Cinema Standards – Who Gets to Decide?
In the global business of motion picture exhibition the importance of the Digital Cinema Initiative can’t be overstated. It’s entirely possible that the digital cinema transition would not have happened without DCI. What was true more than a decade ago is true today: technology that doesn’t get its seal of approval can’t be used to distribute or show a Hollywood movie. But times have changed and so have the demands of the marketplace. Fifteen years ago, it made perfect sense to have the DCI – a de facto arm of the major Hollywood studios – dictate what technology was favored over another because the studios were funding the transition. However, as the virtual print fee agreements fade into history, manufacturers and exhibitors are on their own financially. Which leaves us with this: everyone agrees that cinema standards are important. The question, in 2019 is, who gets to decide?
