Electronic Projection Technology

Welcome to today’s presentation onElectronic Projection Technology in the cinema industry

Presented by Andy MilneTechnical Director, Technical Audio Group NZ Ltd

Electronic Projection• Introduction to TAGNZ• Projection Technologies• Projection Resolution• Cinema Industry standards for digital cinema• History of Digital Projection International• Digital Projection International cinema products• The future of digital Cinema• DVD & HD demonstration clips• Questions

Technical Audio Group NZ Ltd• Technical Audio Group or TAGNZ is the New Zealand importer of a number of

premium cinema related products including Digital Projection InternationalDLP projectors and Martin Audio sound systems.

• Martin Audio is installed in New Zealand's premium cinemas, the Embassy in Wellington, the Civic in Auckland and a number of other intimate cinemas around New Zealand.

• Both companies manufacture in the UK and offer the best of British sound and imaging technology.

Technical Audio Group NZ Ltd• Andy Milne trained as a BBC engineer and worked in studio engineering, live TV

colour grading and telecine transfer areas as well as many years as a video tape editor.

• TAGNZ has a passion for the best in imaging and sound reproduction technology and we take great pride in working with our clients in the cinema industry to give an experience that keeps the public coming back.

• TAGNZ provides industry leading support and backup which is vital for the cinema industry.

Projection TechnologiesLCD

Liquid Crystal Display

3 panels of liquid crystalsandwiched between glass

Transmission technology

Light level is analogue controlled

LCOS or DILA or SXRD

Liquid Crystal On Silicon

3 panels of liquid crystalsandwiched between a top layer of glass and a silicon / reflective

backing

Transmission technology via reflective backing

Light level is analogue controlled

DLP

Digital Light Processing

Single or 3-chip DMD’s (Digital Micro-mirror Device)

Reflective technology

Light level isdigitally controlled using pulse

width modulation

Technology ComparisonLCD

Domestic Quality

Lower purchase costHigher long term cost

Liquid crystal panels age causing discolouration and uneven

illumination

Colour matching difficult

Liquid Crystal has slow response time causing motion blur

Lower contrast ratio than DLP

Pixel structure more apparent than LCOS or DLP, low fill factor

DILA or LCOS or SXRD

Semi Pro & Pro quality

Middle purchase costHigher long term cost

Liquid crystal panels can age causing discolouration and uneven illumination

depending ontechnology used

Pixel structure less apparent than LCD

LCOS has faster response than LCD but slower than DLP

Lower contrast ratio than DLP

Single Chip DLP

Upper domestic quality

Middle purchase costLower long term cost

True digital projection technology using pulse width modulation

Minimal pixel structure due to very small inter pixel gaps

Suffers from “rainbow” effect

RGB sequential, 1/3 of light in use

Technology ComparisonProfessional quality, designed for

commercial environments

Higher purchase cost, Lower long term cost

All available light in use, brighter

Reflective technology, can handle heat loadbetter than transmissive technology LCD or LCOS

Capable of higher light output than LCD or LCOS

Highest bit depth of any projection technology,over 4 trillion colours on screen

True digital projection technology using pulse width modulation, noise free,

digital colour and gamma correction

Digital means stability of image over time

Uniform light output and colourimetry over image area

Minimal pixel structure due to very small inter pixel gaps

Less temporal artefacts,no colour wheel, no “rainbow” effect

Film like images

3 Chip DLP

Ageing ComparisonThe following slides are from a test conducted by Munsel Colour Science Laboratory

at Rochester Institute of Technology for Texas Instrumentsshowing the image quality of 5 LCD and 2 DLP projectors

after over 3000 hours of use.

LCD 1 LCD 2

LCD 3 LCD 4 LCD 5

3312 Hours LCD Experiment Results

Photo at 24 hours

DLP 2DLP 1

3312 Hours

Photo at 24 hours

DLP Experiment Results

LCD 5

Progressive Degradation

Projection Resolution2K 1920x1080 pixels HDTV

1.3K 1280x720 pixels HDTV

DVD 720x576 PAL

Electronic Cinema Standards• The following standards were set by Digital Cinema Initiatives, USA in July 2005

• Pixel Count “2K” 2048 x 1080 OR “4K” 4096 x 2160• Calibrated white luminance, centre screen 14ftL (Dolby spec for film is 16ftL)• Colour uniformity of white field +- .010 x, y relative to centre• Sequential contrast ratio 1200:1• Intra frame contrast ratio 100:1• Greyscale tracking No visible colour shading

History of Digital Projection International

• 1987-1988 A division of the Rank Organisation, Rank Brimar, sets up an R&D team of engineers to work with Texas Instruments to develop DLP projection using Digital Micro-mirror Device. The relationship with TI predates any other projector manufacturer by many years.

• 1992 Rank Brimar engineers demonstrate the first DLP displayed image using the revolutionary “bit splitting” technology developed and patented by the Brimar lead engineer Brian Critchley who remains DPI’s Managing Director today .

• 1996 Engineering team buys out Rank Brimar and launches Digital Projection International. DPI ships first 3-chip DLP projector.

• 1998 DPI wins 2 Emmy Awards for outstanding engineering development. DPI remains the first and only projector manufacturer to win the award.

• 2000-2004 Digital Projection joins TI for an in depth study of Digital Cinema. During the process, some of the key parameters for the future of Digital Cinema are defined.

• Today Digital Projection remains TI’s only partner with a range of solutions that are 100% dedicated to the DLP platform.

Digital Projection 3 chip DLP Products

MorpheusSpecifically developed forE-Cinema applicationsCurrently 1.3k6,000 ANSI Lumens

Titan1.3k & 2k resolution2,000-6,000 ANSI Lumens

Lightning2k resolution18,000-22,000 ANSI Lumens

Future of Electronic Cinema• The Cinema Industry has to remain well ahead of what the public are able to have in their homes.

• Many projectors are currently being sold as “State of The Art”. The reality is that many of these projectors use inferior technology and give mediocre image quality.

• “State of The Art” means the best that is currently available.

• LCD, LCOS or single chip DLP are generally not “State of The Art”.

• 3 Chip DLP is currently “State of The Art”.

• DLP is the only truly digital projection technology.

• If mediocre projection systems are used, cinema attendance is likely to drop as people become disillusioned with the experience they are getting using DVD sources and inferior projection systems.

• The only way forward for cinema’s using Electronic Projection is to invest in quality equipment capable of giving audiences a memorable experience. Otherwise the viewing public will vote with their feet.

The following clip is a standard PAL DVD film clip up-scaled to 1.3k

DVD resolution Film Clip

The following clip is 1.3k resolution720p Windows Media Encoded HD file

1.3k 720p is being used in the Asian Cinema market with over 1,250 Digital Projection Morpheus projectors installed.

High Definition Clips

QuestionsAndy Milne, Technical Director, Technical Audio Group NZ Ltd09 416 0190 www.tagnz.co.nz www.digitalprojection.com