This news is a little old, but worth mentioning. It looks like, as reported by Slashdot and BoingBoing (and therefore everybody else), Ireland will be the first country on the planet to roll out a digital projection system.
An American company is installing digital projectors in 500 cinemas to replace the traditional film projectors. Cinemas using the technology will be able to download the latest releases to a computer server via satellite at a lower cost…Sports, Arts and Tourism Minister John O’Donoghue said it would ensure a “cinema in Tralee has the same immediate access to films as a cinema in Dublin”.
“Immediate access” is a relative term. When I lived in Dublin, it often took six to eight weeks for North American releases to make it across the water. One of the reasons, apparently, is that the prints were used in London first, and then shipped onto Dublin. I wonder what digital projection will do for Irish release dates? Will they supersede London release dates?
This is really exciting, actually, because I loathe the poor, dimly-lit prints I’m so often exposed to with traditional projection. There will no doubt be a few analog-loving nay-sayers, but screw ’em, I don’t care for vinyl either.
I’ve got a tiny personal connection to this story. The first year we lived in Dublin, we lived on the second floor of a busy commercial street in the centre of town. Our landlord and neighbour across the hall was a film distributer by the name of Michael Collins.
DarrenBarefoot.com 