Barco, a global leader in digital cinema technology, and Regal Entertainment Group, a leading motion picture exhibitor owning and operating the largest theater circuit in the United States, have agreed to install Auro 11.1 in 20 additional Regal Cinemas across the country.
This next commitment builds upon the exhibitor’s initial installations of Auro 11.1 at locations in the New York and Los Angeles markets. In many of the new Auro 11.1 installations, Regal is coupling this innovation in immersive sound with Barco’s ultra-bright Enhanced 4K DLP Cinema® projectors to create the RPX: Regal Premium Experience.
The ultimate quality at a price that makes sense
“Auro 11.1 offers Regal distinct advantages,” comments Rob Del Moro, Chief Purchasing Officer for Regal Entertainment Group. “It’s highly compatible with our existing audio configuration. The unique speaker ‘height’ layer produces the most natural sound, and literally immerses the audience with audio of unsurpassed quality, at any listening level. Plus Auro 11.1 also adheres to an ‘open-standard’ of content creation, which ultimately translates into fewer restrictions and more choices for both filmmakers and exhibitors.”
Shaping the future of cinema technology
Barco is actively engaged with cinema industry visionaries in efforts to define and deliver both channel- and object-based audio to cinemas, with the goal of benefitting content creators, sound engineers and movie exhibitors alike. A growing number of major movie studios, audio post-production facilities, and theater owners are acquiring Auro 11.1 for their operations, confident in the product’s ability to provide a flexible, cost-effective migration path to the latest in immersive cinema sound.
“We believe strongly in the adoption of an ‘open format” to protect exhibitor’s freedom of platform choice and ensuring their ability to play any movie regardless of the authoring system used to create it,” comments Brian Claypool, Senior Director Strategic Business Development Entertainment for Barco.
Auro 11.1 by Barco has been designed in accordance with a sound reproduction layout consisting of three layers (traditional Surround Sound with Height and Overhead layers), which enables studio sound mixers to move objects around in space to create the most life-like acoustical experience. Auro 11.1 is fully compatible with existing audio equipment and current workflows.
“We are very pleased to offer Regal Entertainment Group a unique cinema audio solution, which not only delivers the best immersive sound experience, but is also easy to install, maintain and adapt as the cinema of the future continues to evolve,” comments Patrick Lee, VP Digital Cinema for Barco North America.
Nationwide roll-out in time for next summer’s blockbusters
The first installation under this new agreement is already underway in Midland, Texas where an existing auditorium at Regal Tall City Stadium 14 will include Auro 11.1 as a key component when the RPX: Regal Premium Experience debuts in November. In the next several months Regal will continue to integrate Barco’s premium audio solution in an additional 19 locations from coast to coast.
About Regal Entertainment Group
Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) operates the largest and most geographically diverse theatre circuit in the United States, consisting of7,334 screens in 575 theatres in 42 states along with Guam, Saipan, American Samoa and the District of Columbia as of September 26, 2013. The Company operates theatres in 46 of the top 50 U.S. designated market areas. We believe that the size, reach and quality of the Company's theatre circuit not only provide its patrons with a convenient and enjoyable movie-going experience, but is also an exceptional platform to realize economies of scale in theatre operations. Additional information is available on the Company's Web site at www.REGmovies.com.
About Auro Technologies
Auro Technologies (www.auro-3d.com; www.auro-technologies.com) is a spin-off of the Galaxy Studios Group and owner of the Auro-3D® Technology Suite. The Auro-3D® Concept and Listening Formats are designed by Wilfried Van Baelen, founder and CEO of Galaxy Studios and Auro Technologies. Galaxy Studios is renowned worldwide for its state-of-the-art leadership in audio innovation for music and sound for film. The Auro-3D® suite offers ground-breaking, easy-to-use and unprecedented levels of sound reproduction capabilities to the professional, automotive, broadcast and consumer electronics markets (such as gaming, smart phones, multimedia PC, notebooks, tablets, audio players, digital TV, media libraries and packaged media).
About Barco
Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops visualization products for a variety of selected professional markets. Barco has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Barco (NYSE Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90 countries with about 3,900 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales of 1.156 billion euro in 2012.