Audio Video News

This week at ShoWest 2005 in Las Vegas—the premier gathering for commercial-cinema owners and operators—HD entrepreneur Mark Cuban and partner Todd Wagner announced at they are taking a big step toward the digital future with the purchase of six Sony SRX-R110 digital-cinema projectors for their Landmark Theatres, the nation's largest "art-house" theater chain, currently with 209 screens in 22 markets. The SRX-R110 provides 4K (4096x2160) resolution and 10,000 ANSI lumens of light output using SXRD (Silicon Crystal [X-tal] Reflective Display) technology, Sony's version of LCoS. The projectors will be installed in six Landmark Theatres—two each in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco—with the eventual goal of converting all Landmark locations to 4K SXRD projection.

"Digital cinema provides a new experience for theater-goers," says Cuban. "Landmark Theatres will give our customers the best of all digital experiences. Sony's 4K digital projectors allow us to project live concerts and sporting events, ultra high-resolution movies, and presentations created using future technologies. Most important, it provides a viewing experience for movies that far exceeds what other theaters are doing today with 2K projectors. We are excited to start to push the envelope in digital cinema with Sony's SXRD technology and see where the technology and experience can take our customers."

According to John Scarcella, president of Sony Electronics' Broadcast and Business Solutions Company, "The availability of a 4K projector is a watershed for the digital cinema industry. Just as Mark and his team revolutionized TV viewing with the launch of HDNet, so too will the installation of these projectors in the Landmark chain revolutionize the digital cinema industry."

The move is considered by many to be fairly risky, because Sony has yet to demonstrate a fully functional unit, at least to the industry at large. (This is scheduled to occur at ShoWest this week and at NAB next month.) They demonstrated an early prototype in Los Angeles last year, which looked quite good, but it had a few problems that the Sony reps openly acknowledged. Another demo was scheduled for January of this year, but it was indefinitely postponed due to "shipping damage." (I can't imagine how shipping damage could have been so extensive that it hasn't been fixed in two months, unless the shipper dropped a loaded container on it!)

Other roadblocks include the fact that there is no secure server that can accommodate 4K files, and no studios are yet finalizing films in 4K, though they are starting to digitize and edit at that resolution. Also, the conversion to digital cinema remains expensive, slowing the process throughout the distribution and exhibition community. Each SRX-R110 will cost $110,000, though for that money, a theater gets much higher resolution than anything currently available, making it essentially immune from obsolescence for quite some time to come.

Cuban and Wagner know the transition to 4K will not happen overnight. "There's no rush with this; the projectors are still in development," says Cuban. "It could be six months to a year from now, we don't know yet. We just want to be first."