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June 22, 2012
Sony Digital Cinema launched the SRX-R515 projector at Cine Europe in Barcelona, positioning the product as a lower cost projector for small to medium-sized cinema screens. The projector (dubbed Rocky) builds on the 4K SXRD system developed by Sony, and uniquely uses six mercury lamps to light it instead of Xenon lamps. The system is designed to give longer lamp usage than its previous model, and means that the projector will still work if one bulb fails albeit with some loss of light. Sony has also developed TMS Lite, which is a theatre management system for up to 5 screens, and also aimed at the sort of exhibitor who is likely to want a lower cost projector for smaller screens. The projector will be commercially available from November 2012 and TMS Lite from February 2013.
Meanwhile, at Texas Instruments, its S2K chip launched at CinemaCon only six weeks ago is already appearing in products from its three licensees: Barco, Christie and NEC. While products are not yet commercially available (as with Sony), NEC has announced the NEC NC900C projector, based on the S2K chip and targeted at screens up to 9m. The projector includes an integrated media block (IMB) which means it is suitable for high frame rates. The NC900C will be available in Autumn 2012. TI had originally suggested that 6-7m was the screen size target so it seems the projector companies are also maximising light in these new products.
These projectors will be the next commercial battleground between the four projector companies, aimed at smaller screens which are often those exhibitors that have struggled to find a commercial model for deployment at the higher cost. These include arthouse cinemas, mobile cinemas, non-commercial screens but also a large number of rural screens around the world in places such as China, India and Sweden. The issue has been a live one for some years, and led to some uninformed and ill-judged deviations into non-ISO standard technology, and these products should provide a realistic price point for struggling exhibitors that wish to remain part of the cinema industry. The cut-off of 35mm supply is predicted for 2013 (by IHS Screen Digest and by NATO for USA) in the US and some major Western and Asian markets, with a lag of up to two years for other regions. In more developed areas the VPF deals are also coming to an end, making digital transition a matter of some urgency for exhibitors that wish to take advantage of that contribution from the distribution sector.
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