Christie® today officially launched its high-value premium digital cinema offering, the Christie Solaria® One, aimed at emerging markets and community theaters whose screen sizes are less than 10.6 meters (35 feet) wide. The solution is DCI-compliant, having recently been fully certified for Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC (DCI) compliance testing by AEGISOLVE, INC. Christie Solaria One is the first solution to begin shipping in quantity, based on Texas Instruments’ (TI) (NASDAQ: TXN)recently developed S2K DLP Cinema® chipset.
The Solaria One will deliver fully DCI-compliant images at 8000 lumens within the DCI color space and, as the Christie Solaria One+, 10,000 lumens when presenting alternative content.
“The DCI-compliant Solaria One projector won kudos from customers across the globe in our product previews for its all-in-one design, as it ships with a zoom lens, a high-performance Xenon lamp, an Integrated Media Block (IMB) for playing high frame rate movies and Screen Management System (SMS) for controlling the system,” said Don Shaw, senior director, product management, Christie Entertainment Solutions.
“Exhibitors will also appreciate Christie Solaria One’s built-in dual DVI (HDMI) and network ports, rendering it capable of displaying virtually any form of alternative content. And customers should also note that they are not locked into a projector-based, proprietary storage system; we strongly believe that mechanical hard drive platters should not coexist within the projector chassis and that such systems featured in competing solutions are a failure waiting to happen. DCI-compliant, robust, external storage systems based on the very latest commercial RAID5 technology are available through Christie sales representatives for use with Solaria One.”
Ster-Kinekor Theatres, the largest cinema exhibitor in South Africa, will be the first recipient of the solution, having ordered 198 projectors from the Christie Solaria One line. The chain is indicative of the expanded market that Christie has developed the Solaria One solution for, and as Ster-Kinekor Theatres CEO, Fiaz Mahomed, commented, “The Christie Solaria One projectors offer superb quality with a heightened viewing experience for movie lovers. These projectors are perfectly suited for smaller screens and are very cost effective. Ster-Kinekor is proud to be the first chain in the world to deploy this product and we believe that this partnership meets the very real demand from our valued audiences in seeing the best film content, at its greatest!”
“The DCI Digital Cinema System Specification helps to ensure a uniformity of excellence among products destined for the world’s cinemas and promotes deployment of high quality digital cinema equipment,” said Travis Spann, President & Laboratory Director, AEGISOLVE, INC. "The Christie Solaria One has clearly satisfied the applicable criteria for interoperability and rigorous content security as specified in the DCI Compliance Test Plan.”
Democratization of Digital Gathers Momentum
“The announcement of the high-value Christie Solaria One projector is indicative of Christie’s continuing digital cinema technology leadership, as the company advances the ‘democratization of digital’ trend that will end in all audiences across the globe having access to the finest in digital cinema and alternative content,” said Kathryn Cress, vice president of global and corporate marketing, Christie.
“Everyone can join the digital cinema revolution, courtesy of Christie, and this announcement reflects what global exhibitors have come to expect of the world’s best-selling, DCI-compliant digital cinema projector leader, one that has shipped and installed more than 36,000 projectors to date.” And like all Christie projection systems, a single, dedicated technical support team backs the Solaria One and Solaria One+. The Christie Solaria One is on display at Christie’s ShowEast booth, at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, Florida, held November 5-8. Brazil’s premiere cinema event, Show Buzios, will also feature Christie’s Solaria One, which will be used for the entire film festival to showcase all of the latest studio/manufacturer presentations.
Christie’s Commitment to HFR
The two main goals of Christie’s HFR activities are to help the industry develop the best HFR content and the best delivery system for HFR content. The first goal involves assisting leading-edge filmmakers and post-production companies in perfecting HFR movie creation, so the industry has the most engaging, entertaining content possible. The second goal is to assist exhibitors in showing these 3D HFR movies in all their glory. To these ends, Christie is helping create the standards for 3D HFR movies through formal and informal technology-development alliances with major producers and directors, postproduction facilities, studios and technology partners. On the exhibitor’s front, Christie provides one-stop shopping for all the hardware, software and services that enable exhibitors to deliver a filmmaker's vision in stunning 3D HFR quality.
