End - to - End System Providers

An effort is underway to enable digital cinema distribution with new products and new standards covering a wide range of technology. Exhibitors, studios, equipment manufacturers, and others involved in this effort require a universal, long-term digital cinema standard. Complicating the drive toward a single standard, however, are two issues: 1) not all players have the same priorities in specific technology areas, and 2) some technology areas are seeing rapid evolution. These issues make it difficult to pinpoint the exact specifications of a single, comprehensive standard. This paper shows how the digital cinema distribution chain is composed of mostly independent functional blocks, and how a modular approach may be used to achieve a broad set of standards with long-lasting relevance. An example is given of how operational equipment may be manufactured in compliance with modular standards while maintaining present and future cost-effectiveness.