Kodak has announced that its Kodak Digital Cinema content player and new Theatre Management System (TMS) will be the heart of the digital cinema solution being installed at the UK’s largest cinema chain. The power of Kodak Digital Cinema will bring movies to audiences on all nine screens at the popular Odeon Theatre in Hatfield, beginning in early February.
Gerald Buckle, Digital Development Manager, Odeon Cinemas, said, “We recognise that the digital conversion will involve a long-term effort and we are therefore happy to use Kodak digital cinema technology. This is a first step – to prove the reliability and support of the Kodak system under the demanding conditions of a busy, working theatre.”
The Kodak Digital Cinema system handles 2D or 3D movies and automatically recognizes the compression format used – JPEG or MPEG – and employs that for playback. It’s designed to be used as a standalone unit for a single screen – or in fully network
configurations on many screens, to take full advantage of the capability, flexibility, efficiency, and power of the Kodak Theatre Management System controlling the network.
"We’ve built the experience and the technology of Kodak into the system – and made it very easy for projectionists to use, with all the capability their demanding job requires,” said Kercher. “It works seamlessly with all DCI-compliant feature projectors; in the Hatfield installation, connected to NEC 2500 digital projectors. Audiences will be treated to a great motion picture experience.”
“Despite all the discussion around digital cinema, we are still in the early stages of actual testing and deployment,” said Max Bell, Managing Director, Bell Theatres. “We are still all learning, but there is no substitute to learning under actual market conditions, with paying customers – and their expectations for a flawless performance – sitting in the seats. The time to do that is now and we’re
pleased to be working with Kodak on the process.”
