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The uncertainty and ambiguity of the Virtual Print Fee as sole financial model for
overcoming the investments are also somewhat preventing the early majority to
follow. These are indeed exciting times, and finding the ways of crossing the
chasm is important as ever. Two technical reinventions are acting as major change
agents, the rebirth of 3D and the possibility for exhibitors to screen alternative
content - the so called Other Digital Stuff - ODS. Together they share an optimis-
tic prospect. They embrace the possible realization of a complete transition from
35mm film to D-Cinema, although slower than formerly anticipated by the foun-
ders of the Digital Cinema Initiative. There are no easy and obvious solutions,
however, the D-Cinema arenas as well as respected opinion leaders are working
side by side, utilizing the change agents, to define and communicate the future di-
rection, potentially crossing the chasm.
Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC [15] was created in March, 2002, and is a joint
venture of Disney, Fox, Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal and
Warner Bros. Studios. DCI's primary purpose is to establish and document volun-
tary specifications for an open architecture for digital cinema that ensures a uni-
form and high level of technical performance, reliability and quality control.
On July 20, 2005, DCI released its first version of the final overall system re-
quirements and specifications for D-Cinema. Based on many existing SMPTE and
ISO standards, it explains the route to create an entire Digital Cinema Package
(DCP) from a raw collection of files known as the Digital Cinema Distribution
Master (DCDM), as well as the specifics of its content protection, encryption, and
forensic marking. The specification also establishes standards for the decoder re-
quirements and the presentation environment itself.
The case study uses results obtained through the NORDIC projects (NORDIC
and NORDIC 2.0) - Norway's Digital Interoperability in Cinemas [3]. The
NORDIC projects brings together Norway's leading experts in the D-Cinema field,
including Midgard Media Lab at NTNU, telecom and pay-television operator
Telenor, installation and service company Hjalmar Wilhelmsen, and digital cin-
ema advertising pioneers Unique Promotions/Unique Digital/Unique Cinema
Systems, as well as major exhibitors and cinemas across Norway. The main
achievements of the NORDIC projects are the lessons learned in order to provide
advice to the Norwegian cinema industry on when and how to shift the whole of
Norway to Digital Cinema.
A complete overview of the NORDIC models, results
and discussions has recently been published [3].
Michael Karagosian recognized the chasm for D-Cinema and published it in
September 2007 [33]. The chasm is well documented by Rogers and Moore and
follows a fairly classic path, very much comparable to many of the cases reviewed
by the two authors. D-Cinema is currently facing a situation where we see:
•
A market where there are few or no new customers. This is identified by
reports from all vendors that sales are down and reports from the D-Cinema
arenas that the D-Cinema roll out seems to have stalled. This means that not
everyone is automatically following.
•
The innovators and early adopters still have their D-Cinema equipment and
films are being screened, but not in the volume foreseen, and 35mm is still
dominating at most exhibitors. The disappointment of current customers is
