Digital Cinema: Kerala Also Does Trial Introduction

Gulf Times: This is continuation of a series of articles that are coming out on digital cinema in India. Even Kerala, the tiny southern state of India, is catching up on this trend. According to this story, a trial screening was held in theatres in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, and in Kochi on Friday by UFO (United Film Organisers)-Moviez, a subsidiary of the Valuable Media Group.
Digital cinema uses digital media (DVD, fiber optics and satellite transmission) instead of the analogue media (print) to record, transmit and replay images.
Digital video projectors can store, transmit and retrieve and replay a huge amount of information exactly as it was originally recorded.
According to industry sources, huge amounts of money could be saved as the film prints are totally done away with. A big budget Indian film is usually released in about 300 cinemas; each print costs approximately Rs 60,000 ($1,428). In Malayalam, the native language of Kerala, nearly half the total production expenses go for taking as many as 40 prints for a film. The new technology also saves on transportation costs. With the digital format, the distributors will be able to release films in many more theatres simultaneously as prints need not be taken from one place to another, claims the Indian-owned company that has an office in Singapore, headquarters in New York and a development centre in Mumbai.

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