The 2nd issue that I noticed is that it doesn’t seem to be trustworthy yet. Besides being slow, it has wrong data. The first event that I checked – the EDCF D-Cinema Update Conference Event – shows correctly on 11 September, but doesn’t show the correct time. It shows 11AM instead of the 10AM time that the IBC site shows. It also doesn’t say where, which the online listing shows. [Room E102]
He says that he can’t announce anything in advance of the conferences.
Both the D-Cinema Update and the Future Projection Tech are free, and both are worth a fortune.
The Conference link is:
IBC2012 – Target specific areas of interest and build your own programme.
Flying into Schiphol Airport is usually pretty easy. Walking out of the customs area there are a couple rings of shops. In the past there has been an IBC welcome table where one can get their travel passes…but the travel pass is not good for the train to the RAI. The penalty for not having a ticket on the train is 35€.
There is also a bus to the RAI. I haven’t taken it and don’t know where the platform is. But the nice thing about the train is that for 3 euros it takes 10 minutes every time. Traffic can make a car or buss ride take 30 minutes.
One can go to the yellow kiosks to buy the train ticket…it isn’t obvious though…why not just select “R” and navigate to: RAI Station? Because the machine thinks of it as Amsterdam RAI…selected under the “A”.
Can you get a ticket with an out of country credit card. Sometimes, though sometimes I have seen people with English cards fail, and I have had problems with my French cards. Carry a few euros is the safe bet. And, definitely, American credit cards won’t work.
This will be an ongoing article with updates…there is still the announcements about the movies to come and most of the cool conference info is obscure…thanks be to the holy pizza that it doesn’t seem to be 3D HFR all the time.
The 2nd issue that I noticed is that it doesn’t seem to be trustworthy yet. Besides being slow, it has wrong data. The first event that I checked – the EDCF D-Cinema Update Conference Event – shows correctly on 11 September, but doesn’t show the correct time. It shows 11AM instead of the 10AM time that the IBC site shows. It also doesn’t say where, which the online listing shows. [Room E102]
He says that he can’t announce anything in advance of the conferences.
Both the D-Cinema Update and the Future Projection Tech are free, and both are worth a fortune.
The Conference link is:
IBC2012 – Target specific areas of interest and build your own programme.
Flying into Schiphol Airport is usually pretty easy. Walking out of the customs area there are a couple rings of shops. In the past there has been an IBC welcome table where one can get their travel passes…but the travel pass is not good for the train to the RAI. The penalty for not having a ticket on the train is 35€.
There is also a bus to the RAI. I haven’t taken it and don’t know where the platform is. But the nice thing about the train is that for 3 euros it takes 10 minutes every time. Traffic can make a car or buss ride take 30 minutes.
One can go to the yellow kiosks to buy the train ticket…it isn’t obvious though…why not just select “R” and navigate to: RAI Station? Because the machine thinks of it as Amsterdam RAI…selected under the “A”.
Can you get a ticket with an out of country credit card. Sometimes, though sometimes I have seen people with English cards fail, and I have had problems with my French cards. Carry a few euros is the safe bet. And, definitely, American credit cards won’t work.
This will be an ongoing article with updates…there is still the announcements about the movies to come and most of the cool conference info is obscure…thanks be to the holy pizza that it doesn’t seem to be 3D HFR all the time.
They don’t seem to have an RSS feed yet, but when they do we will let you know, and add a stream to our new sources on the right side of the front page.
Ollivier Hillaire, publisher and editor of the sites, has great contacts in the field of digital cinema from the early days. It is good to see him continuing and expanding his success.
This comes on the heels of another EU DCinema news site converting its data to English, Frank de Neeve’s Cineserver | Digital Cinema Deciphered site from the Netherlands (or Pays Bas as long as we are in the French motif.)
The EU has many of the same, yet many different problems that can’t be solved in the same manner that integrators and exhibitors have done so in the US. Brining understanding to the client has a long-term goal of both of these respected entrepreneurs.
They don’t seem to have an RSS feed yet, but when they do we will let you know, and add a stream to our new sources on the right side of the front page.
Ollivier Hillaire, publisher and editor of the sites, has great contacts in the field of digital cinema from the early days. It is good to see him continuing and expanding his success.
This comes on the heels of another EU DCinema news site converting its data to English, Frank de Neeve’s Cineserver | Digital Cinema Deciphered site from the Netherlands (or Pays Bas as long as we are in the French motif.)
The EU has many of the same, yet many different problems that can’t be solved in the same manner that integrators and exhibitors have done so in the US. Brining understanding to the client has a long-term goal of both of these respected entrepreneurs.
DNSChanger Trojan is the name of a piece of malware that was discovered in 2008. It had the effect of calling home to a network server that was subsequently taken down by the US government in 2011.
The concept was that computers would rid themselves of the trojan in the course of upgrades and running security programs…which has happened – except on the 300,000 unlucky few….or maybe more. Regardless of the number, any computer that has the code will attempt to connect to the internet in their usual manner and find an error message. The reason is that the DNS server that their computer has been going to for routing onto the world wide internet was set up as a temporary measure by the US FBI.
These FBI computers were only supposed to be online for 120 days, until March 2012, but there were still a million or two computers banging into the system. So an extension was granted by the court…until 9 July 2012.
To check your computer: DNS Changer Check-Up
Krebs mentions this site if you don’t get the Clean sign: Detect | DCWG
See the following article at Krebs on Security for the details: DNSChanger Trojan Still in 12% of Fortune 500 — Krebs on Security
Good luck to us all.
DNSChanger Trojan is the name of a piece of malware that was discovered in 2008. It had the effect of calling home to a network server that was subsequently taken down by the US government in 2011.
The concept was that computers would rid themselves of the trojan in the course of upgrades and running security programs…which has happened – except on the 300,000 unlucky few….or maybe more. Regardless of the number, any computer that has the code will attempt to connect to the internet in their usual manner and find an error message. The reason is that the DNS server that their computer has been going to for routing onto the world wide internet was set up as a temporary measure by the US FBI.
These FBI computers were only supposed to be online for 120 days, until March 2012, but there were still a million or two computers banging into the system. So an extension was granted by the court…until 9 July 2012.
To check your computer: DNS Changer Check-Up
Krebs mentions this site if you don’t get the Clean sign: Detect | DCWG
See the following article at Krebs on Security for the details: DNSChanger Trojan Still in 12% of Fortune 500 — Krebs on Security
Good luck to us all.
Krebs on Security has started a series named How To Break Into Security.
I decided to ask some of the brightest minds in the security industry today what advice they’d give. Almost everyone I asked said they, too, frequently get asked the very same question, but each had surprisingly different takes on the subject.
How to Break Into Security, Ptacek Edition — Krebs on Security
Now might be a good time to give the job of reading these to your apprentice.
Krebs on Security has started a series named How To Break Into Security.
I decided to ask some of the brightest minds in the security industry today what advice they’d give. Almost everyone I asked said they, too, frequently get asked the very same question, but each had surprisingly different takes on the subject.
How to Break Into Security, Ptacek Edition — Krebs on Security
Now might be a good time to give the job of reading these to your apprentice.
Even the Trailers are being promoted~!
Subtitled Trailers! at Your Local Cinema .com – Subtitled and Audio Described cinema
In the US, the Department of Justice ruling on how to handle the situation is still expected this year (1012), according to this document.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (DOJ) Statement of Regulatory Priorities January 20, 2012
Go to Page 4 unless you are interested in other agenda items.
Even the Trailers are being promoted~!
Subtitled Trailers! at Your Local Cinema .com – Subtitled and Audio Described cinema
In the US, the Department of Justice ruling on how to handle the situation is still expected this year (1012), according to this document.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (DOJ) Statement of Regulatory Priorities January 20, 2012
Go to Page 4 unless you are interested in other agenda items.
After a decade of hopes and promises, several large theater chains, entire countries like Australia and major studios have broken the technology and chicken-and-egg barriers to implementing complete access for this part of society who have asserted their right to be included. That the digital caption and listening technology caught up in a flurry in the last year is no coincidence to these moves, but it has taken a lot of work and rigorous testing “plug fests” for years to get to this point.
Regal Cinemas has thrown the latest and greatest gauntlet – all screenings, in all their auditoriums, will be “Accessible” by the end of the year.
There are more than a few challenges ahead for them. They have chosen the Sony glasses and sound systems [See:Previous Story], which are just becoming available. They have the largest number of screens to accommodate, nearly 7,000, which means a lot of people to train and a lot of expectant customers.
But the hardest moment is when the customer puts on the glasses to see the closed captions or the headsets to hear the sound…and nothing happens. Everyone can identify with that sinking feeling. Why? Will they fix themselves? I was promised~!
Oops!!! It was only the trailers that didn’t have the tracks for the hearing impaired (HI). Whoa…I sure wish that wouldn’t happen.
The ISDCF, a association of technical staff from many exhibitor and distributor and manufacturing groups have put out a request from via their chair:
Open letter to Content Providers,
ISDCF has discussed problems in delivery of the HI track (hearing impaired) for digital releases, in particular trailers. In the “old” days the HI track was generated by the “B” chain through the cinema processor – and this worked pretty well.
Today the delivered DCP movies sometimes contain a studio-mixed HI track and this dedicated channel is used to feed the HI system in the theater. When a product does not have a HI track, in particular trailers, the theater HI system is silent. This is unacceptable.
The best solution is for every delivered DCP movie or trailer to include an HI track. This could be an HI track created in a studio mixing room or one using a formula like the one used by “B” chain cinema processor systems.
I would like to ask the help of ISDCF members to get the message out and help encourage release of HI tracks for all digital releases.
Best,
Jerry Pierce
Chairman ISDCF
After a decade of hopes and promises, several large theater chains, entire countries like Australia and major studios have broken the technology and chicken-and-egg barriers to implementing complete access for this part of society who have asserted their right to be included. That the digital caption and listening technology caught up in a flurry in the last year is no coincidence to these moves, but it has taken a lot of work and rigorous testing “plug fests” for years to get to this point.
Regal Cinemas has thrown the latest and greatest gauntlet – all screenings, in all their auditoriums, will be “Accessible” by the end of the year.
There are more than a few challenges ahead for them. They have chosen the Sony glasses and sound systems [See:Previous Story], which are just becoming available. They have the largest number of screens to accommodate, nearly 7,000, which means a lot of people to train and a lot of expectant customers.
But the hardest moment is when the customer puts on the glasses to see the closed captions or the headsets to hear the sound…and nothing happens. Everyone can identify with that sinking feeling. Why? Will they fix themselves? I was promised~!
Oops!!! It was only the trailers that didn’t have the tracks for the hearing impaired (HI). Whoa…I sure wish that wouldn’t happen.
The ISDCF, a association of technical staff from many exhibitor and distributor and manufacturing groups have put out a request from via their chair:
Open letter to Content Providers,
ISDCF has discussed problems in delivery of the HI track (hearing impaired) for digital releases, in particular trailers. In the “old” days the HI track was generated by the “B” chain through the cinema processor – and this worked pretty well.
Today the delivered DCP movies sometimes contain a studio-mixed HI track and this dedicated channel is used to feed the HI system in the theater. When a product does not have a HI track, in particular trailers, the theater HI system is silent. This is unacceptable.
The best solution is for every delivered DCP movie or trailer to include an HI track. This could be an HI track created in a studio mixing room or one using a formula like the one used by “B” chain cinema processor systems.
I would like to ask the help of ISDCF members to get the message out and help encourage release of HI tracks for all digital releases.
Best,
Jerry Pierce
Chairman ISDCF
Importantly, it is also a networked device, making it possible for theater owners to monitor auditoriums continuously from a Network Operation Center (NOC) anywhere in the world, providing instantaneous monitoring of luminance, chromaticity, and SPL data.
“We decided to build on the success of our PSA light and PCA color meters to create an automated way to ensure excellent picture quality,” said Jack Cashin, USL’s founder, president and chief technical designer.
The release of these products show that the industry has matured beyond the one-time post-installation set-up. The idea that digital is everything, including stable and reliable, requires one thing that the cost of digital did away with: constant and consistent monitoring. The Projectionist has largely been replaced by the “booth attendant”, which who is not a substitute.
Not that there is anything wrong with the booth attendant, as long as they are able to use the tools given them to learn how to create a better environment for their audience. The advantage of the Meyer/NTi Cinema Audio Analyser, in conjunction with the Harkness Screen Checker is that it brings a pair of eyes and ears into the auditorium.
They can test the picture and the audio from several positions in the room and learn their environment. They can listen for rattles and new hum components. They may not pick it up at first, but just like the audience, they will be aware that something is wrong and seek to get it fixed before the audience decides that their home system is more pleasing.
They can, once a week, run the SMPTE DProVe DCP in every room to check whether things have changed.
SMPTE Digital Leader Demonstration – YouTube
DProVe | Digital Projector Verifier – DCinemaTools
Digital PROjection VErifier – SMPTE Store
They can walk around with a pair of Sony caption Glasses or USL headsets or Doremi OptiGrabs and check the HI/VI system.
“To some extent, this is the problem with a device like the Digital Test Tools Digital eXperience Guardian (DxG) and the USL LSS-100. They rely upon someone setting the parameters so that alarms go off at the right time, and get to the right people,” says Digital Test Tools evangelist (and DCinemaTools editor) C J Flynn.
“Sure, the DxG can let the NOC know that the THD of the left woofer has gone south, or a new rattle has appeared at the right front of the screen, or that the white point has shifted out of the SMPTE spec. But if the NOC is filled with generalists who don’t realize what that means for the picture, then it is little better than a booth assistant who sends an SMS to the Regional Tech Chief that says, “I got some reports that the audio sucks in Theater 6. What changed yesterday? I don’t know – these reports are from a couple weeks ago – when you left on vacation.
“But these tools used in their proper place would be as an adjunct to a constant and consistent Quality Assurance Plan, a procedure that involves everyone in the organization like ISO-9001 does – that would be optimum. That’s way we push Post-Installation Compliance concepts like what was presented to UNIC for CineEurope2012 Innovation Award. This is what we mean by having a feedback loop in the operation, which is the only way that digital can “take care of itself”.
“One has to beware of any press release that “ensures” anything, that says there is “no compromise”. Engineering is the Art of Compromise. There can only be so many seats in prime position, but the most astute owners can minimize the flaws when they pay attention to details and don’t get seduced by simple solutions that “ensure” success.”
For these and other reasons, DCinemaTools has begun the series called, The Art of Compromise: A Series of White Papers Explaining the Considerations and Choices Involved in Getting from There to Here.
[Was the editor really quoting himself? Yes, just to make sure it was clear that he was wearing a different hat as a manufacturer for that bit and not as the writer of this piece…weird but trying to be disclosing.]
Importantly, it is also a networked device, making it possible for theater owners to monitor auditoriums continuously from a Network Operation Center (NOC) anywhere in the world, providing instantaneous monitoring of luminance, chromaticity, and SPL data.
“We decided to build on the success of our PSA light and PCA color meters to create an automated way to ensure excellent picture quality,” said Jack Cashin, USL’s founder, president and chief technical designer.
The release of these products show that the industry has matured beyond the one-time post-installation set-up. The idea that digital is everything, including stable and reliable, requires one thing that the cost of digital did away with: constant and consistent monitoring. The Projectionist has largely been replaced by the “booth attendant”, which who is not a substitute.
Not that there is anything wrong with the booth attendant, as long as they are able to use the tools given them to learn how to create a better environment for their audience. The advantage of the Meyer/NTi Cinema Audio Analyser, in conjunction with the Harkness Screen Checker is that it brings a pair of eyes and ears into the auditorium.
They can test the picture and the audio from several positions in the room and learn their environment. They can listen for rattles and new hum components. They may not pick it up at first, but just like the audience, they will be aware that something is wrong and seek to get it fixed before the audience decides that their home system is more pleasing.
They can, once a week, run the SMPTE DProVe DCP in every room to check whether things have changed.
SMPTE Digital Leader Demonstration – YouTube
DProVe | Digital Projector Verifier – DCinemaTools
Digital PROjection VErifier – SMPTE Store
They can walk around with a pair of Sony caption Glasses or USL headsets or Doremi OptiGrabs and check the HI/VI system.
“To some extent, this is the problem with a device like the Digital Test Tools Digital eXperience Guardian (DxG) and the USL LSS-100. They rely upon someone setting the parameters so that alarms go off at the right time, and get to the right people,” says Digital Test Tools evangelist (and DCinemaTools editor) C J Flynn.
“Sure, the DxG can let the NOC know that the THD of the left woofer has gone south, or a new rattle has appeared at the right front of the screen, or that the white point has shifted out of the SMPTE spec. But if the NOC is filled with generalists who don’t realize what that means for the picture, then it is little better than a booth assistant who sends an SMS to the Regional Tech Chief that says, “I got some reports that the audio sucks in Theater 6. What changed yesterday? I don’t know – these reports are from a couple weeks ago – when you left on vacation.
“But these tools used in their proper place would be as an adjunct to a constant and consistent Quality Assurance Plan, a procedure that involves everyone in the organization like ISO-9001 does – that would be optimum. That’s way we push Post-Installation Compliance concepts like what was presented to UNIC for CineEurope2012 Innovation Award. This is what we mean by having a feedback loop in the operation, which is the only way that digital can “take care of itself”.
“One has to beware of any press release that “ensures” anything, that says there is “no compromise”. Engineering is the Art of Compromise. There can only be so many seats in prime position, but the most astute owners can minimize the flaws when they pay attention to details and don’t get seduced by simple solutions that “ensure” success.”
For these and other reasons, DCinemaTools has begun the series called, The Art of Compromise: A Series of White Papers Explaining the Considerations and Choices Involved in Getting from There to Here.
[Was the editor really quoting himself? Yes, just to make sure it was clear that he was wearing a different hat as a manufacturer for that bit and not as the writer of this piece…weird but trying to be disclosing.]