Kinoton (Germering, Germany; www.kinoton.com), a German supplier of cinema projectors has announced a contract to supply 50 of its DCP-30 projectors to Cinema City International (Rotterdam, the Netherlands; www.cinemacity.nl). These projectors are based on DLP technology with optical components supplied by Barco to Kinoton. The systems will all have internal Dolby 3D systems when delivered to Cinema City.

Matt Brennesholtz
Insight Media Analyst

Kinoton was founded in 1948 in Munich to service local cinemas and soon became the sole agent for Philips cinema equipment in Germany. Philips sold their entire motion picture business to Kinoton in 1972. In 2001 Kinoton became involved in digital cinema by becoming an equity partner in DVC Digitalvideo Computing.

The Kinoton DCP-30 projector is a 2-piece unit. Projectors in the series are capable of using xenon lamps from 1000W for small auditoriums up to 7000W for large auditoriums and 3D showings. Kinoton also makes two other series of digital cinema projectors, the DCP-70 and the DCP-30SX. The specifications for the 70 series are similar to the 30 series except the projectors are one-piece units. The 30SX is a smaller 1 piece unit capable of handling a maximum of a 3000W lamp.

Fifteen of the projectors have, in fact, already been delivered and installed in Israel and Hungary. The Yes Planet multiplex in Haifa is the largest multiplex in Israel with 23 screens. This multiplex is already equipped with 4 D-Cinema projectors and the Yes Planet Multiplex in Ramat-Gan has equipped 3 of its 15 auditoriums with the DCP-30. Both multiplexes have exhibited the digital version of the Disney/Pixar production Wall-E already, and successfully started 3D projection with Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D in July.

Seven additional projectors have also been installed in two multiplexes in Hungary, including four in the 23-screen, 3800 seat, Cinema City Arena in Budapest, which is the largest cinema in Central Europe.

The Cinema City International Group operates in 6 countries. In addition to film exhibition, it is active in film distribution, DVD and VHS distribution, cinema advertising and real estate development. The Cinema City Group is the largest multiplex theatre operator in Central and Eastern Europe, and in Israel. As of July 2008, Cinema City operates 62 multiplexes with 563 screens and 113,000 seats.

According to Moshe Greidinger, CEO of Cinema City International, the decision on the supplier of the D-Cinema technology was an easy one: "We have been working with Kinoton for many years already and together we have reached over 500 screens in 6 territories. Our experience all these years showed us that first, we can be sure that when buying "a Kinoton" we get a product that we can trust and use for many years and 2nd, that behind the products there is a professional team that will always be there if we need them. When operating this amount of screens, this is very important. "Going Digital" is a long process and we wanted to do that with the team that we know and trust."