Fibre optic telephone lines which would deliver movies directly to the theatres are all set to stage a revolution if US movie moghuls' high-tech plans are to see the light of the day. A new video technology which will complement this mode will radicalise the idea a theatre by opening it up for Of various other purposes
VISITS to cinema halls might be a totally
different experience if the dreams of the
us film industry's high-tech planners
come true. In fact, if every-thing goes as
per schedule, the traditional mode of
sending movies to cinema theatres in tin cans
will be replaced
by the information superhighway. The implications for film
production and distribution would be
profound, say industry experts.
Sending films in tin cans is now
being referred to as an asphalt highway
mode of distribution. It is believed that
technology can now make it possible to
distribute movies through fibre optic
telephone lines directly to cinemas. But
to do so, films must be converted to digital video, which most experts feel are
interior in terms of the quality of image
when compared to 35mm films, especially on large screens.
One way of upgrading the video
image is by using a high definition television (HDTV) image of 1, 150 lines. The
World Cup Football finals last year were
transmitted to theatres in the us and
Europe using a HDTV image via telephone lines. The question of digital
video duplicating the richness of the
35mm film image is, however, one of
the most crucial issues.
But technology is evolving rapidly
and companies are trying to produce a
video image of 2,000 lines. In addition,
video technology offers theatre owners
the ability to programme much more
diversely and throughout the day. For
example, theatres could be used for live
rock concerts, pay-per-view sport, distance learning and various other forms
of education and entertainment.
These developments could effect
far-reaching consequences. They might
result in doing away with film quotas
and other boundaries, giving way to a
greater flow of information. This will
make it easier to distribute Indian films
abroad because access to telephone networks and digital video enhances dubbing and other capabilities needed by
foreign producers.
That digital video dissemination of
films will lead to the demise of
theatres, since TV will have the same
capability, should not be a cause for
concern because nothing can ever
replace the experience of viewing on a
big screen.
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