What Are The Best Methods Used To Convert A Cinema To The World Of Digital Cinema?

Digital cinema is a branch of modern cinema, which is concerned with the use of digital technology rather than the traditional use of reels of film, for the transmission or projection of motion pictures. Digital cinema does not refer to all types of digital cinema, which are available today, but it is a term which includes such popular systems as Vista and Focus. The term digital cinema can also be used to describe a certain type of editing process in which the changes in the picture are processed before being shown on the video screen. This differs from conventional film format in that it does not require the presence of an actual photograph for the creation of a video file.

The first step toward the development of digital cinema was its conversion to analog. Digital technology allows the transfer of information from one form (the master) to another (the video output or the video display monitor). The conversion to digital cinema involved the transmission of a digital signal, which could be in the form of a digital sound track or the equivalent, to an analog signal, which is then displayed on a video-screen. Digital cinema differs from traditional movie theater systems in the way that movie theater operators have the choice between using the video footage recorded on 35mm film for the video display and having the digital information processed by a movie theater's own computer and then shown on the video screen. Digital cinema theater systems usually include a digital video recorder (DVR), so that the operator can record the movie for later playback.

An increasing number of theaters are adopting digital projection technologies, although the conversion from analog to digital is still a relatively new technology. Digital projection uses a wireless optical link between the theater system and a digital television set, allowing the projection to take place over a wireless network without the need for a fiber optic cable. Digital projection can be used with or without surround sound, and it can be adjusted during playback according to the preference of the theater owner. A digital projection system produces the same image as the original through the same optics, so that all the elements of a real theatre - speakers, screens, costumes and so on - are equally presented.

In digital projection, the picture is shown by means of a computer. In traditional movie theater systems, a movie is "poured" onto a film medium, such as celluloid or special effects paper. The "pouring" process causes the original 35mm film to lose its pixels. After the film has been "poured," the copies are then made and placed in the theaters. Digital theaters do not use this method; instead, they make copies of the original 35mm film and copy them onto DVDs. Digital copies are generally superior to traditional prints for quality and clarity.

Most large-screen digital theaters use a combination of two technologies, either LCD or plasma. Both employ digital projection, but with a difference: with digital, each frame of the movie is displayed as a single image on the screen, whereas with LCD technology, every frame is split into a vertical and horizontal resolution. Digital projection on the other hand makes use of a technique called "field correction," whereby the distance between the cameras' view and the screens of the cinemas is adjusted so that the distances are as similar as possible to what a human could see. This digital conversion technique is used more extensively in international cinemas, for example, to show panoramic views of cities that would otherwise be impossible to capture using non-digital methods.

Finally, digital technology is being used in American cinemas mostly to project the content of the movie directly onto the auditorium screens. In the past, the cinemas had to be constructed in houses that had been converted to movies; these houses are called movie theaters. Today, most cinemas are converted into digital screening facilities. Digital projection is not only cheaper than the previous method of movie viewing, it is also more convenient for the audiences: the audiences can now watch their favourite films directly from the comfort of the cinema auditorium without having to leave their seats!