Digital Cinema

Digital cinema refers to digital application of digital technologies in the movie industry, namely to digitally record motion pictures on a large number of digital media, including high-definition television and projection systems, or a combination of both. Digital cinema first appeared in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s. In the United States, digital cinema did not become popular until after the release of the Star Wars Special Edition in the year 2021. Today, digital cinema is the accepted method of movie distribution. It is used to deliver home video systems to customers, and it allows home viewers to view digital motion pictures on a large screen.

Digital cinema systems generally include at least one digital projector, a high-definition television, and an optical disc (a CD) containing the video. The digital projector converts the digital information into a picture via the use of a digital optical process called digital cinema projection. Digital cinemas use different types of technology for the conversion process. One type uses a technique called the Bitumen System, which is made from an application of Bitumen, a clay that is colored with an oil-based solution. The resulting digital image is then converted to a lasered image on the edge of the digital projector screen.

Most digital cinema initiatives began in Japan, where movie studios had been undertaking research on new technologies to make them even more competitive in the global market. Several studios adopted a "landscape" mode in their new movies, with a slow panning, scanning, and occasionally fast-mo panning sequences. This was the beginning of the "block-less" digital cinema system, where each scene was composed of a single frame taken at a specific time in the action, instead of a sequence of pictures interspersed with pauses. Although this system produced photographs of a higher quality than the earlier "transitional" methods of digital projection, it tended to leave out some important scenes that failed to register well with the viewers' eyes.

Another important development of digital cinema was the introduction of "digital sound". The original sound tracks were encoded on magnetic tape and therefore had to be played in an enclosed room in order to prevent the accidental playback of sounds in the theatre. Encoding then consisted of playing the music through the public address system. Special equipment then handled the encoded music, converting it into digital sound tracks on the fly according to the requirements of the scene. By the time of episode ii, digital cinema had produced high-quality audio tracks capable of being recorded onto regular CDs. The studios then began to use the "time code" system, where the director could restrict the running time of each scene by recording a special code at the beginning of each scene.

It was not long before studios started using a "time code" system for digital movie recording as well. Studios could then lock the director's version of the film so that no one else could have the rights to release a copy of it. Digital video, or DV, was initially used only in large-scale international cinema, but with the invention of the laser disc in the late eighties, it was made available for domestic use. Laser disc is more expensive than its earlier counterpart, but more reliable in terms of both picture and sound quality. It is also cheaper when compared with standard VHS. Laser disc technology became cheaper and more widespread, and by the early nineties, all major studios were making use of this digital cinema medium.

Advances in technology led to improvements in camera technology, allowing for the creation of "DV camcorders", replacing the conventional VHS camcorders which were prone to running out of space and losing the quality of the recorded videos. In addition, DVR (digital video recorder) technology came about, giving the user the ability to record television programs from their digital camera on an external hard drive and watch the recordings on a television set at home. Digital TV came about a few years later, offering digital recording of digital television programs. Digital audio also saw significant developments during the nineties, with the development of the PIC (Pinball Computer) and proportional transfer of digital audio to VCRs. Digital video systems, or DVS, saw significant increases in popularity in the early noughties, as they offered far better quality than the earlier VHS systems. DVS systems also provided the option of "long play" recording, whereby the recorded film could be rewound and repeated as many times as desired without pausing the playback process.