Publications & Articles Archive


Older Presentations

Not Your Father's Silver Screen
2015-April: Presented at the NAB Technology Summit for Cinema, held in Las Vegas. Silver screen technologies, regardless of manufacturer, have advanced significantly in recent years, with much wider viewing angles than before. In addition, the challenges of delivering and installing large screens has also led to innovations that allow a silver screen to be shipped in a box.

Beyond the Rollout: Towards Digital Cinema 2.0
2014-August: Presented at Media Salles in Germany. By any measure, the transition to digital cinema has been a success. At the time of this presentation, over 120,000 screens around the world were digitized. But technology has a habit of not sitting still. This presentation lends insight to the emerging technologies that will drive Digital Cinema 2.0.

The Digital Kitchen Sink: DCPs, KDMs, and Accessibility
2014-August: Presented at Media Salles in Germany. A high level review of the DCP, the KDM, and how accessibility (closed captions, audio description) in cinema is implemented. If you don't know what these are, then this is an excellent presentation to review.

The Digital Rollout in 2013
2013-April: Presented at the SMPTE Technology Summit on Cinema at the NAB Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

A Review of Digital Cinema in 2012, presented at ABC Week in Brazil
2012-May: A review of digital cinema, covering the rollout around the world and the latest technologies, given at Sao Paulo, Brazil, for the ABC Association of Cinematographers of Brazil.

Digital Cinema in 2011 - Trends in Rollout, Financing, and Technology
2011-July: A status report for digital cinema, given at Media Salles in Tallinn, Estonia.

Technology Moves Forward
2011-March: The crystal ball lights up for digital cinema technology, given at CinemaCon 2011.

SMPTE Standards Bring Accessibility to the Cinema
2010-October: A presentation given at the 2010 SMPTE Conference explaining the standards behind accessibility in the cinema.

Accessibility in the Cinema
2010-June: Film was not designed to support accessibility. Digital cinema is. This presentation given to the Canadian Hard Of Hearing Association (CHHA).

Digital Cinema Progress?
2006-September: Presented at IBC 2006, outlines why digital cinema sales are not growing, and the challenges ahead.

Digital Cinema Issues
2006-April: Presented at NAB 2006 Digital Cinema Summit.

Next Steps in Interoperability and Certification
2006-January: Presented at ITEA - includes a discussion of The Open Group.

Digital Cinema Packaging
2002-Apr: A progress report on the MXF/XML digital cinema packaging scheme (DCP), presented at the NAB 2002 Digital Cinema Summit. This was the first public presentation outlining the Interop/SMPTE DCP format.

Older Videos

Internet Theft of Hollywood Content
2010-November: Richard Atkinson, Michael Karagosian, Patrick Gregston and Pamela Allison team up to discuss the negative economic impact of internet theft on Hollywood's business model. Held at the Entertainment Content Protection Summit, Woodbury University.

Interview: The 4K Diaries
2010-October: A video interview with Michael Karagosian on the value of 2K and 4K in cinema, by Peter Knight of the The Mad Cornish Projectionist.

2009 Digital Cinema Status Report
2009-April: A review of the VPF model, and the growth of 3-D screens in early 2009.

2008 Digital Cinema Status Report
2008-January: Discusses cost of ownership, equipment lifetime, security key management, and more.

Older Articles from Digital Cinema report

The Immersive Sound Challenge
2016-June: Cinema immersive sound is upside down. Technology providers invest in intellectual property for immersive sound rendering engines, but they compete on the availability of content. No need to wait to put it right-side up.

Fixing the DCP
2015-March: The growing diversity of installations and the lack of backwards compatibility in the DCP creates friction in distribution. It's time to fix the problem.

The Top Five DCP Misconceptions
2015-March: The misconceptions about SMPTE DCP are surprising, and worthy of review.

Cinema Without Walls
December 2012: By the end of 2012, it's expected that at least 85,000, or 70 percent, of the world's cinema screens will be converted to digital projection. But for the art of cinema, this is only the beginning. The Hobbit gives a clue.

Tracking When Film Distribution Ends
March 2011: Several factors will contribute to the timing of film's demise. After you read it, you get to throw your own dart.

How to Critique 3D by Matthew DeJohn of In-Three
April 2010: What causes 3D to be bad or good? This piece exposes some of the dirty secrets behind creating 3D in the hope that education will help keep quality high.

Understanding 3D by Matthew DeJohn of In-Three and Michael Karagosian
March 2010: How does the illusion work? How is 3D produced? Why is some 3D good, and some not-so-good? How can 3D enhance storytelling? Even if you don't work in motion picture production, you'll find this information useful.

Year 11 and We're Still Talking About Rollout
March 2010: With DCIP ready to rollout digital cinema, it's now time to focus on converting the rest of the industry, US and worldwide. It's not as easy as it looks.

Who Do You Trust?
January 2010: The security trust model in digital cinema is not well described in available literature. This article explains the digital cinema trust model, including the concepts behind it, such as "Trusted Device List" (TDL), Key Delivery Message (KDM), and Facility List Message (FLM).

SMPTE DCP Compliance is On the Way
December 2009: The introduction of the SMPTE DCP to the supply chain will take the industry significantly closer to meeting the DCI specification. It will also introduce a host of features for those with disabilities.

Digital Cinema Finance 101
November 2009: Exhibitors today are faced with several options for acquiring digital cinema equipment. If seeking to subsidize equipment purchases through virtual print fees, it is worth taking time to understand the hurdles to financing such deals.

Should DCI open its doors?
September 2009: Digital Cinema Initiative's willingness to revise its specifications and test plan is creating an impact. Overall, DCI has performed the task it originally set out to do. Perhaps it's time to rethink how it moves forward.

Director's Intent or Someone Else's Intent?
August 2009: The desire for tiers of digital cinema equipment has roots with film. But the question remains as to whose intent it is we strive to meet.

Move the Media Block?
July 2009: The next phase of digital cinema will reset the equipment model.

If it's 3D, it's (Maybe) 2K
June 2009: There is no such thing as 4K 3-D.

Who Specifies Digital Cinema?
May 2009: We take the stability of the cinema format for granted.

Digital Cinema Quietly Reaches Major Milestone With SMPTE DCP
March 2009: SMPTE completes the suite of digital cinema packaging standards

Growing the Number of 3D Screens
March 2009: The biggest challenge that 3-D faces isn't the lack of content.

3D Meets TV Audiences in Super Bowl
February 2009: 3-D debuts on broadcast television.

Investing in the Right Stuff in Digital Cinema
January 2009: The moving target of digital cinema compliance and the struggle it presents to manufacturers.

Enabling the Disabled to See Movies
January 2009: One of the benefits of digital cinema will be access for those with visual and auditory disabilities.

Trioviz and Darkworks Pave the Way for 3D Gaming
Fascinating developments in 3-D gaming.

Digital 3D in Exhibition
November 2008: There are a lot of reasons why 3D has gained momentum in cinema, and not all of them have to do with motion pictures.

Business as Usual?
November 2008: The Problems of Defining When a Movie Can't Play

And More Articles

What ASC’s Cinema Display Evaluation Means
2016-September in Digital Cinema Report: ASC Next Generation Cinema Display subcommittee co-chairs Michael Karagosian and Eric Rodli explain the background behind the release of the ASC's Cinema Display Evaluation Plan and Test Protocol, available at the ASC's website.

SMPTE Report: High Frame Rates Study Group
2012-September: Published in the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal 2012 Progress Report, September 2012.

SMPTE Report: Digital Cinema Experiences Strong Growth in 2011 - a Mid-Year Report
2011-September: Published in the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal 2011 Progress Report, September 2011.

SMPTE Report: Digital Cinema in 2010 - a Mid-Year Report
2010-September: Published in the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal 2010 Progress Report, September 2010.

SMPTE Report: Digital Cinema Progress in 2009
2009-June: Published in the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal 2009 Progress Report.

SMPTE Report: Digital Cinema Progress in 2008
2008-June: Published in the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal 2008 Progress Report.

Enabling the Disabled in Digital Cinema
2009-January: Documenting the progress made towards closed captions and access audio in digital cinema in 2008.

Review of NATO's Digital Cinema System Requirements v2.0
2008-November: Published in Box Office magazine.

SMPTE Report: The Transition to Digital Cinema in 2007
2007-May: Versions published in the SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal 2007 Progress Report and the June 2007 CAC Newsletter.

Digital 3D - In a Theatre Near You?
2005-August: Digital cinema brings something new. (And not your grandmother's 3D!)

The Value of Interoperability and Certification to Exhibition - A White Paper
2006-October: A formal interoperability effort will bring benefits, particularly to exhibition.

Why Certification? - A White Paper
2006-March: Certification will close a gap in the digital cinema rollout.

One World Standard?
2005-June: As DCI wraps up its spec, and SMPTE moves forward with new standards, the question remains how smoothly can one world standard really materialize?

Then and Now
2005-April: Star Wars is the poster child for digital cinema. A timeline in terms of the Episodes.

Digital Cinema Security Poses New Challenges
2005-Feb: Security systems pose new challenges for both motion picture distributors and exhibitors.

Digital Cinema in India
2004-Dec: India has unique challenges and motivations for implementing electronic cinema.

Is Digital Cinema Imminent?
2004-Oct: Will we see a near-term world-wide rollout of digital cinema soon?

Quality in Digital Cinema
2004-Aug: 5th of a series, discussing the quality issues of digital and electronic cinema.

Projection Technology in Digital Cinema
2004-Jun: 4th of a series, describing the projection technologies available for digital cinema.

Interoperability in Digital Cinema
2004-Mar: 3rd of a series, describing the unique system level requirements for interoperability in the cinema.

Digital Cinema: Motivating Factors
2004-Jan: 2nd of a series, describing the issues moving digital cinema forward, and the issues holding it back.

An Introduction to Digital Cinema
2003-Nov: 1st of a series, describing the important issues to be addressed with digital cinema.


More Articles and Presentations Pre-2006 on digital cinema.