Christie believes that the future is pure laser and, in contrast to Cinionic and Sony has decided not to offer Laser Phosphor in the cinema market. The company told us that pricing is at a premium to Xenon, but not on a different scale, it’s a bit like the situation, we heard, when Xenon lamp technology was first developed. The main announcement was the formal European launch of the CP2315-RGB (12K lumens) and CP2320-RGB (18K lumens) which were previewed at Cinemacon. (Christie is All-in on RGB Lasers for Cinema)
Christie will stick with ‘pure laser’, not laser phosphor in cinema. Image:Meko
Cinemeccanica is a provider of laser engines that can be used to upgrade existing cinema projectors. The lamps can provide 30,000 hours of use without any maintenance. The company has also developed a special system for the Chinese market. It seems that in China, the idea of private cinema has become very popular, with small rooms supporting two to twenty or thirty people available for rental and being integrated into multiplexes. Renters can use the big screen for any content – live TV such as sports events, on-demand TV or movies, or even eSports and computer content. Cinemeccanica has developed a content playback, control and selection system for this kind of applications. The system also provides ways to adjust lighting and other environmental aspects.
Cinemeccanica has a system for private cinema hire in China. Image:Meko
Cineworld has announced a partnership with CJ 4DPlex to open 100 ScreenX locations in ten different countries including the US, UK and Israel.
Dolby Labs said that it has done a deal to open the first Dolby Cinema with Kinopolis. The site will be the Mathäser Palast in Munich, Germany. In addition, Dolby will be expanding its Dolby Cinema portfolio in France with Les Cinémas Gaumont Pathé in Marseille at La Joliette, later this year. Dolby said that more than 4,000 Dolby Atmos-enabled screens.
Hony 3D of Shenzen had a passive 3D modulator fo cinema as well as a high light ‘tripler’ as well as a range of glasses.
Lightspeed Design Inc was showing its DepthQ CineBright short throw 3D light recycler which has been designed to work will with short throw ratios at 1.13:1 and can also be used with a ‘flat’ 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The company told us that it has an EU patent on the technology – and had the certificate to prove it! Since we saw the company in Barcelona, it has confirmed that it has since received a patent for the technology in China.
Lightspeed had its patent at hand! Image:Meko
The company has also developed DepthQ VR which can be used in 360 deg attractions to combine VR with a motion base and interactivity to create attractions.
NEC did not have any new projectors but was highlighting its range of digital signage using LED and LCD for lobbies and areas outside the main cinema. The company was showing sophisticated systems using QR codes to book and order drinks, snacks etc. This is a fully real time system, providing cinema management with live information and the opportunity to make adjustments and offers in real time. NEC also used a table in conjunction with an LED display on the wall for previews, info etc. in an application that was ideal for foyers. The table format is great for group use and selection, with the LED providing high visual impact.
NEC had a cool system for combining a table with a wall-mounted LED display for foyers. Image:Meko
Sony was showing its latest L/P SXRD cinema projector with Eclair content. The demonstration looked very good – the display had good contrast and nice bright whites on the high brightness setting. Alcons was Sony’s audio partner for the demonstration and again we were impressed with the audio quality that the firm’s speakers can produce. The projectors have true 4K SXRD imagers and can support 15,000 lumens of output for over 35,000 hours. Additionally, EclairColor demonstrated its HDR color technology on a dual Sony SRX-R515DS system at Cinesa Diagonal Mar Cinema.
Specially created for Premium Large Format screens, Finity combines Sony’s family of high-brightness dual 4K projection systems with in-theatre branding and marketing support. Sony announced that SamFILM, the leading operator in Iceland, has invested in a Finity system for its biggest screen.
Visbanc is shipping its Clapper system for polarised 3D that is said to have good quality and is both compact and easy to install. The company has staff that came from Masterimage and has a sales office in Hong Kong. (RGB Laser Sources at CinemaCon)
The Visbanc Clapper is a simple 3D system. Image:Meko
Visbanc also has a light doubler polariser called Beams and the company was not keen that we show the picture we had taken of it so we think there could be a patent issue in Europe as the product itself is no secret (it’s on their website) so it must have been its appearance in Barcelona that was an issue.
Visbanc was showing a light doubling polariser. Image:Meko
Powermatic was there with DigiCine and pretty well had the same as it had at Cinemacon as the companies are working together to enable the upgrading of projectors to laser engines.
Volfoni was at the show and was showing its latest 3D technology. The company said that it has won a deal with Cinamon Cinemas in the Baltic region, which has 23 screens in four countries.
