DCinema Launches Virtual Print Fee Program To Digitize & Improve Our Local Cinemas

December 23 00:52 2011 by Alexei Rivera Print This Article

Have you ever wondered why it takes so long for some Hollywood movies to be brought here in the Philippines? (Films like “Taken,” for example.) Well, that’s because some theatres here are still using analog film projectors. Given the digitalization of today’s movies, it takes a while to convert them to film – not to mention expensive. All the new studios are promoting digital projection – so much so that if you want to play back movies in analog, you’ll have to wait a while as all digital theatres show it first. DCinema, the pioneer distributor of digital cinema projectors in Asia, intends to change that by deploying digital projectors and equipment to all major theatres nationwide. To this effect, they’ve made available the Virtual Print Fee program, which is a financing mechanism for funding the first purchase of digital cinema equipment – letting theatre owners get the equipment under subsidies for quicker deployment.

The advantages of a digital cinema are quite numerous – allowing for enhanced quality in picture, faster movie deployment, and at lower costs. The projection standard is now set at a resolution called 2K, (about 2000 vertical pixels – almost twice than 1080P Full HD) which should deliver some great viewing quality in very high definition – not to mention get rid of projector artifacts and film switching. It also allows for movies to be sent to cinema owners in hard drives – a deployment that is much faster than manually creating copies of film for multiple cinemas. Finally, digital movies can be distributed at much lower costs than traditional film, and prevents piracy or early showings via a time-based playback lock.

DCinemas vision is to have all cinemas in the country running digital projection equipment by 2013. To help them achieve that goal, DCinemas have partnered with major theatre owners – including SM Cinemas, Ayala Digital Cinemas, Robinsons Galleria Digital Cinemas, and Star Mall Cinemas among others. Most of the aforementioned owners intend switch all their cinemas into digital by the next few years.

For more information about DCinema and their services, check out their website here. For more pictures of the event, check out the gallery below.