CineEurope 2013: a look to the future in technologies

June 27, 2013 — Article

CineEurope 2013 has just closed it doors on another successful Trade Show in Barcelona, which completes over two decades of events since it was origin started in Belgium. The crowds are clearly not what we find at IFA or the CES, of course, as this show is targeted to the needs of the Movie Theater Industry, where over 1,500 cinema exhibition and distribution professionals from all over Europe, Middle East and Africa, meet in Barcelona, making CineEurope one of the key events of the year.

CineEurope 2013

Regular Cinenow.com readers may be wondering if we are not a bit far off its traditional subjects or will be opening a new section on the site, but in reality there are good reasons to see what the professionals are creating as the techniques, technologies as well as many products and will filter down to the “consumer” side of our Industry over time, particularly in the high end installations. Anyway Cinenow.com Spanish offices (Cinenow.es) are in Barcelona as we share the Organizer’s view that this city offers the perfect combination of being able to mix business with pleasure, with a superb location for a professional event, while enjoying a very pleasant environment at the same time!

Here a just a few highlights of what we saw, which will be developed in more detail in the coming days.

One Home Cinema example is D-Box which was presenting its solutions for Cinemas, but our readers will remember we have been talking about D-Box for over 10 years on the site and produced many videos as we had fallen in love with the technology of the concept from the beginning. This is a case where, in fact, we found their exceptional technology in Home Cinema installations well before Cinemas!

D-Box booth at CineEurope 2013

We were invited to a Sony demonstration with their latest 4K projector SRX-R515P for cinemas where we were highly impressed with both the fluidity of the the 3D images as well as the superb contrast, which will force 3D detractors to think twice about this concept as the with the advances in technologies there is no reason now for “headaches” when watching a film. Sony also presented their holographic glasses for subtitles which were equally impressive.

Sony 4K SRX-515P Digital Projector

Sony Holographic Glasses

On the subject of 4K, Sony had on its stand a complete 4K solution to film in 4K which was simultaneously projected on their 84 inch 4K screen. It offers an awesome image which will find it way into the homes of the “Happy Few” to film their families and friends for posterity, and maybe more of us over time as the screen was not excessively expensive and they anticipate prices will decline rapidly. A 4K screen when connected to ones Photo Library, use the screen for work applications or just to surf on the internet will also interest others.

Sony 4K live demonstration

The Digital Cinema specialists Christie were also present, and as they have now reached the extraordinary market penetration of close to 40,000 Digital Cinemas Projectors installed around the world, they were not only demonstrating their 4K and 3D solutions, but a lot more of their broadening range of products. Although most of these are clearly targeted for the Digital Signage market, we think some may well have applications in high-end installations. More on this soon.

Christie 4K solutions and MicroTiles

Dolby was present with their Dolby Atmos concept in demonstration. We were impressed with the concept when launched last year, but, contrary to what many anticipated, the market penetration has been quite impressive, with 200 cinemas already equipped todate worldwide.

Dolby Atmos stand at CineEurope 2013*

Will this reach our Home Cinema market, we think so over time, at least for the high-end dedicated Home Cinema installations, since there are now 50 films in the Dolby Atmos format, with many films currently being re-edited in this format. What was also interesting to note is when talking to the professionals that do the mixing, they claim that the time involved is no more than for a “normal” 7.1 film! thanks to the quality of the Dolby software programs.

Dolby Atmos demonstration at Soundub Studio

Well… the only problem will be that producers can do so much more with this concept that they will probably add marginal cost with the benefit to the viewers of creating new sound “concepts” in the films, and that is precisely what we were told from the insiders that do the programming. We think this offers “food for thought” for the future, so we will bring our readers more detailed information in the coming weeks as we will follow the developments.

Ready to hear the Dolby Atmos system

Klipsch is a familiar name with our readers for its exceptional horn-based technology, which we find in many of the Home Cinema products in their line-up. We got a look at high-end Cinema Speakers, where Klipsch is clearly the leader in the US market, but where growth here in Europe is the future target, right next to the more “domesticated” models which we already find in high-end home cinemas.

Klipsch for Cinema and Home Cinema

And for the fun in closing this brief summary, there can be popcorn and cinema fun for everyone. PCO was showing their extensive range of products for cinemas, but there are models that will fit into the home, and when you have tasted the difference between popcorn made in the microwave to the real thing, well you want to find the space!

PCO products to enjoy movies even more!

More to come…


All about ...

Christie
D-Box
Dolby
Klipsch
Sony