| Disney To Finance Digital Movie Distribution |
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| Home Theater News Industry-Trade News | |
| Written by AV News | |
| Monday, 19 September 2005 | |
 The
Los Angeles Times reports that Disney is the first movie studio backing
the digital distribution of its movies. 150 new digital movie screens
will be unveiled under an agreement between Buena Vista Pictures
Distribution, Christie Digital System and AccessIT and this number
could reach 4,000 before 2008. The newspaper reports that of the 36,000
screens in the country, less than 110 currently operate on digital
equipment so even though the deal might seem small, it will more than
double the number of digital screens by the end of the year.
Digital movies offer better picture and the movies don’t deteriorate from continued showings. Even though the technology has been around for years Disney is the first major studio to actually push for digital distribution. According to the LA Times, replacing film prints with digital format movies could save studios up to one billion dollars a year. But converting movie theaters to digital will be costly – digital projection screens cost twice as much as film projectors. Disney is set to release most of its new releases next year in both digital and film but more studios need to make the commitment to digital if the format is to thrive. There is no point in having digital projection systems in place if there are no titles available in digital format but executives from other studios are said to be in talks with digital manufacturers. Jack Kline, president of the projector company Christie, estimates it will be at least five years before digital theaters become widespread but once digital distribution is set in place both studios and audiences should have plenty to be happy about. Source: www.latimes.com Like this article? Bookmark and share with any of the sites below.        |
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