In recent weeks digital cinema service company XDC has announced a deal with Polish exhibitor Multikino and another with exhibitor Euroscoop in the Netherlands to install new digital systems in multiple theatres. In the first announcement XDC says that it has signed a Letter of Intent for the deployment of digital cinema systems in 174 of Multikino's cinema screens in Poland. The Letter of Intent signed between Multikino and XDC includes the roll out of DCI-compliant projection systems co-financed by the Virtual Print Fee model represented by XDC. Multikino and XDC plan to sign final deployment agreement within three months. Rollout is scheduled to begin in Autumn 2009 with an initial commitment of 100 screens throughout the year 2010. The whole installation process is to be completed by 2011. Piotr Zygo chief executive officer of Multikino says Entering in VPF deal with XDC we improve our competitive advantage in term of quality of films and capability of screening 2D and 3D content as well as we open space for alternative content and leverage our advertising tools. Those factors should generated new streams of Multikino's revenue in the future. XDC’s Serge Plasch says It's a real pleasure to announce our fourth major VPF deal in Europe. Multikino is the leading exhibitor in Poland. We are convinced to build a fruitful cooperation with them on many aspects: exhibition services distribution alternative content and advertising. XDC is probably the only company in Europe able to provide smart solutions for each of these revenue segments. In the second announcement Barco says it has formed a partnership with XDC and Euroscoop for the installation of 61 digital cinema projectors in six Benelux multiplexes. Euroscoop has been using Barco digital projectors for more than a year in some of its theaters and has chosen Barco projection for the complete digitization of its chain. Under the partnership XDC and Barco will roll out DCI-compliant projection systems co-financed by the VPF model. Rollout is scheduled to begin in September with full digitalization of the six cinemas throughout the rest of the year. Most of the Euroscoop theaters will be equipped for 3D screening. Luc Van de Casseye CEO of Euroscoop says “We are very happy to sign this agreement with XDC and Barco. Barco has been setting the technology pace in the cinema market and we know from our good experience with the Barco digital cinema projectors in our Tilburg complex that they have great reliability and the lowest possible cost of ownership.” Tim Sinnaeve sales director EMEA for Barco's digital cinema business says “The contract with Euroscoop confirms the momentum in today's cinema market. Moreover we are pleased to further strengthen our leading position in Europe with another reference customer joining our reference list. Under the terms of the agreement XDC will exclusively install DCI-compliant digital projection systems: Barco 2K Cinema projectors and XDC's CineStore Solo G3 D-Cinema servers. Barco's digital cinema projectors are based on the pioneering DLP Cinema technology from Texas Instruments guaranteeing perfect reproduction of cinema content time and time again ensuring moviegoers enjoy the highest quality film experience with consistent picture brightness contrast and vibrant colors.
