Christie's leadership takes flight with HFR and IMB - Christie Digital ...

Increasing frame rates
provide more frames
to better represent fast
moving objects. It also
provides increased image
detail as the camera
shutter is open
for less time
per frame.
To learn
more about
high frame rates
and upcoming Christie
events and demonstrations visit
christiedigital.com/highframerates.
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Christie's leadership takes flight
with HFR and IMB
Story continues from page 1
their cinematic offerings by providing premium
movie experiences and alternative content
options. Christie continues to lead the evolution
of cinema solutions and offers studios, directors
and exhibitors the software, firmware and
equipment they need to give audiences the most
compelling cinema experiences.
Fast motion action shots, camera panning,
and the elimination of strobing artifacts are now
possible with higher
frame rates (HFR) and
Christie Solaria ® Series
2 projectors. “It’s a
boon to the industry
to have advanced,
upgradeable projector
technology from
Christie to solve part
of the frame rate
puzzle,” notes James
Cameron, chairman
and CEO, Lightstorm
Entertainment Inc.
“3D shows you a
window into reality,
the higher frame rate
takes the glass out of
the window.” Working
closely with James
Cameron's Lightstorm
Entertainment and
Park Road, both
premiere production
facilities, Christie
ensures they will have the right solutions when the
market needs them.
Are you ready
“With the support and the initiative that visionary
leaders like James Cameron and Peter Jackson
have shown for HFR, we foresee this becoming
the next 3D-type of experience where audiences
will actually see a difference — something
astonishing and stunning,” comments Jack Kline,
president and COO, Christie Digital Systems, USA.
Kline believes that with HFR, “the promise of
digital cinema will be fully realized.”
Previewed at ShowEast in October 2011
and launched at CinemaCon 2012, Christie's
Integrated Media Block (IMB) server technology
provides the performance and security that
exhibitors demand. The IMB has become a
requirement for the amount of data encryption
and bandwidth that 4K resolution requires, and
creates a secure, high-bandwidth connection
that manages HFR and 4K content without
compromising image quality.
Ready. Set. Go.
Christie is ready. As the pioneer and expert in HFR
projection capabilities, they have put another tool
in the directors’ and studios’ toolboxes. Christie is
set to expand its leadership role and expertise in
HFR with the introduction of Christie Previsto
HFR technology, among other firmware upgrades,
for an enhanced 2D and 3D experience. And now
Christie goes the extra mile with the development
of the advanced technology designed to deliver
HFR with its new, more powerful and versatile
server technology — the Christie IMB.
Christie is set. They can provide the optimal
performance solution for their Solaria Series
2 projectors, with the introduction of the
future-proof Christie IMB. “Our projectors are
capable of supporting up to 60 frames per
second (fps) per eye, a decoding bit rate of
up to 500 MBIT/sec (more than double the
DCI standard), and the capability for higher
bandwidth 4K and 3D content,” states Dr. Don
Shaw, director, product management, Christie
Entertainment Solutions.
Christie is ready to go. “We can propose to the
exhibitor a safe haven — from both the projector
and the IMB standpoints — that they are not
going to be made obsolete,” Kline assures. “This
is a pledge we make to our customers because of
our history in the business.”
“Christie is the single source for technology
solutions, expertise, and service. Whether
exhibitors need support for streaming
alternative content, the ability to upgrade
easily or to switch back and forth from 24fps
to 48fps or 60fps, to dual stacked-projector
3D setups for special presentations on a big
scale, Christie is committed to digital cinema
for the long term,” notes Dr. Shaw. He adds,
“with Christie’s cost-effective, more reliable and
robust solutions, film makers, post-production
studios and exhibitors can also embrace the
new technology now.”
> See back page for story on Technology Co-operation with Park Road Post Production, Weta Digital and Christie.
Christie IMB makes its debut worldwide
Asia is an early adopter
for Christie IMB
Countries throughout Asia Pacific are often early
adopters of Christie DLP Cinema ® technology.
Shanghai-based Shimao Group, a leading
Chinese property, retail and entertainment
company, was the first to purchase the all-new
Christie integrated IMB solution.
“We are confident that Christie’s IMB will work
well with the Christie Solaria Series 2K and 4K
projectors we have deployed in our cinemas. After
viewing the HFR and IMB solution, which made its
first appearance at the Christie booth at CineAsia,
we are convinced that the IMB solution will offer
us a more complete projection system because it
is integrated within the projector. This is definitely
a value-add for exhibitors like Shimao who is
always eager to embrace the latest innovations
in digital cinema,” commented Liu Ming, general
manager, Shimao Cinema Investment Co., Ltd.
Prototype Christie laser-engine projector shows
James Cameron High Frame Rate demo reel
In April, Christie hosted a HFR Summit at Christie’s worldwide center for
engineering, research and development in Kitchener, Ontario, providing
cinema-industry luminaries the first-ever laser projection of high frame
rate cinema and alternative content on to a 30-foot white screen.
Matt Cowan, chief scientific officer, RealD; Douglas Trumbull, a
recent Gordon E. Sawyer Academy Award winner; Ian Bidgood,
technical director, Park Road Post Production; Bert Dunk,
director at the Screen Industries Research and Training Centre;
Demetri Portelli, stereographer, and John Helliker, also director
at the Screen Industries Research and Training Centre, met with
Christie engineering and product development staff for a vibrant
information sharing session and discussion on high frame rates,
laser projection, and the future of 3D and 4K projection.
Most current installations
use a media block in an
external server that is linked
by cables to the projector.
This can create limitations
for displaying alternative
content and for displaying
images at HFR. Christie’s
Shaw explained, “by having
the IMB integrated in the
projector, Christie has made
the IMB an integral part
of the projector, creating a
secure connection that can manage the high
bandwidth required for HFR and 4K content
without any compromise to pixel quality.”
Shimao Group, one of the top five exhibitors
in China, completed the digitalization of at least
75 screens at 10 cinemas at the end of 2011
and will increase the number of multi-functional
cinemas to 60 with 500 screens by 2015.
Christie hosts cinema industry heavyweights
at first-ever HFR laser projection demo
Big, bright and crystal clear will spark cinema
industry renaissance
The consensus of the assembled industry experts was that the industry
needs to differentiate itself from the plethora of varied viewing options,
from tablets to home theaters and all manner of exhibitor setups. Doug
Trumbull said, “Spectacular movies delivered at high-frame rates, on to
big and vividly bright screens, will enable the production and exhibition
of amazingly immersive cinema experiences that will be far more
powerful than any other medium.”
Echoing Mr. Trumbull’s sentiments, Ian Bidgood suggested that
“…3D images must be awe-inspiring to bring back the crowds to
theaters worldwide, and the higher brightness levels that are required
to do justice to these images, along with higher frame rate material,
will be delivered by Christie’s technology in the laser field, with new
projector and cinema solutions for today and the future.”
Christie’s commitment to HFR
The Christie IMB seamlessly
integrates into the Christie
Solaria Series of digital
cinema projectors
The two main goals of Christie’s HFR activities are to help the industry
develop the best HFR content and the best delivery system for HFR
content. The first goal involves assisting leading-edge filmmakers and
post-production companies in perfecting HFR movie creation for the
most engaging, entertaining content possible. The second goal is to
assist exhibitors in showing 3D HFR movies in all their glory. To these
ends, Christie is helping create the standards for 3D HFR movies with
current DLP and new laser technologies. through formal and informal
technology-development alliances with major producers and directors,
post-production facilities, studios and technology partners.
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