Hollywood Goes Digital

After three years of negotiations in the movie industry, the top movie studios in Hollywood have finally reached an agreement, setting a long-awaited technical standard that clears the way for a new era of digital film distribution, according to official statements.

As a result of the agreement, motivated by money, from now on, the neighborhood theatres are preparing for showing high-quality digital films, by using special projectors. The digital systems could make other kinds of content possible in theaters, including live, high-definition coverage of sports events, Broadway plays or group games.

Therefore, the studios might divert funds they now spend on film prints to fund equipment and installation costs for theaters, which would promise to show digital features from the studios in exchange.

Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI), a consortium set up in 2002 by the Disney, Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros studios have established voluntary specifications for a digital cinema standard.

"We now have a unified specification that will allow manufacturers to create products that will be employable at movie theaters throughout the country and, it is hoped, throughout the world," said DCI technology officer Walt Ordway.

"In fact, the specification is being translated for international markets (…)

"These specifications should provide a common ground to spur innovation and encourage many more players who were previously resistant to invest capital in technology that may or may not have been viable," Ordway added.