The Hindu Business Line : Real Image brings latest in digital tech to Chennai cinema

WATCH the Hollywood hit Chicken Little at Sree movie hall, part of the Sathyam cineplex in the city, and experience the magic of digital cinema, with sharper visuals and crisper sound. The Disney movie is being run here using the latest in digital technology — the D-cinema server — bought from the technology firm Real Image Media Technologies.

Sathyam Cinemas is the first theatre company in India to obtain this enhanced digital system which "matches Hollywood standards," according to a Sathyam spokesperson.

Sathyam has bought two `Qube' D-cinema servers from Real Image, Chicken Little being the first film to be shown through this server. (Other theatres in India that offer digital experiences operate on the E-cinema server - a slightly lower-end system compared with the D-cinema server.)

Chennai-based Real Image claims to be the only Indian company to have achieved the D-cinema technology, joining the ranks of Dolby and Kodak.

E or D, what does it mean to the average moviegoer? According to the Sathyam spokesperson, digital cinema provides a scratch- and glitch-free experience, with superior quality visuals that make film-viewing a pleasure. Explains Mr Jayendra Panchapakesan, Director, Real Image, "In the conventional physical format, there are shakes and jerks while the film rolls. But the viewers' eyes may get trained to such movement as the movie plays on. When the same reel is played several times, it suffers from wear-and-tear, affecting picture quality. But in digital cinema, there is no degradation in picture quality, resolution and sound. It provides a stunning visual experience."

This is how digital cinema works: any film can be converted into the digital format (into bits and bytes) and encrypted/encoded in a server (computer), which transmits this to a high-end projector for screening, thus getting rid of the need for physical reel.

Real Image also provides digital experience through its Qube E-cinema servers at 50 theatres in Tamil Nadu. It has distributed 15 Tamil films so far through these servers, including the latest Rajnikant blockbuster Chandramukhi.

E-cinema servers provide the same experience of D-cinema servers at a lower price, although their resolution is 10 per cent lower. While implementing Qube D-cinema costs about Rs 50 lakh (includes server and projector costs), the E-cinema equipment costs about Rs 15 lakh. Although Real Image has D-cinema technology now, "the best approach in the Indian market seems to be E-cinema, cost-wise. But the common man will not be able to perceive the small difference in resolution," says Mr Panchapakesan.

Real Image, which also provides jukebox and editing solutions, plans to make available its Qube servers in 100 theatres in Tamil Nadu by March. It also plans to tap the North and West India market. The company is bullish about the global market. Plans are underway to providing both E-cinema and D-cinema at theatres in the US and Europe. Qube servers are already present in 20 theatres in Portugal.

Although digital cinema equipment is expensive, the overall cost equation suggests that theatre owners would benefit in the long run. While each physical film print costs Rs 65,000, it costs just Rs 10,000 for digital conversion and encryption per film. This enables wider release of films, even in small towns and cities.