation of a standard DCI compliance evaluation report.

 

Digital projection

The DCI specification for digital projectors calls for three levels of playback to be supported: 2K (2048×1080) at 24 frames per second, 4K (4096×2160) at 24 frames per second, and 2K at 48 frames per second.

Three manufacturers have licensed the TI-developed DLP Cinema technology. Christie Digital Systems, Barco and NEC. Christie is the maker of the CP2000 line of 2K DCI-compliant Digital Cinema Projectors, and long established in traditional film projector technology throughout the U.S. and is the market leader in terms of units sold and deployed internationally. NEC manufactures the Starus NC2500S, NC1500C and NC800C 2K projectors for large, medium and small screen respectively. Barco is the maker of the DP line of 2K DCI-compliant Digital Cinema Projectors, DP-90, DP-100, DP-1500, DP-2000, DP-3000 targeting broad range of venues. All these models are based on the Texas Instrument's DLP Cinema 1.2 and 0.98 inch chips. The other technology is from Sony and is labeled "SXRD" technology. Their projector provides 4096x2160 4K resolution. DLP 2K projectors make over 98% of the digital Cinema world.

 Digital 3D Cinema

3D exhibition is here since the first introduction in 1953.  3D ran out of gas by 1955. 3D made a short comeback in the late 1970s, moving fast into special-venue presentations where the specialty content and a unique audience could justify the costly 3D exhibition.

The digital cinema is 3D-ready and provides instant benefit. Enabling 3D on top of a standard 2D digital-cinema installation has become the “killer application” providing much of the justification for the conversion to digital. 3D has moved from limited specialty applications into mainstream exhibition.

The 2005 release of Disney’s Chicken Little proved that the technology behind the digital 3D is viable for full-length titles. In 2007, theatres around the world thrilled moviegoers by exhibiting Beowulf and Meet the Robinsons 3D Digital. These 3D screens performs three times better then 2D screens  box office for the 3D-equipped screens, proving that today’s screens and the audiences don’t object to paying a premium ticket price for the 3D experience.

The driving force behind 3D has been the filmmakers themselves that are planning plenty major 3D releases. DreamWorks Animation has committed for complete adoption of 3D by 2009 and filmmakers like James Cameron and George Lucas have made commitments for future projects. Recent release of Journey 3D and Fly Me to the Moon together with planed releases of DreamWorks’ Monsters vs. Aliens, scheduled for March 2009, and James Cameron’s Avatar in May 2009 are powering the 3D engine.

3D movies are captured with two parallel cameras which - like our eyes - are positioned a few centimeters apart, so each camera records a slightly different perspective. The 3D system directs the proper image to the corresponding eye, creating a depth enabled vivid view.

Throughout 3D history, there have been many different 3D techniques used in cinema. With 35mm/70mm film, 3D typically required two physical films, which were costly and nearly impossible to keep synchronization. The other option was to use one projector with low-cost red/cyan glasses. This technique works well on black and white movies but on colored movies it created unnatural shifts in the overall color balance that filmmakers and viewers found unacceptable.

The DCI Stereoscopic Digital Cinema Addendum, published on July 11, 2007 has defined the 3D parameters of Digital 3D Cinema. The specs calls for Single Inventory of Stereoscopic Digital Cinema Packages, forbidding the usage of special copies that require a unique color or density timing. This applies especially to RealD that had to be supplied with a special version of each movie due to RealD’s ghosting problem. The specs also define that Stereoscopic presentations shall interleave the left and right eye frames alternating at a 48 frames per second rate.

RealD became the dominant player in 3D digital cinema in the USA. RealD is running a single digital projector at 144FPS. To separate the images, they place the shuttering system (“Z screen”) in the booth between the projector and the porthole. RealD are using disposable circular polarization glasses. The usage of polarization requires the theater to change the screen into silver screen. Although the Silver screen reduces the quality of the screening, it is accepted almost by all the filmmakers (in some countries like France the use of silver screen is not acceptable) and even has 3D benefits like additional brightness. RealD have almost 1500 screens of which over 90% are in the USA.

XpanD became the dominant player in 3D digital cinema in the Europe. XpanD is running a single digital projector at 144FPS. To separate the images, they place infrared transmitter in the booth, facing the screens. The transmitter uses plug & play infrastructure and it is very easy to move it from theater to theater, a fact that exhibitors find very effective as they can move the 3D system from big screens to small screens. XpanD are using active glasses, which act as high-speed shutters synchronized with the frame being projected. XpanD works with regular white screen and provides the brightest 3D images. The disadvantage of XpanD is that the glasses are expensive and need to be cleaned and recycled. XpanD have almost 300 screens of which over 75% are in Europe.

Dolby 3D was originally developed for industrial application by the German company Infitec. It illuminates each image with light created from three slightly different primary colors. The light is pre-filtered by a spinning filter mounted inside the projector. Dolby’s glasses act as filters that allow light to pass that is made up of the primary colors intended for that eye while blocking the primary colors intended for the opposite eye. Dolby is running a single digital projector at 144FPS. Dolby works with regular white screen. The disadvantage of Dolby is that the glasses are expensive and need to be cleaned and recycled. Dolby have about 100 screens globally.

IMAX Digital / Christie 3D. IMAX digital and Christy 3D are almost identical solutions. Both solutions are using 2 Christie projectors and 1 digital cinema server. While IMAX benefits from the IMAX Brand and is priced accordingly, Christie provides a cost-effective solution for giant screens (screens over 22m wide that RealD / XpanD can not work with due to light limitations). Both companies are placing a static polarize filter in front of each projector. Both companies are using disposable polarization and require the theater to change the screen into silver screen. Migrating from 3D to 2D and vice-versa is extremely complicated, forcing the exhibitor to allocate the screen to 3D permanently.

RealD and IMAX believe that their low-cost glasses are a key advantage over XpanD / Dolby approach, which requires collecting, washing, and maintaining an inventory. XpanD / Dolby believes that maintaining the glasses is easily manageable and cites the advantage of using the existing white screen, which does not potentially compromise the 2D picture quality. XpanD also have an advantage in the projection booth, as the 3D system can be installed in 5 minutes, migrated from screen to screen, and provides migration from 2D to 3D without human intervention. IMAX and Christie 3D solutions are the brightest 3D solutions of all, but it suffer from ghosting due to alignment limitations.

All the 3D systems offer comparable 3D image quality, with each company claiming a slight advance over the other in several technical areas. All companies also claim to be competitive in overall costs. Real D offers three different business models: a flat-rate license, a revenue-sharing plan and a per-seat plan. XpanD & Dolby offers a flat-rate, one-time purchase without future licensing costs. XpanD are proven to be the best solution for multiplexes, RealD are probably the best solution for permanent screens, Christie 3D is the best solution for giant screens and IMAX is the best 3D Brand.

 Live broadcasting to movie theaters

Digital cinemas can deliver live broadcasts from performances or events. For example, there are regular live broadcasts to movie theaters of Metropolitan Opera performances

 Current developments

July 2008 - News Corp's Twentieth Century Fox has reached an agreement in principle with a group of theater chains, paving the way for a long-delayed $1.1 billion digital cinema upgrade that Hollywood hopes will boost attendance and cut costs. Fox is the first of six studios engaged in year-long talks with the Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP) -- formed by Regal Entertainment Group, Cinemark Holdings Inc and AMC Entertainment Inc, who operate 14,000 screens -- to reach a deal to help finance the theater upgrades.

July 2008 - Cineplex Entertainment and RealD announced today they have signed a long-term agreement to install a minimum of 175 3D systems into Cineplex Entertainment theatres across the country by December 2009

July 2008 - Cinemark Holdings and RealD 3D announced that Cinemark will add up to 1,500 RealD 3D screens to its circuit.  The parties expect to commence the roll-out upon completion of the Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP) initiative.

July 2008 - Christie announced that their CP2000 series of 2K DLP Cinema Digital Cinema Projectors has been chosen by Cineplexx GmbH, the largest cinema chain in Austria, for the deployment of digital cinema systems in all of the circuit's 193 screens. The agreement between Cineplexx and XDC, represents a total value of 24 million Euros and is co- financed by the Virtual Print Fee (VPF) model.

June 2008, Barco's new digital cinema projector makes its world premiere at Cinema Expo, in Amsterdam. The DP-1200 is Barco's newest digital cinema projector, custom made for the small venue market. It is designed for screens up to 12m (40ft) wide using the same 0.98 inch DLP Cinema chip from Texas Instruments.

June 2008 - XDC has signed non-exclusive agreements with Sony Pictures and Universal and is now the first deploying entity having signed with six (6) major U.S. distributors to target the deployment of up to 8,000 DCI-compliant digital cinema installations across Europe.

June 2008, AccessIT To Bring Live 3-D Events to 150 Digital Cinema Equipped Theatres in Top U.S. Markets. AccessIT has announced its plans for the installation of 150 of its leading edge CineLive product in key markets throughout the United States. The technology, which enables the live broadcast to movie theatres of both 2-D and 3-D events such as sports and concerts, will be added to those theaters that are part of AccessIT's satellite network, all of which are part of the company's completed 3700 plus screen Phase 1 digital cinema deployment plan.

June 2008, Regal Entertainment Group and RealD Partner to Expand Regal's RealD Premium 3D Platform The deal calls for a rollout of 1,500 RealD 3D screens, bringing the RealD 3D screen count to over 3,500. The rollout will allow most U.S. markets to have 3D capability and will commence upon the completion of the Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP) initiative.

May 2008 -  First All Digital Multiplex In France - Circuit George Raymond (CGR Cinémas), one of France's largest cinema chains and Arts Alliance Media (AAM), Europe's specialist in digital cinema technology, content and deployment have announced the installation of France's first fully digital 12-plex cinema at La Rochelle.

April 2008, Adobe Drives New Format for Digital Cinema - Adobe announced that it plans to lead an initiative to define an industry-wide open file format for digital cinema files to streamline workflows and help ensure easy archiving and exchange. Adobe intends to leverage its successful Digital Negative Specification (DNG) file format as a foundation, and Adobe plans to work with a broad coalition of leading camera manufacturers, including Panavision, Silicon Imaging, Dalsa, Weisscam, and ARRI-along with software vendors, including Iridas and The Foundry, and codec provider CineForm-to define the requirements for an open, publicly documented file format that it plans to call CinemaDNG.

April 2008 - XPAND Acquires Assets of NuVision Technologies, Securing its Leading Position in 3D Digital Technology. X6D Limited, a European company whose products and services are marketed under the XpanD brand name, announced that they have acquired the active 3D cinema glasses assets of NuVision Technologies.

April 2008 - Cinema Buying Group Selects AccessIT - The Cinema Buying Group (CBG) - a buying program of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) announced the selection of AccessIT as the digital integrator for the CBG's 600+ members in the United States and Canada.

March 2008 - Imax Signs Texas Instruments For Digital Projectors - Imax Corp. will use Texas Instruments Inc.'s DLP Cinema technology in its forthcoming digital-projection system, the companies have confirmed.

March 2008 -  NATO Releases Digital Cinema System Requirements v2.0 The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) has issued a revised Digital Cinema System Requirements document (version 2.0).

March 2008 - ccessIT Announces Agreements With 4 Major Studios For Phase-Two Digital Cinema Deployment - Access IT has announced commitments from four major motion picture studios, including The Walt Disney Studios' Motion Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, and Universal Pictures, to provide movies to up to 10,000 digital cinema systems in the United States and Canada in conformance with the DCI specifications. The studios have agreed to pay virtual print fees, for a limited time only, for movies projected on AccessIT systems, further underscoring their commitment to advance the industry's transition to digital cinema.

March 2008 - New Christie Dual Projector System for 3D Cinema. With the power of two Christie DLP Cinema projectors, the new Christie 3D2P offers more than double the brightness for presentations on screens of any size.ls 1000th Digital Cinema Server

December 2007 - GDC Technology has successfully delivered and installed more than 1000 servers to cinema theatres in Austria, Africa, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, The Netherlands, UK and US.

October 2007 - DLP Cinema Technology Surpasses 5,000 Screen Milestone. Texas Instruments announced that its DLP Cinema technology has surpassed the 5,000 screen milestone on a path to doubling that next year. There are 5,260 DLP Cinema enabled theatres installed across the globe, an increase of 140% from the same period one year ago.

October 2007 - Vue Entertainment Launches Europe's First Fully Digital Cinema - Vue Entertainment, the UK's leading developer and operator of state-of-the-art multiplex cinemas has invested £5m in the Princes Quay development in Hull to create the first new build fully digital cinema in Europe.

August 2007 - Cinema Buying Group-NATO issues Digital Cinema Request For Proposals - The Cinema Buying Group-NATO (CBG-NATO) has issued Request For Proposals (RFP) to digital cinema equipment and service providers on behalf of the members of the CBG-NATO - small to medium-sized independent theaters in the United States and Canada.

June 2007 - Arts Alliance Media announced the first European commercial digital cinema VPF agreements (with Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Pictures).

May 2007- Hollywood Goes Back To The Future With 3-D Films - The next phase in the theatrical viewing experience took a leap forward last week, as Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson signed on to produce and direct a trilogy of 3-D movies about the intrepid Belgian comic- book hero Tintin for Paramount's DreamWorks.

May 2006 - about 400 theaters have been equipped with 2K digital projectors with the number increasing every month.

 March 2006 - Access Integrated Technologies (AccessIT) had announced agreements with nearly all of the major film studios and several exhibitors that enable the company to roll-out its end-to-end digital cinema systems.

 October 2005 - Chicken Little from Disney, with its experimental release of the film in digital 3D, increased the number of projectors using the 2K format.

 February 2005 - Arts Alliance Media was selected to roll out the UK Film Council’s Digital Screen Network (DSN), a $20M contract to install and operate Europe’s largest 2K digital cinema network. By March 2007, 230 of the 241 screens had been installed on schedule, with the remaining 11 to be installed later in 2007 when cinemas have completed building works or construction.

 Economics:

 Savings in distribution - Digital distribution of movies has the potential to save money for film distributors. A single film print can cost around US$1200 so making 4000 prints for a wide-release movie might cost $5 million. In contrast, at the maximum 250 megabit-per-second maximum data rate defined by DCI for digital cinema, a typical feature-length movie could fit comfortably on an off the shelf 300 GB hard drive—which cost as low as $70—which could even be returned to the distributor for reuse after a movie's run. With several hundred movies distributed every year, industry savings could potentially reach $1 billion or more.

3D – Stereoscopic movies became the economic engine behind digital cinema due to the fact that it generates revenues about 5 times more then 2D Movies. With additional production cost of about 15% to this of 2D movies, producers are shifting their efforts into 3D in order to increase their cinema revenues. 

Alternative content - An added incentive for exhibitors is the ability to show alternative content such as live special events, sports, pre-show advertising and other digital or video content. Some low-budget films that would normally not have a theatrical release because of distribution costs might be shown in smaller engagements than the typical large release studio pictures. The cost of duplicating a digital "print" is very low, so adding more theaters to a release has a small additional cost to the distributor. Movies that start with a small release could scale to a much larger release quickly if they were sufficiently successful, opening up the possibility that smaller movies could achieve box office success previously out of their reach.

Greater protection for content - A last incentive for digital distribution is the possibility of greater protection against piracy. With traditional film prints, distributors typically stagger the film's release in various markets, shipping the film prints around the globe. In the subsequent markets, pirated copies of a film (i.e. a cam) may be available before the movie is released in that market. A simultaneous worldwide release would mitigate this problem to some degree. Simultaneous worldwide releases on film have been used on The Da Vinci Code, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and Mission: Impossible III amongst others. With digital distribution, a simultaneous worldwide release would not cost significantly more than a staggered release.

 

Costs

On the downside, the initial costs for converting theaters to digital are high: up to $90,000 per screen or more. Theaters have been reluctant to switch without a cost-sharing arrangement with film distributors. Recent negotiations have involved the development of a Virtual Print License fee which the studios will pay for their products which allows financiers and system developers to pay for deployment of digital systems to the theaters, thus providing investors a certain payback.

While a theater can purchase a film projector for US$50,000 and expect an average life of 30–40 years, a digital cinema playback system including server/media block/and projector can cost 3–4 times as much, and is at higher risk for component failures and technological obsolescence. Experience with computer-based media systems show that average economic lifetimes are only on the order of 5 years with some units lasting until about 10 years before they are replaced.

Archiving digital material is also turning out to be both tricky and costly. In a 2007 study, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences found the cost of storing 4K digital masters to be "enormously higher - 1100% higher - than the cost of storing film masters." Furthermore, digital archiving faces challenges due to the insufficient temporal qualities of today's digital storage: no current media, be it optical discs, magnetic hard drives or digital tape, can reliably store a film for a hundred years, something that properly stored and handled film can do.

 

History

Digital media playback of hi-resolution 2K files has at least a twenty year history with early RAIDs feeding custom frame buffer systems with large memories. Content was usually restricted to several minutes of material.

Transfer of content between remote locations was slow and had limited capacity. It wasn't until the late 1990s that feature length projects could be sent over the 'wire' (Internet or dedicated fiber links).

There were many prototype systems developed that claim a first in some form of digital presentation. However, few of these had a significant impact on the advance of the industry. Key highlights in the development of digital cinema would likely include: demonstrations by TI of their DMD technology, real-time playback of compressed hi-resolution files by various vendors, and early HD presentations from D5 tape to digital projectors.

Standards development

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers began work on standards for digital cinema in 2001. It was clear by that point in time that HDTV did not provide a sufficient technological basis for the foundation of digital cinema playback. (In Europe and Japan however, there is still a significant presence of HDTV for theatrical presentations. Agreements within the ISO standards body have led to these systems being referred to as Electronic Cinema Systems (E-Cinema).)

Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) was formed in March 2002 as a joint project of the motion picture studios (Disney, Fox, MGM, Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal and Warner Bros. Studios) to develop a system specification for digital cinema. In cooperation with the American Society of Cinematographers, DCI created standard evaluation material (the ASC/DCI StEM material) and developed tests of 2K and 4K playback and compression technologies. DCI published their specification in 2005.

Claims to significant events

One claim for the first digital cinema demonstration comes from JVC. On March 19, 1998, they collaborated on a digital presentation at a cinema in London. Several clips from popular films were encoded onto a remote server, and sent via fibre optic for display to a collection of interested Industry parties.

The Last Broadcast made cinematic history on October 23, 1998, when it became the first feature to be theatrically released digitally, via satellite download to theaters across the United States. An effort headed by Wavelength Releasing, Texas Instruments, Digital Projection Inc. and Loral Space, it successfully demonstrated what would become a template for future releases. In 1999, it was repeated utilizing QuVIS technology across Europe, including the Cannes Film Festival, making The Last Broadcast the first feature to be screened digitally at the Cannes Film Festival.

Several feature films were shown in 1999 using DLP prototype projectors and early wavelet based servers. For example, Walt Disney Pictures Bicentennial Man was presented using a Qubit server manufactured by QuVIS of Topeka, Kansas. DVD ROM was used to store the compressed data file. The DVD ROMs were loaded into the QuBit server hard drives for playout. The file size for Bicentennial Man was 42 GB with an average data rate of 43 Mbit/s.

In 2000, Walt Disney, Texas Instruments and Technicolor with the cooperation of several U.S. and international exhibitors, began to deploy prototype Digital Cinema systems in commercial theatres. The systems were assembled and installed by Technicolor using the TI mark V prototype projector, a special Christie lamp housing, and the QuBit server with custom designed automation interfaces.

Technicolor manufactured the DVDs for uploading on these test systems and was responsible for sending technicians out to the locations for every new feature film that was played. The technicians would typically spend ten or so hours to load the files from the DVD to the QuBit, set up the server to play the files, and then set up the projector. A full rehearsal screening of the feature was mandatory as was the requirement to have back up DVDs and backup QuBits available should something fail.

The systems were eventually replaced or upgraded after TI made improvements to the projectors and Technicolor developed a purpose-built digital cinema server in a venture with Qualcomm, the engineering giant from San Diego best known for advanced mobile phone technology. The new systems were called AMS for Auditorium Management Systems and were the first digital cinema servers designed to be user friendly and operate reliably in a computer-hostile environment such as a projection booth. Most importantly, they provided a complete solution for content security.

The AMS used removable hard disk drives as the transport mechanism for the files. This eliminated the time required to upload the DVD ROMs to the local hard drives and provided the ability to switch programs quickly. For security, the AMS used a media block type system that placed a sealed electronics package within the projector housing. The server output only 3DES encrypted data and the media block did the decryption at the point just before playout.

The first secure encrypted digital cinema feature was Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. The system functioned well but was eventually replaced because of the need to create a standard data package for D-cinema distribution.

Universal Pictures used their film Serenity as the first DCI-compliant DCP to be delivered shown to an audience at a remote theater, although it was not distributed this way to the public. Inside Man was their first DCP cinema release, and was transmitted to 20 theatres in the United States along with two trailers.

List of digital cinema companies

    * Access Integrated Technologies, Inc. (AccessIT) — theater system integrator

    * Arts Alliance Media (Arts Alliance Digital Cinema) — theater system integrator

    * Barco — digital projector manufacturer

    * Christie — digital projector manufacturer

    * Deluxe Digital Studios — Digital Cinema Services

    * Doremi Cinema — manufacturer of digital cinema servers and mastering systems

    * Dolby Laboratories — theater system integrator

    * GDC Technology - theater system integrator

    * Kodak — theater system integrator

    * NEC — digital projector manufacturer

    * RealD – 3D cinema system manufacturer

    * RED Digital Cinema Camera Company — digital cinema camera manufacturer

    * Sony — digital projector manufacturer

    * Technicolor — Digital Cinema Services

    * Texas Instruments — developers of DLP projector technology

    * Qube Cinema — manufacturer of digital cinema servers and mastering systems

    * XDC - theater system integrator

    * XpanD – 3D cinema system manufacturer

    * Ymagis — theater system integrator