3D Notes
Sony’s digital cinema rollout has been “kind of a stop-and-start event,” Gary Johns, vice president of Sony’s Digital Cinema Systems Division, told reporters Tuesday in Las Vegas during the ShoWest trade show for theater owners and movie exhibitors. But “I…
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think that’s getting ready to change,” he said. “Our systems are in exhibitors both large and small.” Two of the largest theater chains, Regal and AMC, have agreed to buy Sony 4K digital-cinema systems exclusively, Johns said. “We're really thrilled to partner with both Regal and AMC. We're really excited about beginning the rollout in the next couple of days.” Sony has installed about 900 systems total in the past year for Regal and AMC, 750 of them 3D, he said. “So we're already very big in the 3D business, and you'll see a very dramatic increase over the next year.” Sony has installed about 1,500 digital-cinema systems altogether and will have deployed more than 5,000 by year-end, he said. “And at this point, still, the majority of those will be 3D. But that’s not all. We're offering exhibitors more than just incredible resolution and an immersive movie-going experience. We're working closely with our sister companies, Sony Music, Sony PlayStation, Sony Pictures, as well as many other content providers on development of both 2D and 3D content in theater and for the home.” There’s a “slow floodgate” of 3D programming “starting to open” into homes, said Randy Waynick, Sony senior vice president for strategy and alliances. “That will drive 3D adoption and acceptance by consumers.” He mentioned Sony’s recent 3D sponsorship announcements, including its charter sponsorship of ESPN 3D, which goes live June 11. The briefing was at the Sony 3D Experience, a new research center and screening facility at the MGM Grand Hotel that Sony Electronics and CBS run. It’s an expansion of the CBS Television City facility that opened at the MGM Grand in 2001. Television City has used “immersive research” to test its programming with about 500,000 respondents who have passed through the facility, and “this is where we make the decisions as to which shows make the cut,” David Poltrack, CBS’ research chief. The network chose Las Vegas because it attracts a social, economic and geographic cross-section of the U.S. population, and the MGM Grand because it’s a big destination in Las Vegas even among visitors who don’t sleep over in the city, he said.