Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP) -- representing AMC, Cinemark and Regal Cinemas -- has worked out a deal to finance the installation of thousands of digital movie screens starting next year in the U.S. with the help of Lion's Gate, Paramount, Fox, Universal and Disney. Not participating, at least for now, are Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures, with the latter expected to announce a separate deal soon involving the installation of Sony 4K SXRD projectors around the world. Key to the deal? "Virtual print" fees, meant to help defray the expect $70,000 cost to switch to 3D-ready digital projection setups, as the studios will kick in the $800 - $1000 they would have spent on old school movie prints to finance the changeover. In the future they save by distributing only digital prints, not to mention having somewhere to show the dozen 3D flicks expected to debut next year. Both sides are betting the $1 billion package will help pull us away from the HDTVs and back into a movie theater, but until they work out a payoff with that one guy who won't stop talking, we're not sure how likely that is.

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We're not told whether or not all 16 of the digital Sony projectors in the Southcenter 16 are 4K or not, but AMC's still pretty proud of its latest cineplex. The 2,900-seat venue houses 16 screens (obviously) which will see imagery from all digital PJs, meaning that nary a strip of film will be shipped in. Additionally, the design of the facility was made to showcase the surroundings, with a vast window in the reception area that "on a clear day, frames Mount Rainier to look like the Paramount logo." Hey, look at that -- we just found you some plans this weekend up in the Pacific Northwest.

Light control is probably the biggest challenge to a good projection setup. The subterranean nature of London's subway is pretty much ideal in that regard, and now CBS Outdoor has brought its cross-track projection (XTP) system to the Tube. The Piccadilly Circus, Euston, Bank, Liverpool Street and Bond Street stations have been outfitted with a total of 23 14-foot screens that are getting HD video ads beamed onto them, sans audio (thankfully). There are plans to build out to 150 XTP screens and compliment them with 2,000 digital screens Tube-wide, which all fits in with CBS Outdoors' plans to bathe subway riders in advertisement. If ad-targeting tech is brought into the equation, we see some potential for really embarrassing hilarity. Meanwhile, London readers are encouraged to let us all know how the picture XTP quality is holding up!

It's been quite some time since we heard of a theater right here in the US of A opening up with 4K projectors tucked inside, but for residents of Cumming, Georgia, such a scenario is about to unfold in your town. The AMC Avenue Forsyth 12 will be the first all-digital theater in the area when it opens on May 16th, packing Sony 4K digital cinema projectors and two auditoriums with screens stretching over three stories high and 50-feet wide. In sum, the venue will boast a dozen auditoriums with over 2,220 seats with rocking-back chairs, and folks who make their way down on opening weekend will even get a free small popcorn with each (presumably overpriced) ticket. There, we made some plans for you -- hope you're available!

Looking to get the IMAX experience while traveling to the largest country on Planet Earth? If you can manage to hold off a bit longer (2009 to 2011), you can. Announced this week, IMAX Corporation has inked deals to get its digital projection systems into three separate venues in Russia -- one each in the cities of Sochi, Nizinhy Novogorod and Novosibirsk. Respectively, the agreements are with Luxor Cinemax, Electronika and Art Science Cinema Distribution. As it stands, IMAX theaters already operate in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kazan, but plans are to have a total of ten open in the country by 2011.

[Via AboutProjectors, image courtesy of Pathe-IMAX]

Oh sure, it's not like we haven't witnessed ginormous rotating panoramic displays before, but it seems as if projectiondesign and the iCinema Research Centre of Australia's University of New South Wales are taking their long-standing partnership even further with new applications for the AVIE 360-degree 3D multimedia display. Recently showcased at the International Sydney Festival, T_Visionarium will offer up "an all surrounding 3D spectacle of hundreds of video clips that the viewers can interactively sort and edit," and apparently, the duo is also gearing up to bring the somewhat similar iDome to various training facilities across New South Wales. Unfortunately, we have our doubts about such technology ever being home-bound -- for obvious reasons, of course.

[Via AboutProjectors]

Not that it bears repeating, but LCDs have a pretty firm grip on the display market at large. Of course, that doesn't mean that other technologies will just sit idly on the sidelines, and research firm iSuppli managed to take a closer look at emerging competitors to see just how viable some alternatives actually are. It should be noted that the report tends to focus on displays used in smaller wares, such as navigators, cellphones and heads-up displays, but the findings can certainly be applied to the HDTV industry at large. Throughout the writeup, bi-stable displays -- defined as "electronic displays that are capable of presenting an image without using power" -- are expected to see the biggest growth in the coming years, while near-eye display revenue and the global HUD market will see slightly less impressive gains. Moreover, the pocket projector market is poised to explode, as it promises gigantic output from an incredibly diminutive footprint. Granted, it remains to be seen how long it'll take for a 1080p projector to fit in the palm of one's hand, but we can safely say we're already infatuated with the idea.

[Image courtesy of PolymerVision]

While you may not think a 4+ minute clip involving a monotone narrator, flashes of light and lots of sensors could hold your attention (okay, so maybe that came off a bit more riveting than we'd hoped), we'd bet the one posted after the jump could. The video demonstrates a fairly svelte automatic projector calibration system, which relies on very little hardware (and time) to work its magic. Essentially, the low-cost method utilizes rear-mounted optical fibers wired into light sensors, which can channel gray-coded binary patterns through a USB connection. From there, a PC determines precisely how the projection should be outputted for the target surface to be completely filled with an undistorted image. We know, it's tough to wrap your head around, but all the enlightenment you could ever want (on this subject, anyway) is just a mouse click away. [Warning: PDF read link]

[Via HackADay]

It's not terribly uncommon to see a manufacturer try to push a product (or platform) into every crevice of your life, and it seems that Texas Instruments is diverting quite sharply from its calculatorish ways of old and making an aggressive push to get that DLP logo slapped on everything you own. While we've seen (literally) the diminutive Microvision display do its thang here at CES, TI is hoping to steal that thunder away by talking up its forthcoming palm-sized DLP projectors. The "fully featured" Pocket Projectors, which are co-developed by OMAP, would weigh "less than one pound," use the .55 DLP chip, and could purportedly connect to handsets or PDAs to beam up that big(ger) screen imagery for a crowd to see. Unfortunately for TI, these devices are not (at least initially) supposed to be integrated units, which could easily get overlooked if those built-in alternatives can muster acceptable quality. Additionally, TI is hoping to get that DLP logo stamped on your brain even when you visit the cinema, as the company now has its technology in 3,000 theaters worldwide and is frequently throwing logo-clad splash screens onto the canvas during pre-show advertisements. So if you wonder why you're strangely drawn to the DLP sets during your next HDTV shopping trip, trust us, it's not the mirrors, it's the marketing.

[Via AboutProjectors]

While the Claro TV fights off the dimness so often associated with watching front-projection in broad daylight, and Planar's Xscreen claims to work without the gargantuous pricetag, now there's yet another firm in the mix of miracle-working screens. Germany's DNP has unveiled the Supernova Flex Screen, which claims to deliver "ten times" the contrast and "double" the brightness compared to standard screens when used in daylight. Available in both fixed and retractable versions, and in widescreen sizes up to 120-inches (100-inches for 4:3 versions), the Supernova is reportedly compatible with all LCD, DLP, and LCoS projectors. It also sports an "ultrafine" .0065-millimeter pitch along with a "high-contrast filter" that allows the projected image to be reflected by the screen while it absorbs incidental light from other sources. While we've no idea how much DNP plans to charge for this daylight-friendly device (nor if it actually works as claimed), we shouldn't have to wait around too much longer to find out.

HDTV Magazine talks 1080p, covering such issues as frame rate and de-interlacing. While we've discussed de-interlacing and upconversion before, this article breaks down the difference some devices may have in adjusting the framerates of 1080p content, while Sony's upcoming Blu-ray player will output 1080p at 60fps only, Philips is opting to push the native 24fps and so far Toshiba has forgone 1080p altogether. That's one more setting that you may want to make sure your next TV and high-def DVD player purchase include the option to adjust, or if they don't adjust, have default settings that mesh properly.

Since that wasn't enough full-resolution controversy, they make a cursory comparison of two LCoS-based front projectors, the JVC DLA-HD10K and Sony VPL-VW100 with four projectors featuring Texas Instruments' new true-1080p DLP technology, no wobulation here. The Optoma HD81, Sharp XV-Z20000, Marantz VP-11S1 and Action model 3 1080p.

[Corrected Sharp model #]

Maybe confusion is slowing HDTV sales, or maybe not, but one Piper Jaffray analyst thinks Best Buy's stock is a good pick because of their tech support business and also the growing market for high definition TV's and next generation game consoles. I haven't been in a Best Buy in a while to check out their "personal shopping assistants", but a blogger at Kotaku did and had a decent, if mixed experience.


PSA's or not, they seem to be very optimistic expecting DTV sales growth of 100% next year. Any of you had help or no someone who had help from one of Best Buy's "blue shirts"?

But not from the side you may think. On Thursday the mouse & Co. put its money up, along with Christie Digital Systems (cameras) & Access Integrated Technologies (software) to not only distribute it's movies digitally, but to put up 150 new digital screens by the end of the year, and up to 4000 more by 2007. Theater operators have the same thing to gain by going to digital that we did coming from tapes, no more reels breaking or wearing out as they are repeatedly showing, plus it will lower costs of getting the movies to the theaters. 

As many other large media companies continue to hem and haw on standards for digitally showing their films, it's good to see Disney take this step, although they really need to upgrade their facilities.

They also haven't answered the most important question of all in getting me back to the movie theater, when am I going to be able to get a two tickets, two sodas and tub of popcorn for less than $25? If it happens, you won't need to check HD Beat, just look outside for the pigs flying.