Music and Youth
ETC & JVC to bring electronic cinema to India
ETC & JVC to bring electronic cinema to India
This is a technology that is just about making its mark in even developed markets: delivery of movies to theatres via satellite transmission or electronic cinema. If things pan out, cinema goers in film crazy India will be partaking of the same experience by mid-2002, courtesy ETC Networks and Victor Company of Japan (JVC).
The two have joined forces to form Entertainment Cinema Network (I), a venture that will provide conditional access to film via satellite to cinema halls in India.
Digi-cinema is the first venture of its kind that promises a complete solution package for the distribution and exhibition sectors as well as for film production. Announcing the launch of Digi-cinema, ETC managing director Jagjit Singh Kohli said: “This distribution will have extremely sophisticated and secure conditional access and anti-piracy features.”
This project envisages the use of the JVC’s D-ILA technology projectors launched recently coupled with Digital HD playback equipment. These professional projectors are capable of a mind boggling real QXGA resolution of 2048*1536 pixels. Thus these projectors are ideally suited to exploit the maximum advantage out of HD format a standard which gives resolution of 1920*1080 lines in a 16:9 aspect ratio.
In addition to super high resolution, another key advantage of JVC’s D-ILA LCOS devices is the vertical alignment (“homeotropic” structure) of the liquid crystal layer. This ensures that projected images have extra-high contrast and this makes it possible to reproduce accurately even subtle gradation differences between the lighter and darker parts of the projected image.
The contrast ratios achieved are as high as 1000:1. D-ILA projectors can also achieve more than 15000 ANSI lumens with stacking, which means that the picture can be viewed even in brightly lit halls.
The project will initially involve the transfer of 35mm prints to the HD Video format, their authoring, encryption and duplication for distribution with copyguard protection built in.
These digitised tapes will be delivered by hand over a three-month long pilot phase. 35 theatres in the country are to be part of the service, while commercial deployment will begin in April 2002.
According to Kohli, the joint collaboration with JVC is a very active one, wherein the Japanese company will participate in all aspects of the project. “It is a technical tie-up; there in no equity sharing with JVC, although later on they might participate in the equity. But their commitment is very high because India is the first country in which they are introducing this technology. If they succeed in India, this could be a launching pad for their success all over the world,” says Kohli. Their stakes are very high, so they will do whatever it takes to persevere with us, he added.
Kohli does anticipate resistance from theatre owners as the cost of the equipment, comprising D-ILA projector, HD playback conditional access IRD along with dish antenna and LNB, is very high currently.
To overcome this problem and to encourage the producers and theatre owners to adapt this format, the joint venture will seed the market and promote this technology, says Kohli. “We will install the equipment in a select number of cinemas at subsidised schemes,” he added.
Kohli said that they would select from among a range of big and small theatres from metros as well as interior areas, but added that the process has not been initiated so far.
MUMBAI: Mumbai is about to witness something it has never seen before. The Global Youth Festival arrives on 6-7 December at Jio World Garden with 15,000 attendees and 60-plus experiences sprawled across six sprawling arenas. On its sixth edition, this is no ordinary jamboree—it is a carefully orchestrated collision of wellness, adventure, arts, music, yoga and social change.
Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis will throw open the proceedings with a landmark ceremony, signalling the state’s backing for a movement that has already mobilised youth across 20-plus countries and 170-plus cities. The sheer scale is staggering: 500-plus volunteers powering the machine, 600,000-plus volunteer hours logged across previous editions, and millions of lives touched annually.
The speaker roster is formidable. Diipa Büller-Khosla and Dipali Goenka, chief executive of Welspun India, will share the stage with Malaika Arora in conversations spanning leadership, creativity and culture. Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Mansukhbhai Mandaviya will also attend, reinforcing GYF’s reach into the corridors of power.
But this is not mere talk. The Solaris Mainstage promises concerts from renowned Indian artists. Innerverse delivers a 360-degree LED spectacle of art, technology and sound. The Love and Care Arena houses hands-on projects spanning women’s empowerment, child education, rural upliftment and animal welfare. India’s largest outdoor sound-healing experience awaits. An inflatable obstacle course, neon drifter karts and open-sky bouldering cater to thrill-seekers.
Some have branded GYF the “Coachella of Consciousness.” Others call it “India’s Largest Sober Festival.” Spiritual visionary Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji, who inspired the festival, will deliver the Wisdom Masterclass. Every rupee goes to charity.
After Mumbai comes Kolkata on 14 December. New York looms next year. For one weekend in December, Mumbai becomes the epicentre of youth-driven change—and nothing will be quite the same after.
Tickets available on BookMyShow. Visit youthfestival.srmd.org or follow @globalyouthfestival on Instagram.
