Digital Cinema is more than just about a digital projector. The entire value chain is changing - everything from the excitement caused by a new company selling a camera called Red to new ways to make money with Blu-ray and everything in between. It is difficult to find an industry that is undergoing so much change. And where there is change there are opportunities for companies to find growth. It has been three years since the Digital Cinema Initiative published recommendations for how distributors and theatres should handle movies distributed and exhibited digitally. The recommendations have since turned into standards and the Digital Cinema industry went through a burst of activity and growth. There are now more than 6 300 digital screens worldwide and major movies are now distributed digitally as well as with film. But there are well over 100 000 screens worldwide and the industry has hit a momentary pause as it tries to figure out how to step into the next phase. As with any complex system involving hundreds of companies and dozens of steps people began to uncover a few things along the way that needed to be addressed to make things run smoothly. The DCI recommendations are now at version 1.2 incorporating hundreds of issues discovered in the beginning years. Some of these revisions affect the equipment that early adopters have already installed. The economics are also evolving. Early deals for how to finance the equipment are evolving as financers try to balance the demands of studios the resistance of theatre owners and the realities of the market. But theatre owners are discovering that digital cinema might actually be good for them too. One bright spot is stereoscopic 3D. Some movies are known to have taken four times the box office take on a 3D screen versus a 2D screen. And there is Alternative Content that is helping to fill seats during mid-week days. This report visits each step of the digital cinema value chain. The processes technologies products issues and opportunities are explained. It includes an expanded section on the topic of stereoscopic 3D movies an area that is surprising a lot of companies. This is an extensive report covering a large number of topics and it includes 127 illustrations and 34 tables. Digital cinema is shifting gears and changing the entire value chain. In the process it is expanding the definition of digital cinema - creating new issues and challenges that lead to new opportunities. Digital cinema is also affecting some adjacent industries in sometimes surprising ways. Research and Markets www.researchandmarkets.com
