Digital cinema leaders gather in London

The event brought together digital cinema pioneers from Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America to deal with issues of film, cinema, advertising, technology, standards and business.

According to SVN MD, Manny Teixeira, the day when all or most commercial cinemas exhibit movies in digital format is approaching. "It started with digital cinema advertising – then we moved, in South Africa, to full-length films in the context of niche film festivals, and now we are screening the first full-length high definition movie in a commercial setting."

By March 2004 Hollywood's various studios are due to reach agreement on the quality, standards, technologies and business issues required to enable the digital release of major productions. Says Teixeira: "In the last year, more than 4,000 screens started screening digital advertising, and there are already close to 200 screens capable of exhibiting major productions, five of these in South Africa. Alternative content has been one of the major advantages of digital cinema. An example of this was the recent David Bowie concert, which was broadcast to 68 digital cinemas in 22 countries on four continents."

Spectrum Visual Networks was invited to present at the Digital Test Bed on the development and success of digital cinema in SA, with the likes of the UK Film Council, Pixar, the Cinema Exhibitor's Association and the Arts Alliance, to an audience of global stake holders. Feedback from the gathering was that SA is at the forefront of digital cinema technology and its application in a business context, and is in many ways ahead of what the rest of the world is doing.