Tag Archives: DCinema

Black Screen Alert~! InterOp Losing Life Support

Long Live InterOp

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The engineers contributing to SMPTE, and the studios who contributed to DCI, came up with enough elements to create a secure and beautiful D-Cinema environment. The same studios financed the equipment qualification standards and partially financed equipment purchases for many exhibitors. These exhibitors agreed to buy this qualified equipment and use it in a way that somewhat assured that copyrights and quality-better-than-film would be typical on screens world-wide.

Fortunately, there were written and unwritten agreements which allowed the simple DCinema origins of MPEG and a fairly loose mechanism of security keys to transition to the full on (and just recently completed) versions of standards, specifications and practices known as SMPTE Compliant Digital Cinema, with SMPTE Compliant DCPs and Security and screen fulls of other ingredients. These transitional agreements are known as InterOp.

Unfortunately, InterOp worked well enough to be added to…and added to…and added to…

For example, the simplest multimedia tools use metadata to describe computer needed info and human interface info within the songs or movies that we get to and from iTunes and Hulu and Netflix. Workers who had to get equipment and people working together in the InterOp world had to come up with an interim…maybe one year or so to live…Naming Convention. It wasn’t useful for computers at all, and cumbersome for humans at best and kept getting added to without increasing the number of characters since some old equipment only had so many display characters…kinda like computers in the 60’s. There were (and are, since years later it is still in use) dozens of ways for it to go wrong, beginning with the fact that some studios chose to ignore it when it gets in the way (according to the logic at their end of the string) while projectionists might miss some nuance that is needed for logic at their end of the string.

What happened to adding metadata like modern sciences do, and which everyone knows eventually will be needed? There are other panics with higher priority. It sits partly formed, probably until it becomes a keystone item needed for some other important development.

There are other examples of InterOp and loose de facto ‘standards’ living beyond their time, the most garish being what is hopelessly called 3D.

Instead of using valuable engineering time to progress the computer to computer interface and give exhibitors a fighting chance at perfection, engineers have had to shoehorn one feature after another into the InterOp structure. It is done with the best intentions, of course. It begins with, “My customers were asking for this now, not at some point in the SMPTE-Compliant future.” It ends with, “I have to do this because my competitor is bragging about how they can do this at no extra cost even though it violates the spirit and the essence of every standard.”

There are too many examples to mention ranging from forensics and audio mapping. Specifics aren’t as important as the fact that the entire industry has floated out far enough from land that some see letters in the water, and some seem to think that they spell H – E – R – E    B – E    D – R – A – G – O – N – S

DCinema Dragons don’t breathe fire. They are light suckers. They cause Dark Screens. Coming to theaters and drive-ins near you.


Why?

Many reasons, partly centered around the effects of software upgrades. Because the upgrade from InterOp to SMPTE-Compliant software is not a simple ‘add a feature or two’ software upgrade. At the best of times, you just never know what you will be causing when you hit that ‘Upgrade’ button. Did the software writer anticipate every single parameter of combinations of hardware and software that is in your situation?

There just are some odds that you come out of the hospital feeling worse than how you went in (look up HAI). Anyone with a computer has had software upgrades that worked for thousands of others, but did not work for them (look up: damn, not again.) There is probably some inverse squared proportionality involved as well. Getting closer to a deadline quadruples the odds of failure.

So, don’t change~! Jeez. That is sooo obvious. Which is what many do. Don’t get the first generation of anything, including upgrades. Especially during summer when all the big movies are playing.

But a horizon event approaches. Some InterOp juggling just won’t work for some combinations of . There are an amalgam of changes coming though, prompted by the teams of Jackson and Cameron. It might be easy to ignore the 60 frames per second requirement of a Cameron release (famous for pushing deadlines forward as he is), but The Hobbit will probably not be delayed. 48 frames per second, stereoscopic 3D. Will it work in the InterOp world? And what other changes will be made

Why 48fps? Phil Oatley, the post group head of technology from Park Road Post (Mr. Jackson’s facility in New Zealand) who spoke at the SMPTE/NAB DCinema Days last April said that they choose 48 because they didn’t know if equipment and exhibitors could change to 60fps in time and in significant numbers. As it turns out, all server and projector manufacturers have announced 48 and 60 fps capability. Sony even put a price on it…$3,000…which they can more easily do for their 13,000 users as they have always used an internal media block in their system.

In this case, Sony has something like the Apple advantage: They control the server, the media block and the projector so the odds are higher of getting a smooth transition. And, they have gotten DCI Compliance (at one moment of software version time…does HFR cause enough of a technology disruption that they need to re-certify?)

A TI-based projector with an SD-HDI interface will be a lot more complicated. An IMB (internal media block) needs purchasing and inserting, which isn’t a cheap investment. It is dependent upon TI-code and code from the projector manufacturer as well as code from the server all working together. How different is the server, which will have had its graphics-serving guts ripped out? …will that need a new cert? Check the DCI site for Compliance passed equipment.

But we have gotten off point. Back a few years ago you could sign a VPF deal and promise that you would use DCI-Compliant equipment and run with the latest SMPTE specs and recommended practices. At the time there wasn’t one piece of gear through the compliance procedures. And since you know that there is no SMPTE Police checking your screen for the required 48 candela/square meter luminance standard, you didn’t feel bad breaking the luminance number when showing 3D, a number that approached moonlight-equivalence at the sides of the theater and barely reached 10cd/m2 in the center. (For info on the light fall off from silver screens, see: 23 degrees…half the light. 3D What?)

But the history of the studios has been to look the other way until there is a technology that fulfills the DCI requirement. When Doremi proved they could do JPEG as the standard required, MPEG suppliers were given notice. When laser light engines can provide 3D at 48 cd/m2 (14 foot-lamberts), will the studios insist that passive 3D systems with their horrid high gain silver screens are no longer allowed (as was done in France recently? See: The Death of Silver Screens~! Vive la France)

We’ll see, but this doesn’t have anything to do with HFR. HFR is outside the DCI specs. It falls into the ‘no less than’ zone, similar to the color primaries. Laser suppliers can pick primaries outside the capabilities of xenon if that is financially and politically worthwhile, just as long as they don’t chose primaries inside the DCI/SMPTE limits.

So what does HFR and SMPTE compliance have to do with each other? Only that they are two locomotives that are running on two separate but not parallel lines. There is no firm deadline for SMPTE compliant DCPs, and no one is saying that InterOp compliant DCPs have a limited life. In fact, the studios expect that DCI equipment will play future SMPTE-compliant DCPs as well as what will become ‘legacy’ InterOp DCPs.

But something, at some time, is going to bulge the balloon of InterOp to the point that going SMPTE-Compliant is the logical move. Engineers at the manufacturers are just going to say, “I can’t play this game anymore. We were promised SMPTE would be the container that fit everything, I did the work, I will InterOp no more.”

There is rumor that this will happen soon. There is a particular setup that is rubbing against the InterOp balloon. Exhibitors are saying, “We don’t want to change until the summer season is over.” Will everything play nice together if only one condition is changed in a system? Possibly. How can you increase your odds?

Go to the ISDCF site that lists all the latest software/firmware versions for the equipment in the field. See to it that you have the latest. That will increase the odds. ISDCF Current Versions

Another thing you can do is prepare a database listing all of your equipment at each projection position, all of the software and firmware versions and all the serial numbers, and leave a field where you can download your .pem file from each piece of gear. Save this and get ready for a note from your distribution center asking for this info.

 

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way
– in short, the period was so far like the present period,
that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil,
in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Charles Dickens – Tale of Two Cities

Free Wireshark Training

Which is what Laura Chappell figured out and has dealt with. It isn’t for everyone in your organization, but someone in your organization should know this tool well enough to be certified in the use of it. DCinema networks are getting more complex as the shift to IMBs and more reliance upon TMSs and outside resources like satellites.

Chappell University – Online Wireshark Training

Wireshark · the world’s foremost netowrk protocol analyzer – Go deep.

That said, when I saw FREE on one of the training pages, I said, “Color me there.”

Chappell University – Training Schedule

 

2012 COURSE LIST

[Register] FEB 15 10am PST Wireshark 202: Coloring Rules free

[Register] FEB 16 10am PST Filter with Snort Rules [AAP Event]

[Register] MARCH 14 10am PST Wireshark 101: Introduction free

[Register] MARCH 15 10am PST Filter Expression Button [AAP Event]

[Register] APRIL 25 10am PST First 5 Troubleshooting Steps [AAP Event]

 

There is so much more to the Chappell website of course. On this page (Chappell University Online Portal) is a DVD ISO image with a Lab Kit, just the thing to get your techs launched into the concept of being a professional in the art…instead of knowing how to thread a film in the projector, they have to see how the movie threads through the network and which parts need a little lite oil, which might need a touch of the hammer.

One could always go with An Idiot’s Guide…oops, the Network Monitoring and Troubleshooting for Dummies book, available for download from another network consulting group. Go to Riverbed’s page: Network Monitoring and Troubleshooting for Dummies | Documents | Media & Downloads

Good luck to us all. One way or the other, the ideas and techniques of training the cinema tech support staff in the tools of their trade will prove worthwhile. Outsourcing seems so year 2000.

 

Free Wireshark Training

Which is what Laura Chappell figured out and has dealt with. It isn’t for everyone in your organization, but someone in your organization should know this tool well enough to be certified in the use of it. DCinema networks are getting more complex as the shift to IMBs and more reliance upon TMSs and outside resources like satellites.

Chappell University – Online Wireshark Training

Wireshark · the world’s foremost netowrk protocol analyzer – Go deep.

That said, when I saw FREE on one of the training pages, I said, “Color me there.”

Chappell University – Training Schedule

 

2012 COURSE LIST

[Register] FEB 15 10am PST Wireshark 202: Coloring Rules free

[Register] FEB 16 10am PST Filter with Snort Rules [AAP Event]

[Register] MARCH 14 10am PST Wireshark 101: Introduction free

[Register] MARCH 15 10am PST Filter Expression Button [AAP Event]

[Register] APRIL 25 10am PST First 5 Troubleshooting Steps [AAP Event]

 

There is so much more to the Chappell website of course. On this page (Chappell University Online Portal) is a DVD ISO image with a Lab Kit, just the thing to get your techs launched into the concept of being a professional in the art…instead of knowing how to thread a film in the projector, they have to see how the movie threads through the network and which parts need a little lite oil, which might need a touch of the hammer.

One could always go with An Idiot’s Guide…oops, the Network Monitoring and Troubleshooting for Dummies book, available for download from another network consulting group. Go to Riverbed’s page: Network Monitoring and Troubleshooting for Dummies | Documents | Media & Downloads

Good luck to us all. One way or the other, the ideas and techniques of training the cinema tech support staff in the tools of their trade will prove worthwhile. Outsourcing seems so year 2000.

 

Certificate Authorities and DCinema

Another has been found to have introduced a man-in-the-middle attack vector, meaning that once a legitimate user opened the door by giving the correct credentials, someone slipped in and assumes the identity of that user with all their rights (usually kicking them off the system – something that should arouse suspicion but which happens so often, seems normal.

Last week the Big Kahuna of CAs, Verisign, had to admit that they also were hacked into and that data was stolen from their systems. Coming so long after the break-in and after people got used to the news that smaller sites were hacked (relatively smaller sites…still significant to the system though), this isn’t getting a lot of play. When Belgian CA GlobalSign was broken into the hue and cry approached ChickenLittle-ish. This week I see articles on Verisign that don’t get any clicks.

Is it that all the tech geniuses at all the dcinema installers and installation and distribution sites double-triple checked their firewalls and decided they were nuke free and nuke-proof? Or perhaps we are complacent, feeling that the industry is not like the bank industry, with no immediate link to buckets of spendable cash, and no one really focusing the industry. Or, perhaps more logically, the dcinema industry is just hoping that the entire unbuilt fortress of SMPTE compliance will get together before the jewels that the studios need to protect get too exposed, because – “Hey, we’re pedaling as fast as we can, and see, you wanted all these updates put into legacy equipment with constant patching to the legacy InterOp format…”

For bettor or worse, there is no universal trusted device list in the industry, most likely due to potential liability issues. This has led to every company and their brother having a separate list – though there is enough interplay that these are presumed to have enough intercourse that if one list is polluted with a rogue ‘signed’ utensil, it would be disseminated throughout the lists. So, the best and the worse of all possible worlds.

Into this is a RFI from a company (last week) suggesting that they can build a system…

This article is a work in progress. Here are some of the industry articles that provoked the issue:

Who to trust after the VeriSign hack? | IT PRO

VeriSign admits 2010 hack | IT PRO

Trustwave issued a man-in-the-middle certificate – The H Security: News and Features

Break-ins at domain registrar VeriSign in 2010 – The H Security: News and Features

Backdoor in TRENDnet IP cameras – The H Security: News and Features

Certificate fraud: Protection against future “DigiNotars” – The H Security: News and Features

OpenPGP in browsers – The H Security: News and Features

Google researchers propose way out of the SSL dilemma – The H Security: News and Features

Google wants to do away with online certificate checks – The H Security: News and Features

Is the end nigh for Certificate Authorities? | IT PRO

Certificate issuing stopped at KPN after server break-in discovered – The H Security: News and Features

Certificate Authorities and DCinema

Another has been found to have introduced a man-in-the-middle attack vector, meaning that once a legitimate user opened the door by giving the correct credentials, someone slipped in and assumes the identity of that user with all their rights (usually kicking them off the system – something that should arouse suspicion but which happens so often, seems normal.

Last week the Big Kahuna of CAs, Verisign, had to admit that they also were hacked into and that data was stolen from their systems. Coming so long after the break-in and after people got used to the news that smaller sites were hacked (relatively smaller sites…still significant to the system though), this isn’t getting a lot of play. When Belgian CA GlobalSign was broken into the hue and cry approached ChickenLittle-ish. This week I see articles on Verisign that don’t get any clicks.

Is it that all the tech geniuses at all the dcinema installers and installation and distribution sites double-triple checked their firewalls and decided they were nuke free and nuke-proof? Or perhaps we are complacent, feeling that the industry is not like the bank industry, with no immediate link to buckets of spendable cash, and no one really focusing the industry. Or, perhaps more logically, the dcinema industry is just hoping that the entire unbuilt fortress of SMPTE compliance will get together before the jewels that the studios need to protect get too exposed, because – “Hey, we’re pedaling as fast as we can, and see, you wanted all these updates put into legacy equipment with constant patching to the legacy InterOp format…”

For bettor or worse, there is no universal trusted device list in the industry, most likely due to potential liability issues. This has led to every company and their brother having a separate list – though there is enough interplay that these are presumed to have enough intercourse that if one list is polluted with a rogue ‘signed’ utensil, it would be disseminated throughout the lists. So, the best and the worse of all possible worlds.

Into this is a RFI from a company (last week) suggesting that they can build a system…

This article is a work in progress. Here are some of the industry articles that provoked the issue:

Who to trust after the VeriSign hack? | IT PRO

VeriSign admits 2010 hack | IT PRO

Trustwave issued a man-in-the-middle certificate – The H Security: News and Features

Break-ins at domain registrar VeriSign in 2010 – The H Security: News and Features

Backdoor in TRENDnet IP cameras – The H Security: News and Features

Certificate fraud: Protection against future “DigiNotars” – The H Security: News and Features

OpenPGP in browsers – The H Security: News and Features

Google researchers propose way out of the SSL dilemma – The H Security: News and Features

Google wants to do away with online certificate checks – The H Security: News and Features

Is the end nigh for Certificate Authorities? | IT PRO

Certificate issuing stopped at KPN after server break-in discovered – The H Security: News and Features

Free International DCinema Business Directory…How To…

Pull down any menu to “Business Directory”. The new window has an “Add New” button which you should click.

The new window has a Select Category button, which you should click.

Here is the not so User Cuddly part…at least for Apple people…click on the “+” sign of the main category, then click on the category that you choose to identify yourself with. Click “Add Category”. You can add multiple categories by repeating the selection process. Good luck and yes, it is Darwinian. When you are ready, click Close.

The rest of the form is somewhat obvious.


Again with the registered and logged in issue. If a registered and logged in PR person adds your account information (for example), only that PR person will be able to modify the information. Yes; the editor can do it also. Contact me. In fact, let me know how this worked out and how to make it better.

Thanks,

[email protected]

Pull Down to Business DirectoryClick On Add EntrySelect Category 1Really Select the Categories

Free International DCinema Business Directory…How To…

Pull down any menu to “Business Directory”. The new window has an “Add New” button which you should click.

The new window has a Select Category button, which you should click.

Here is the not so User Cuddly part…at least for Apple people…click on the “+” sign of the main category, then click on the category that you choose to identify yourself with. Click “Add Category”. You can add multiple categories by repeating the selection process. Good luck and yes, it is Darwinian. When you are ready, click Close.

The rest of the form is somewhat obvious.


Again with the registered and logged in issue. If a registered and logged in PR person adds your account information (for example), only that PR person will be able to modify the information. Yes; the editor can do it also. Contact me. In fact, let me know how this worked out and how to make it better.

Thanks,

[email protected]

Pull Down to Business DirectoryClick On Add EntrySelect Category 1Really Select the Categories

SSL Breaches & Duqu; What is DCinema Interesting

This is not something to panic about. This is just a topic to learn about. We typically attach our common work machines to the same network as the machines that control projectors and ticket systems. The lesson of StuxNet is that a breach of one is a breach of all. The lesson of the US Department of Defense is that employees must learn the basics of how systems can be infected and how to stop those infections. A simple USB stick allowed an infection that later allowed people to download secure documents from other countries through the US defence department systems.

Now Duqu, which appears to be targetting machine control systems in much more clever ways than Stuxnet and capable of many future variations. Let’s not forget that Digital Cinema Systems are machine control systems. The nature of the infection is to wildly scatter then wait for the new slaves to start chattering back where someone then checks to see what kind of fish has been caught. Then they put a list up on the ‘black hat’ web sites announcing Systems With Access Holes and trade your life for a few hundred dollars.


 

Here are some of the more recent articles. Make certain that there is someone in your organization who learns to stay on top of these things. Don’t pass it off to an outside group without also having employee training. This is a quality control issue. Put someone in charge.

Good News:

DuquDetector released to forensically detect pest – The H Security: News and Features

Not so good News

How much similar? Remotely Opening Prison Doors Schneier on Security

Cyber Intrusion Blamed for Hardware Failure at Water Utility — Krebs on Security

Stolen government certificate signed malware – The H Security: News and Features

Compromised certificates: Revocations alone are insufficient – The H Security: News and Features

Malware Signed With a Governmental Signing Key – F-Secure Weblog : News from the Lab

Old but relevent news:

Autopsy of RSA Attack

More Military Systems Hacked

DCinema Projectionist and Tech Survey – November 2011

Hello; a friend is giving a presentation at Camera Image Conference at the end of November 2011.

We would appreciate it if you could give us as many answers that you have time for, and ask friends to fill in the form. Be as detailed or quick as you can.

Many thanks.

Go to this Google Form Site, please:

DCinema Projectionist and Tech Survey – November 2011

Who Else Was Hit by the RSA Attackers?

DCinema Exhibitors and Distributors: Read the above paragraph again. Combine it with the news of a new Stuxnet type of malware bot being uncovered just last week that targets machine control systems. Then, rethink your security. Does your current system match what you would like to have?


Security experts have said that RSA wasn’t the only corporation victimized in the attack, and that dozens of other multinational companies were infiltrated using many of the same tools and Internet infrastructure. But so far, no one has been willing to talk publicly about which other companies may have been hit.  Today’s post features a never-before-published list of those victim organizations. The information suggests that more than 760 other organizations had networks that were compromised with some of the same resources used to hit RSA. Almost 20 percent of the current Fortune 100 companies are on this list.
Since the RSA incident was disclosed, lawmakers in the U.S. Congress have taken a renewed interest in so-called “advanced persistent threat” or APT attacks. Some of the industry’s top security experts have been summoned to Capitol Hill to brief lawmakers and staff about the extent of the damage. The information below was shared with congressional staff.

Below is a list of companies whose networks were shown to have been phoning home to some of the same control infrastructure that was used in the attack on RSA. The first victims appear to have begun communicating with the attacker’s control networks as early as November 2010.

A few caveats are in order here. First, many of the network owners listed are Internet service providers, and are likely included because some of their subscribers were hit. Second, it is not clear how many systems in each of these companies or networks were compromised, for how long those intrusions persisted, or whether the attackers successfully stole sensitive information from all of the victims. Finally, some of these organizations (there are several antivirus firms mentioned  below) may be represented because they  intentionally compromised internal systems in an effort to reverse engineer malware used in these attacks.

Among the more interesting names on the list are Abbott Labs, the Alabama Supercomputer Network, Charles Schwabb & Co., Cisco Systems, eBay, the European Space Agency, Facebook, Freddie Mac, Google, the General Services Administration, the Inter-American Development Bank, IBM, Intel Corp., the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Motorola Inc., Northrop Grumman, Novell, Perot Systems, PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP, Research in Motion (RIM) Ltd., Seagate Technology, Thomson Financial, Unisys Corp., USAA, Verisign, VMWare, Wachovia Corp., and Wells Fargo & Co.
At the end of the victim list is a pie chart that shows the geographic distribution of the command and control networks used to coordinate the attacks. The chart indicates that the overwhelming majority of the C&Cs are located in or around Beijing, China.
302-DIRECT-MEDIA-ASN
8e6 Technologies, Inc.
AAPT AAPT Limited
ABBOTT Abbot Labs
ABOVENET-CUSTOMER – Abovenet Communications, Inc
ACCNETWORKS – Advanced Computer Connections
ACEDATACENTERS-AS-1 – Ace Data Centers, Inc.
ACSEAST – ACS Inc.
ACS-INTERNET – Affiliated Computer Services
ACS-INTERNET – Armstrong Cable Services
ADELPHIA-AS – Road Runner HoldCo LLC
Administracion Nacional de Telecomunicaciones
AERO-NET – The Aerospace Corporation
AHP – WYETH-AYERST/AMERICAN HOME PRODUCTS
AIRLOGIC – Digital Magicians, Inc.
AIRTELBROADBAND-AS-AP Bharti Airtel Ltd., Telemedia Services
AIS-WEST – American Internet Services, LLC.
AKADO-STOLITSA-AS _AKADO-Stolitsa_ JSC
ALCANET Corporate ALCANET Access
ALCANET-DE-AS Alcanet International Deutschland GmbH
ALCATEL-NA – Alcanet International NA
ALCHEMYNET – Alchemy Communications, Inc.
Alestra, S. de R.L. de C.V.
ALLIANCE-GATEWAY-AS-AP Alliance Broadband Services Pvt. Ltd.,Alliance Gateway AS,Broadband Services Provider,Kolkata,India
ALMAZAYA Almazaya gateway L.L.C
AMAZON-AES – Amazon.com, Inc.
AMERITECH-AS – AT&T Services, Inc.
AMNET-AU-AP Amnet IT Services Pty Ltd
ANITEX-AS Anitex Autonomus System
AOL-ATDN – AOL Transit Data Network
API-DIGITAL – API Digital Communications Group, LLC
APOLLO-AS LATTELEKOM-APOLLO
APOLLO-GROUP-INC – University of Phoenix
APT-AP AS
ARLINGTONVA – Arlington County Government
ARMENTEL Armenia Telephone Company
AS INFONET
AS3215 France Telecom – Orange
AS3602-RTI – Rogers Cable Communications Inc.
AS4196 – Wells Fargo & Company
AS702 Verizon Business EMEA – Commercial IP service provider in Europe
ASATTCA AT&T Global Network Services – AP
ASC-NET – Alabama Supercomputer Network
ASDANIS DANIS SRL
ASGARR GARR Italian academic and research network
ASIAINFO-AS-AP ASIA INFONET Co.,Ltd./ TRUE INTERNET Co.,Ltd.
ASIANDEVBANK – Asian Development Bank
ASN852 – Telus Advanced Communications
AS-NLAYER – nLayer Communications, Inc.
ASTOUND-CABLE – Wave Broadband, LLC
AT&T Global Network Services – EMEA
AT&T US
ATMAN ATMAN Autonomous System
ATOMNET ATOM SA
ATOS-AS ATOS Origin Infogerance Autonomous System
ATT-INTERNET4 – AT&T Services, Inc.
AUGERE-AS-AP Augere Wireless Broadband Bangladesh Limited
AVAYA AVAYA
AVENUE-AS Physical person-businessman Kuprienko Victor Victorovich
AXAUTSYS ARAX I.S.P.
BACOM – Bell Canada
BAHNHOF Bahnhof AB
BALTKOM-AS SIA _Baltkom TV SIA_
BANGLALINK-AS an Orascom Telecom Company, providing GSM service in Bangladesh
BANGLALION-WIMAX-BD Silver Tower (16 & 18th Floor)
BANKINFORM-AS Ukraine
BASEFARM-ASN Basefarm AS. Oslo – Norway
BBIL-AP BHARTI Airtel Ltd.
BBN Bredbaand Nord I/S
BC-CLOUD-SERVICES
BEAMTELE-AS-AP Beam Telecom Pvt Ltd
BEE-AS JSC _VimpelCom_
BELINFONET Belinfonet Autonomus System, Minsk, Belarus
BELLSOUTH-NET-BLK – BellSouth.net Inc.
BELPAK-AS BELPAK
BELWUE Landeshochschulnetz Baden-Wuerttemberg (BelWue)
BENCHMARK-ELECTRONICS – Benchmark Electronics Inc.
BEND-BROADBAND – Bend Cable Communications, LLC
BEZEQ-INTERNATIONAL-AS Bezeqint Internet Backbone
BIGNET-AS-ID Elka Prakarsa Utama, PT
BLUEWIN-AS Swisscom (Schweiz) AG
BM-AS-ID PT. Broadband Multimedia, Tbk
BN-AS Business network j.v.
BNSF-AS – Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railway Corp
BNT-NETWORK-ACCESS – Biz Net Technologies
BORNET Boras Energi Nat AB
BREEZE-NETWORK TOV TRK _Briz_
BSC-CORP – Boston Scientific Corporation
BSKYB-BROADBAND-AS BSkyB Broadband
BSNL-NIB National Internet Backbone
BT BT European Backbone
BT-ITALIA BT Italia S.p.A.
BTN-ASN – Beyond The Network America, Inc.
BTTB-AS-AP Telecom Operator & Internet Service Provider as well
BT-UK-AS BTnet UK Regional network
CABLECOM Cablecom GmbH
CABLE-NET-1 – Cablevision Systems Corp.
CABLEONE – CABLE ONE, INC.
CABLEVISION S.A.
CACHEFLOW-AS – Bluecoat Systems, Inc.
CANET-ASN-4 – Bell Aliant Regional Communications, Inc.
CANTV Servicios, Venezuela
CAPEQUILOG – CapEquiLog
CARAVAN CJSC Caravan-Telecom
CARRIER-NET – Carrier Net
CATCHCOM Ventelo
CCCH-3 – Comcast Cable Communications Holdings, Inc
CDAGOVN – Government Telecommunications and Informatics Services
CDS-AS Cifrovye Dispetcherskie Sistemy
CDT-AS CD-Telematika a.s.
CE-BGPAC – Covenant Eyes, Inc.
CELLCO-PART – Cellco Partnership DBA Verizon Wireless
CENSUSBUREAU – U. S. Bureau of the Census
CERNET-ASN-BLOCK – California Education and Research Federation Network
CERT – Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) – Coordination Center
CGINET-01 – CGI Inc
CHARLES-SCHWAB – Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
CHARTER-NET-HKY-NC – Charter Communications
CHINA169-BACKBONE CNCGROUP China169 Backbone
CHINA169-BJ CNCGROUP IP network China169 Beijing Province Network
CHINA169-GZ China Unicom IP network China169 Guangdong province
CHINANET-BACKBONE No.31,Jin-rong Street
CHINANET-IDC-BJ-AP IDC, China Telecommunications Corporation
CHINANET-SH-AP China Telecom (Group)
CIPHERKEY – Cipherkey Exchange Corp.
CISCO-EU-109 Cisco Systems Global ASN – ARIN Assigned
CITEC-AU-AP QLD Government Business (IT)
CITelecom-AS
CITYNET – CityNet
CLARANET-AS ClaraNET
CLIX-NZ TelstraClear Ltd
CMCS – Comcast Cable Communications, Inc.
CMNET-BEIJING-AP China Mobile Communicaitons Corporation
CMNET-GD Guangdong Mobile Communication Co.Ltd.
CMNET-V4SHANDONG-AS-AP Shandong Mobile Communication Company Limited
CNCGROUP-GZ CNCGROUP IP network of GuangZhou region MAN network
CNCGROUP-SH China Unicom Shanghai network
CNIX-AP China Networks Inter-Exchange
CNNIC-DSNET-AP Shanghai Data Solution Co., Ltd.
CNNIC-WASU-AP WASU TV & Communication Holding Co.,Ltd.
CO-2COM-AS 2COM Co ltd.
COGECOWAVE – Cogeco Cable
COGENT Cogent/PSI
COLO4 – Colo4Dallas LP
COLOMBIA TELECOMUNICACIONES S.A. ESP
COLT COLT Technology Services Group Limited
COLUMBUS-NETWORKS – Columbus Networks USA, Inc.
COMCAST-33490 – Comcast Cable Communications, Inc.
COMCAST-33491 – Comcast Cable Communications, Inc.
COMCAST-36732 – Comcast Cable Communications, Inc.
COMCAST-7015 – Comcast Cable Communications Holdings, Inc
COMCAST-7725 – Comcast Cable Communications Holdings, Inc
COMCAST-HOUSTON – Comcast – Houston
COMHEM-SWEDEN Com Hem Sweden
COMNET-TH KSC Commercial Internet Co. Ltd.
Completel Autonomous System in France
COMSAT COLOMBIA
COMSTAR COMSTAR-Direct global network
CORBINA-AS Corbina Telecom
COVAD – Covad Communications Co.
CPMBLUE-AS-BD CPM BLUE ONLINE LTD.Transit AS Internet Service Provider, Dhaka
CRRSTV – CRRS-TV
CSC Computer Management and CSC Denmark
CSC-IGN-AUNZ-AP Computer Sciences Corporation
CSC-IGN-EMEA – Computer Sciences Corporation
CSC-IGN-FTW – Computer Sciences Corporation
CSLOXINFO-AS-AP CS LOXINFO PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED
CSP-AS CSP
CSUNET-NW – California State University Network
CSXT-AS-1 – CSX Technology
CTIHK-AS-AP City Telecom (H.K.) Ltd.
CTS-MD I.S. Centrul de Telecomunicatii Speciale
CXA-ALL-CCI-22773-RDC – Cox Communications Inc.
CYBERVERSE – Cyberverse, Inc.
CYPRESS-SEMICONDUCTOR – Cypress Semiconductor
CYTA-NETWORK Cyprus Telecommunications Authority
DARLICS-AS Darlics ltd. provides IP transport and Internet
DATAGRUPA SIA _Datagrupa.lv_ Marijas 7 – 412a Riga, LV-1050, LATVIA
DCI-AS DCI Autonomous System
DECHO – Decho Corporation
DFINET DFi Service SA
DHL-AS DHL Systems Inc.
DHSINETNOC – DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
DIGCOMM Digital communications, LTD
DIGITAL-TELEPORT – Digital Teleport Inc.
DIL-AP DIRECT INTERNET LTD.
DIN-AS TOMSKTELECOM AS
DINAS-AS PE Kuznetsova Viktoria Viktorovna
DINET-AS Digital Network JSC
Diveo do Brasil Telecomunicacoes Ltda
DK-ESS-AS Syd Energi Bredbaand A/S
DMSLABNET – DoD Network Information Center
DNC-AS IM Data Network Communication SRL
DNEO-OSP7 – Comcast Cable Communications, Inc.
DNIC-ASBLK-00721-00726 – DoD Network Information Center
DNIC-ASBLK-27032-27159 – DoD Network Information Center
DOGAN-ONLINE Dogan Iletisim Elektronik Servis Hizmetleri
DOMAINFACTORY domainfactory GmbH
DOMAINTOOLS – DomainTools, LLC
DONTELE-AS Telenet LLC
DOPC-AS
DOPC-AS-NGN
DOPC-AS-US
DREAMHOST-AS – New Dream Network, LLC
DREAMX-AS DREAMLINE CO.
DRWEB-AS Doctor Web Ltd
DSE-VIC-GOV-AS Department of Sustainability & Environment,
DSIJSC-AS DSI Autonomous system
DSLEXTREME – DSL Extreme
DTAG Deutsche Telekom AG
DWL-AS-IN Dishnet Wireless Limited. Broadband Wireless
DYNDNS – Dynamic Network Services, Inc.
EASYDNS EasyDNS Technologies, Inc.
EASYNET Easynet Global Services
EBAY – eBay, Inc
ECI-TELECOM-LTD ECI Telecom-Ltd.
EDGECAST – EdgeCast Networks, Inc.
EIRCOM Eircom
ELISA-AS Elisa Oyj
EMBARQ-WNPK – Embarq Corporation
EMBIT-AS BURTILA & Co. ELECTRON M.BIT SRL
EMC-AS12257 – EMC Corporation
EMCATEL
EMIRATES-INTERNET Emirates Internet
EMOBILE eMobile Ltd.
ENTEL CHILE S.A.
EPM Telecomunicaciones S.A. E.S.P.
EQUANT-ASIA Equant AS for Asian Region covering Japan
EQUINIX-EDMA-ASH-ASN – Equinix, Inc.
ERICSSON-APAC-MY-AS Ericsson Global Services. BUGS N&V APAC
ERX-SINGNET SingNet
ESRI – Environmental Systems Research Institute
ESS-PR-WEBMASTERS – ESS/PR WebMasters
EthioNet-AS
ETISALAT-MISR
ETPI-IDS-AS-AP Eastern Telecoms Phils., Inc.
ETSI Autonomous System
EURONET Online Breedband B.V. Global AS
European Space Agency
EUSKALTEL Euskaltel S.A.
EXCELL-AS Excellmedia
EXIM – Export Import Bank of the U.S
FACEBOOK – Facebook, Inc.
FANNIEMAE – Fannie Mae
FasoNet-AS
FASTMETRICS – Fastmetrics, LLC
FAST-TELCO Fast Telecommunications Company W.L.L.
FASTWEB Fastweb SpA
FAWRI-AS
FDA – Parklawn Computer Center / DIMES HQ
FIBREONE-AS fibre one networks GmbH, Duesseldorf
FITC-AS – FITC – FedEx International Transmission Corporation
FMAC-I-BILLING – Freddie Mac
FMI-NET-AS – Freeport-McMoran Inc.
FORATEC-AS Foratec Communication AS at Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Perm regions
FORTINET-CANADA – Fortinet Inc.
FPT-AS-AP The Corporation for Financing & Promoting Technology
FRONTIER-AND-CITIZENS – Frontier Communications of America, Inc.
FRONTIER-FRTR – Frontier Communications of America, Inc.
FR-RENATER Reseau National de telecommunications pour la Technologie
FULLRATE Fullrate A/S
FX-PRIMARY-AS FX Networks Limited
GBLX Global Crossing Ltd.
GET-NO GET Norway
GHANATEL-AS
GIGAINFRA Softbank BB Corp.
GLOBAL-SPLK – Sprint International
GLOBE-TELECOM-AS Globe Telecoms
GOLDENLINES-ASN 012 Smile Communications Main Autonomous System
GOLDENTELECOM-UKRAINE Golden Telecom
GOOGLE – Google Inc.
GRAMEENPHONE-AS-AP GrameenPhone Ltd.
GSA-GOV – General Services Administration
GT-BELL – Bell Canada
Gtd Internet S.A.
GYRON ====
H3G-AS H3G S.p.A.
H3GUKNIE Hutchison 3G UK and Ireland Core AS
HANARO-AS Hanaro Telecom Inc.
HATHWAY-NET-AP Hathway IP Over Cable Internet
HETZNER-AS Hetzner Online AG RZ
HHES – HAMILTON HYDRO ELECTRIC SYSTEM
HINET Data Communication Business Group
HKNET-AP HKNet Co. Ltd
HKTIMS-AP PCCW Limited
HNS-DIRECPC – Hughes Network Systems
HOPONE-GLOBAL – HopOne Internet Corporation
HOSTEUROPE-AS AS of Hosteurope Germany / Cologne
HP-INTERNET-AS Hewlett-Packard Company
HTCL-IAS-HK-AP Hutchison Telephone Company Limited
HTIL-TTML-IN-AP Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Ltd
HURRICANE – Hurricane Electric, Inc.
HUTCHISON-AS-AP Hutchison Global Communications
HUTCHVAS-AS Vodafone Essar Ltd., Telecommunication – Value Added Services,
IADB-NETWORKS – The Inter-American Development Bank
IAM-AS
IBM E-business Hosting Delivery
IBMCCH-RTP – IBM
IBMCCH-SBY – IBM
IBMDES-AS – IBM Dallas Engineering & Scientific
IBSNAZ Telecom Italia S.p.a.
IBURST-GH
ICONNECT-BD Planners Tower
IDK-NETWORK CJSC Interdnestrcom AS
IEUNET BT Ireland Backbone
IFX-NW – IFX Communication Ventures, Inc.
IHNET – IHNetworks, LLC
IINET iiNet Limited
IJ-NET – Internet Junction Corp.
ILX-ASN – THOMSON FINANCIAL
IN2CABLE-AP AS Number of In2cable.com (India) Ltd.
INDONET-AS-AP INDO Internet, PT
INDOSATM2-ID INDOSATM2 ASN
INEA-AS INEA S.A.
INET-AS-ID PT. Inet Global Indo
INETCOMM-AS INET LTD
I-NETPARTNER-AS I-NetPartner GmbH ASN
INETTEHNO Inet Tehno
INFINEON-AS Infineon AG
INFINEON-SG 8 Kallang Sector
INFLOW19294 – Inflow Inc.
INFOSPHERE NTT PC Communications, Inc.
INFOSTRADA Infostrada S.p.A.
INIT7 Init7 Global Backbone
INS-AS – AT&T Data Communications Services
Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad y Telecom.
Instituto Tecnol??gico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey
INTEGRATELECOM – Integra Telecom, Inc.
INTELSAT Intelsat Global BGP Routing Policy
INTEL-SC-AS – Intel Corporation
INTERNAP-2BLK – Internap Network Services Corporation
INTERNAP-BLK – Internap Network Services Corporation
INTERNAP-BLK – Internap Network Services Corporation
INTERNAP-BLK3 – Internap Network Services Corporation
INTERNAP-BLOCK-4 – Internap Network Services Corporation
INTERNETIA-AS Netia SA
INTERNET-PATH – Internet Path, Inc.
INTERNET-PRO-AS Internet-Pro Ltd
INTEROUTE Interoute Communications Ltd
INTERPHONE-AS Interphone Ltd.
INTERTELECOM Intertelecom
IPASAULE-AS _Interneta Pasaule_ SIA
IPG-AS-AP Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company
IPGOMA – THE INTERPUBLIC GROUP OF COMPANIES, INC.
IPNXng
IPO-EU IP-Only Telecommunication Networks AB
IQUEST-AS – IQuest Internet
IRONPORT-SYSTEMS-INC – Cisco Systems Ironport Division
IRS – Internal Revenue Service
IS
ISC-AS1280 Internet Systems Consortium, Inc.
ISKON ISKON INTERNET d.d. za informatiku i telekomunikacije
ISKRATELECOM-AS ISKRATELECOM ZAO
ISP-KIM-NET Kalush Information Network LTD
ISSC-AS – ISSC
ISW – Internet Specialties West Inc.
ITNS ITNS. NET SRL
ITSCOM its communications Inc.
JAWWAL Jawwal will be multihoming with us AS15975 and AS12975
JAZZNET Jazz Telecom S.A.
Jordan Data Communications Company LLC
JUNIPER-NETWORKS – Juniper Networks, Inc.
KABELBW-ASN Kabel Baden-Wuerttemberg GmbH & Co. KG
KAISER-NCAL – Kaiser Foundation Health Plan
KAMOPOWER – KAMO Electric Cooperative, Inc.
KAZTELECOM-AS JSC Kazakhtelecom
KHERSON-TS Kherson Telecommunication Systems Ltd.
KIXS-AS-KR Korea Telecom
K-OPTICOM K-Opticom Corporation
KSNET KSNet
KSNET-AS Kyivstar GSM
KVH KVH Co.,Ltd
LANTELECOM-AS Lan-Telecom AS Number
LATISYS-ASHBURN – Latisys-Ashburn, LLC
LATNETSERVISS-AS LATNET ISP
LDCOMNET NEUF CEGETEL (formerly LDCOM NETWORKS)
LEASEWEB LEASEWEB AS
LEVEL3 Level 3 Communications
LGCNS-AS – LG CNS America Inc.
LGDACOM LG DACOM Corporation
LGH-AS-KR LGHitachi
LGNET-AS-KR LG CNS
LINKdotNET-AS
LINKLINE – LinkLINE Communications, Inc.
LINKNET-ID-AP Linknet ASN
LOQAL-AS Loqal AS
LUCENT-CIO – Lucent Technologies Inc.
LUGANET-AS ARTA Ltd
LVBALTICOM-AS _Balticom_ JSC
LVLT594-598 – Level 3 Communications, Inc.
LYSE-AS Altibox AS
MAGNUS-AS TOV _Magnus Limited_
MANGOTELESERVICE-AS-BD Only private Owned IIG in Bangladesh
MAP Moscow Network Access Point
MASERGY-US Masergy US Autonomous System
MASSCOM – Massillon Cable Communications
MAXIS-AS1-AP Binariang Berhad
MBL-AS-AP Micronet Broadband (Pvt) Ltd.
MCAFEE – McAfee, Inc.
MCAFEE-COM – McAfee, Inc.
MCC OJSC _Moscow Cellular Communications_,
MCI-ASN – MCI
MCT-SYDNEY Macquarie Telecom
MDITNET-AS ITNET (ITPAY SRL)
MEDIASERV-AS Mediaserv
Mega Cable, S.A. de C.V.
MEGAPATH2-US – MegaPath Networks Inc.
METROTEL REDES S.A.
MF-KAVKAZ-AS Caucasus Branch of OJSC MegaFon AS
MF-NWGSM-AS North-West Branch of OJSC MegaFon Network
MFNX MFN – Metromedia Fiber Network
MICRON21-AS-AU-AP Micron21 Melbourne Australia Datacentre. Co-Location Dedicated Servers Web Hosting
MICROSOFT-CORP-AS – Microsoft Corp
MICROSOFT-CORP—MSN-AS-BLOCK – Microsoft Corp
MISD-NET – Macomb Intermediate School District
MIT-GATEWAYS – Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MOLDCELL_AS Moldcell SA Autonomous System
MOLDDATA-AS Administrator of the top level domain .MD,
MOLDTELECOM-AS Moldtelecom Autonomous System
MORENET – University of Missouri – dba the Missouri Research and Education Network (MOREnet)
MOTOROLA – Motorola, Inc.
MOTOROLA-PHX – Motorola, Inc.
MP-ELEKTRONIKA-AS MP ELEKTRONIKA Autonomous System
MPX-AS Microplex PTY LTD
MTNL-AP Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.
MTS-INDIA-IN 334,Udyog Vihar
MTSNET OJSC _Mobile TeleSystems_ Autonomous System
N9E7X5E3N1I2N4C – Nexen Inc.
NAWALA-AS-ID Asosiasi Warung Internet Indonesia (AWARI)
NAWRAS-AS Omani Qatari Telecommunications Company SAOC
NBLNETWORKS-AS Nebula Oy Autonomous System
NC-FUNB-AS – WACHOVIA CORP
NCNET-AS National Cable Networks
NEOLINK CJSC _ER-Telecom Holding_ Izhevsk branch
NERIM Nerim SAS
NET-ACCESS-CORP – Net Access Corporation
NET-AIG – American International Group (AIG) Data Center, Inc.
NETCOM-AS NetCom as Autonomous system
NETELLIGENT – Netelligent Hosting Services Inc.
NEWCOM-AS NEWCOM mirror object from ARIN
NEWCOM-ASN New Com Telecomunicatii SA
NEWEDGENETS – New Edge Networks
NEWSKIES-NETWORKS SES WORLD SKIES ARIN AS, for routing RIPE space.
NEWTT-IP-AP Wharf T&T Ltd.
NEXTGENTEL NEXTGENTEL Autonomous System
NEXTTELL-VRN-AS LLC NextTell-Voronezh AS Number
NG-AS NextGen Communications SRL
NIANET-AS nianet is a Danish carrier and Internet Service Provider
NO_NAME
NOC – Network Operations Center Inc.
NOKIA Nokia Internet
NOKIA-AS NOKIANET APAC Data Centre network
NOKIANET_DALLAS NOKIANET Dallas office
Nominum Global NameServer network
NOMINUM-SKYE1 – SKYE
NORDLINKS-AS S.C. _NordLinks_ S.R.L.
NORMA-PLUS-AS TOV Norma Plus
NORTHROP-GRUMMAN – Northrop Grumman
NOVELL – Novell, Inc.
NTL Virgin Media Limited
NTT do Brasil Telecomunicaoes Ltda
NTT-COMMUNICATIONS-2914 – NTT America, Inc.
NUMERICABLE NUMERICABLE is a cable network operator in France, offering TV,VOICE and Internet services
NUVOX – NuVox Communications, Inc.
NV-ASN 013 NetVision Ltd.
NYFX-RTR – NYFIX, INC
O1COMM – O1 COMMUNICATIONS
OCN NTT Communications Corporation
OFIDEN – OppenheimerFunds, Inc.
OMD-FNO Orange Moldova Fix Network Autonomous System
OMNITURE ====
OPENDNS – OpenDNS, LLC
ORANGE-BUSINESS-SERVICES-SOUTHEUR Equant Inc.
ORANGE-BUSINESS-SERVICES-UK Orange Business Services (formerly Equant) AS for UK
OSIS-PACOM – Joint Intelligence Center Pacific
OVH OVH
P4NET P4 Sp. z o.o.
PACIFIC-INTERNET-INDIA-ASN Pacific Internet India Pvt. Ltd.
PACIFIC-INTERNET-IX Pacific Internet Ltd
PACNET Pacnet Global Ltd
PAH-INC – GoDaddy.com, Inc.
PAIR-NETWORKS – pair Networks
PALTEL-AS PALTEL Autonomous System
PARTNER-AS Partner Communications Ltd.
PBTL-BD-AS-AP Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited.
PDX – PORTLAND INTERNETWORKS
PEER1 – Peer 1 Network Inc.
Pegaso PCS, S.A. de C.V.
PERSNET Korea Telecom Freetel
PI-AU Pacific Internet (Australia) Pty Ltd
PI-HK Pacnet Internet (Hong Kong) Limited
PIXNET-AS – Providers Internet Exchange
PKTELECOM-AS-PK Pakistan Telecom Company Limited
PLUSSERVER-AS PlusServer AG, Germany
POLYCOM – Polycom, Inc.
POWEREDCOM KDDI CORPORATION
Prima S.A.
PRIMORYE-AS Open Joint Stock Company _Far East Telecommunications Company_
PRINCETON-AS – Princeton University
PROBENETWORKS-AS Probe Networks
PRONET_LV SIA _PRONETS_
PROXAD Free SAS
PS-NETPLEX-AS – Perot Systems
PT KPN Internet Solutions
PTK-CENTERTEL-DSL-AS PTK Centertel Sp. z o.o.
PTLP-CORE – People_s Tel Limited Partnership
PTPRIMENET PT PRIME – Solucoes Empresariais de Telecomunicacoes e Sistemas S.A.
PUBNET1-AS KT
PUSAN-AS-KR Pusan National University
PWC-AS – PriceWaterhouseCoopers, LLP
Q9-AS – Q9 Networks Inc.
Q9-AS-BRAM – Q9 Networks Inc.
QNETCZ QNET CZ s.r.o.
QSC-1 QSC AG
QUALCOMM – Qualcomm, Inc.
QUALCOMM-BLR-AS-AP Qualcomm Inc. Bangalore AS, Developer of CDMA Technology India
QWEST – Qwest Communications Company, LLC
RACKSPACE – Rackspace Hosting
RADIOGRAFICA COSTARRICENSE
RAPID-LINK-AS RAPID LINK SRL
RAYA-AS
RCN-AS – RCN Corporation
RDSNET RCS & RDS S.A.
Rede Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisa
REEDLAN-AS ISP REEDLAN
RELARN RELARN-MSK
RELIANCE-COMMUNICATIONS-IN Reliance Communications Ltd.DAKC MUMBAI
RELIANCEGLOBALCOM – Reliance Globalcom Services, Inc
RENAM RENAM Association
RIML-CORP-AS-3 – Research In Motion Limited
RIPE-NCC-AS RIPE Network Coordination Centre
RISC-SYSTEM – Rockwell Scientific Company
RMH-14 – Rackspace Hosting
RMIFL RM Education PLC – Internet for Learning
ROGERS-CABLE – Rogers Cable Communications Inc.
ROSTELECOM-AS JSC Rostelecom
ROSTOV-TELEGRAF-AS Rostovelectrosviaz_ of Public Joint Stock Company
RTCOMM-AS OJSC RTComm.RU
RTD ROMTELECOM S.A
RUSTAVI2ONLINEAS Caucasus Online LLC
RU-SURNET Uralsvyazinform, Chelyabinsk branch
RWT – RagingWire Telecommunications
SAFELINES The network of ISP Safelines,includes POPs in various cities
SAFENZ-TRANSIT-AS-NZ SafeNZ Networks LTD
SAITIS-NETWORK Saitis Network, N.Desir
SAMSUNGNETWORKS-AS-KR Samsung Networks Inc.
SAN-JUAN-CABLE – San Juan Cable, LLC
SASUSA SunGard Availability Services USA
SAVVIS – Savvis
SBIS-AS – AT&T Internet Services
SCARTEL-AS Scartel Ltd.
SCOTTS-AS – CITY OF SCOTTSBURG
SCRR-10796 – Road Runner HoldCo LLC
SCRR-11426 – Road Runner HoldCo LLC
SCRR-12271 – Road Runner HoldCo LLC
SCV-AS-AP SCV Broadband Access Provider
SDL-20-AS – Smithville Digital, LLC
SEAGATE-USA-MN-1 – Seagate Technology
SEEDNET Digital United Inc.
SELECTNET-AS – SelectNet Internet Services
SERBIA-BROADBAND-AS Serbia BroadBand-Srpske Kablovske mreze d.o.o.
SERVICENET-AP Internet service provision to Western
SGNET-AS-AP Singapore Government Network AS
SHAW – Shaw Communications Inc.
SIBNETWORKS-AS Siberian Networks
SIFY-AS-IN Sify Limited
SIGMANET-NIC LU MII AS
SIKA-AS Sika Informationssysteme AG
SITA SITA
sixtelecoms-as
SKTELECOM-NET-AS SK Telecom., Ltd.
SKYNET-SPB-AS SkyNet Ltd.
SKYVISION SkyVision Network Services
SLTINT-AS-AP Sri Lanka Telecom Internet
SOFTLAYER – SoftLayer Technologies Inc.
SOFTNET-AS-AP Software Technology Parks of India – Bangalore
SOLNET BSE Software GmbH
SONICDUO-AS AS for MegaFon-Moscow
SONOMA – Sonoma Interconnect
SONY-APAC-AP Sony – ASN for Asia Pacific
SOVAM-AS OJSC _Vimpelcom_
SPBMTS-AS Mobile TeleSystems, OJSC, MR North-West
SPCS – Sprint Personal Communications Systems
SPEAKEASY – Speakeasy, Inc.
SPECTRANET FIRST FIBRE BROADBAND NETWORK IN NEW DELHI, INDIA
Sprint US
SPRINTLINK – Sprint
SPRINTLINK-HOSTING – SPRINT, Business Serices Group
SS-NOC-AS – Straitshot Communications, Inc.
STARHUBINTERNET-AS StarHub Internet Exchange
STARNET-AS StarNet Moldova
STATEL-AS Stavropol branch of Southern Telecommunications Company
STEADFAST – Steadfast Networks
STOMI – State of Michigan, DMB-CNOC
STSN-SLC-UT-US – STSN GENERAL HOLDINGS, INC.
SUDDENLINK-COMMUNICATIONS – Suddenlink Communications
SUMTEL-AS-RIPE Summa Telecom
SUNCOMMUNICATIONS-AS JV _Sun Communications_ Autonomous System
SUNRISE Sunrise Communications AG
SUPERNET-PAKISTAN-AS-AP Supernet Limited Transit Autonomous System Number
SURFCONTROL-US-ASN Websense Hosted Security Network
SURFNET-NL SURFnet, The Netherlands
SWEETNET-AS Private entrepreneur Bliznichenko Vitalij Volodumirovich
SWISSCOM Swisscom (Switzerland) Ltd
SWITCH SWITCH, Swiss Education and Research Network
SWKO – SOUTHWEST KANSAS ONLINE
TACHYON-AS-ID PT Remala Abadi
TATA-AS TATA ISP
TATACOMM-AS TATA Communications formerly VSNL is Leading ISP
TATTELECOM-AS Tattelecom.ru/Tattelecom Autonomous System
TC Radio Systems Autonomous System
TCH – TCH Network Services
TDC TDC Data Networks
TDDE-ASN1 Telefonica o2 Germany Autonomous System
TDN Tikona Digital Networks Pvt Ltd.
TEAM-CYMRU – Team Cymru Inc.
TE-AS TE-AS
TELCOMNET TelCom Ltd.
TELCOM-UA-AS _Telecomunikatsiina Companiya_ Ltd
TELE2
Telecom Argentina S.A.
TELECOMMD-AS ICS Networks Solutions SRL
Telecomunicacoes da Bahia S.A.
TELEFONICA CHILE S.A.
Telefonica de Argentina
Telefonica Empresas SA
TELEFONICA-DATA-ESPANA Internet Access Network of TDE
TELEKOM-AS TELEKOM SRBIJA a.d.
TELENERGO EXATEL S.A. Autonomous System
TELENET-AS Autonomous System of Teleset-Servis Ltd.
TELENET-AS Telenet N.V.
TELENOR-NEXTEL Telenor Norge AS
TELESC – Telecomunicacoes de Santa Catarina SA
TELESWEET-AS Telesweet ISP Autonomous System
TELETECH – TeleTech Holdings, Inc
Television Internacional, S.A. de C.V.
TELEZUG WWZ Telekom AG
TELIANET-DENMARK TeliaNet Denmark
TELIANET-SWEDEN TeliaNet Sweden
TELKOMNET-AS2-AP PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia
TELKOMSEL-ASN-ID PT. Telekomunikasi Selular
TELLCOM-AS Tellcom Iletisim Hizmetleri
Telmex Chile Internet S.A.
Telmex Colombia S.A.
TELSTRA Telstra Pty Ltd
TEOLTAB TEO LT AB Autonomous System
TERREMARK Terremark
TFN-TW Taiwan Fixed Network, Telco and Network Service Provider.
TFO-BOSTON – THOMSON FINANCIAL
THEPLANET-AS – ThePlanet.com Internet Services, Inc.
T-HT T-Com Croatia Internet network
TINET-BACKBONE Tinet SpA
TISCALI-UK Tiscali UK
TISNL-BACKBONE Telfort B.V.
TKPSA-AS TKP S.A. is 3S.pl network operator.
TKT-AS JSC TKT
TMIB-BD-AS-AP TM International Bangladesh Ltd. ISP, Gulshan-1,Dhaka-1212
TMN-AS TMN Autonomous System
TMNET-AS-AP TM Net, Internet Service Provider
TM-NETSYS-ASH – TicketMaster
TOMLINE Tomsk telecommunication company Ltd
TOTNET-TH-AS-AP TOT Public Company Limited
TPG-INTERNET-AP TPG Internet Pty Ltd
TPNET Telekomunikacja Polska S.A.
TRANSTEL S.A.
TRAVELERS – Travelers Property Casualty Corp.
TRENDMICRO Global IDC and Backbone of Trend Micro Inc.
TRENDMICRO Trend Micro Inc.
TRUENORTHCOMM – True North Communications
TSF-IP-CORE TeliaSonera Finland IP Network
TSU-SM – Texas State University – San Marcos
TTCLDATA
TTNET Turk Telekomunikasyon Anonim Sirketi
TTSL-MEISISP Tata Teleservices ISP AS
TULIP Tulip Telecom Ltd.
TURKCELL-AS TURKCELL ILETISIM HIZMETLERI A.S.
TVCABO-AS TVCABO Autonomous System
TWTC – tw telecom holdings, inc.
UAEXPRESS EXPRESS Radio Network
UARNET-AS Ukrainian Academic and Research Network
UA-SEECH Seech-Infocom NCC
UA-SMART-AS Broadcasting company _Smart_ Ltd
UCOM UCOM Corp.
UCSB-NET-AS – University of California, Santa Barbara
UCSC – University of California, Santa Cruz
UDMVT-AS OJSC VolgaTelecom branch in Udmurtia Republic AS Number
UECOMM-AU Uecomm Ltd
UKRBIT-NET-AS SPD Bilopol Roman Leonidovich
UKRTELNET JSC UKRTELECOM,
ULTRADNS – Centergate Research, LLC.
UMANITOBA – University of Manitoba
UMC-AS UMC Autonomous System
UMICH-AS-5 – University of Michigan
UMN Ural-TransTeleCom Autonomous System
UNI2-AS France Telecom Espana SA
Uninet S.A. de C.V.
UNINETT UNINETT, The Norwegian University & Research Network
UNISYS-6072 For routing issues, email [email protected]
UNISYS-AP-UI-AS-AP Unisys AsiaPac Intranet Access to Internet
UNISYS-AS-E – Unisys Corporation
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
University de Los Andes
UNL-AS – University of Nebraska-Lincoln
UNSPECIFIED
UPC UPC Broadband
UPITT-AS – University of Pittsburgh
URAN URAN Autonomous system
USAA – USAA
USI Uralsviazinform
UUNET – MCI Communications Services, Inc. d/b/a Verizon Business
UUNET-INT – MCI Communications Services, Inc. d/b/a Verizon Business
VEGA-OD-UA DCS Ltd.
VERISIGN-CORP – VeriSign Infrastructure & Operations
VERSATEL AS for the Trans-European Tele2 IP Transport backbone
VIA-NET-WORKS-AS PSINet Europe / VIA NET.WORKS international AS
VIAPASS-FR VIAPASS SAS
VIDEOTRON – Videotron Telecom Ltee
VIETEL-AS-AP Vietel Corporation
VINAKOM – VINAKOM COMMUNICATIONS
VINS – ViaWest
VIRGINIA-AS – University of Virginia
VITSSEN-SUWON-AS-KR Tbroad Suwon Broadcating Corporati
VMWARENET-1 – VMWare, Inc.
VNET-AS VNET ISP Bratislava, Slovakia, SK
VNPT-AS-VN Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications (VNPT)
VODAFONE_ICELAND Backbone Autonomous System
VODAFONE-IT-ASN Vodafone N.V.
VODANET International IP-Backbone of Vodafone
VOLIA-AS Kyivski Telekomunikatsiyni Merezhi LLC
VOLKSWAGEN Volkswagen AG, Wolfsburg 1
VRIS-AS-BLOCK – Verizon Online LLC
VSI-AS VSI AS
VTX-NETWORK VTX Services SA
VZB-AU-AS Verizon Australia PTY Limited
VZGNI-TRANSIT – Verizon Online LLC
WATEEN-IMS-PK-AS-AP National WiMAX/IMS environment
WAYPORT – AT&T Wi-Fi Services
Webex Communications, Inc.
WEBSENSE Websense, Inc.
WELLSFARGO – Wells Fargo & Company
WESTHOST – WestHost, Inc.
WESTNET-AS-AP Westnet Internet Services
WESTPUB-A – West Publishing Corporation
WICAM-AS WiCAM ISP Cambodia Peering AS
WIDEXS ion-ip B.V.
WINDSTREAM – Windstream Communications Inc
WIRELESSNET-ID-AP WIRELESSNET AS
WITCOM- Wiesbadener Informations – und Telekommunikations GmbH
WN-AS Private enterprise Gorbunov A.A.
WORLDBANK-AS – WORLD BANK
WORLDCALL-AS-LHR Worldcall Broadband Limited
WORLDNET-AS World Net & Services Co., Ltd.
WOW-INTERNET – WideOpenWest Finance LLC
WXC-AS-NZ WorldxChange Communications LTD
WYOMING – wyoming.com
XO-AS15 – XO Communications
XS4ALL-NL XS4ALL
XTRA-AS Telecom XTRA, Auckland, NZ
YAHOO-BANGALORE-AS-AP Yahoo Bangalore Network Monitoring Center
YAHOO-US – Yahoo
ZIGGO Ziggo – tv, internet, telefoon
ZIPNETBD-DKB-AS-AP Zipnet Limited DKB AS number
The following chart maps the location of more than 300 command and control networks that were used in these attacks. 299 of them were located in China.

The geographic location of the more than 300 control networks used in the attacks.


Read more…

[Update] Scathing 2D/3D Light Boston.com Article…True?

There are many problems with 3D presentations, especially those with the supposedly high-gain, polarizing-friendly ‘silver screens.

(See: 
23 degrees…half the light. 3D What? 
Scotopic Issues with 3D,  
Silver ScreensRealD and Polaroid — Possible Promise PR). 

But at first glance through the breathy-for-scandle article, it seems like there is un-required hyperbole that makes one want to wait for Sony’s and RealD’s response.

This also amplifies the need for professional projectionists constantly in the projection booth, and a method for maintaining consistent quality control. If it takes a grass roots effort because of articles like this, perhaps it is OK.

But the real solution is probably to have the same “Constant Vigilance” policy for post-installation quality control as there is for security – an effort that has to come from studios, distributors, and exhibition management. In a sense, those exhibitors who signed VPF deals with studios have signed that they will make their exhibitions according to the SMPTE specification. Perhaps if the grass root effort wore t-shirts that said “48 Candelas or not at all”. 

Here are a couple of shots of the lens and the projector, one with the RealD polarizers over the lenses. One suspects that this is sometimes the problem that is being talked about. 

Sony Projector with Dual lens  removed

RealD Polarizers over Sony dual lens system

There are other shorter articles with a little more data at the links below. Sometimes the comments are the most interesting part, though a lot of them are just steam…though steam that the industry should be aware of.

Are 3D-capable theaters delivering dim 2D movies? – Digital Trends

Report: 3-D Lenses and Lazy Theaters Dim 2-D Projection by Up to 85 Percent | Movieline

Cinema chains dimming movies “up to 85%” on digital projectors – Boing Boing

Movie theaters could screw up your 2D movies by leaving the digital projector set up for 3D — Engadget

Finally, the graphic from the article: Just looking at the curve of the bulb life and the description of the Polarizing is enough to make me wonder about the truthiness of the entire article.

Sony 3D and RealD Light Problem according to Boston globe article

Asserted to be a Sony Press Release – 1 June 2011

The projectionist that Boston.com spoke with clearly has little to no understanding of how the systems work and is likely a manager that also works in the booth to start shows, the projectionists of yore are long gone in most cases. While the 3D lenses in the Sony are polarized, the images do not alternate, they are projected at the same time and split through a prism system in the lens, but really that’s besides the point. All of the 3D systems we have installed have been selected based on a number of variables such as screen size and auditorium length. Based on that information we can determine if the Sony projector will be able to light the screen to SMPTE spec. The SMPTE specifications on light are very clear and the DCI specification for digital equipment follows in line with that. Basically 2D digital projection should have 14 footlamberts (a measurement of reflected light) at the center of the screen, in comparison 35mm spec is 16fl of light through an open gate (meaning no film and no shutter movement) if a projector is installed to meet that spec the light output of the digital will be seen to exceed that of film. in any house where we cannot make the required light we use a bigger system, most recently these have been made by Barco.

In addition to the light levels the digital projectors are color corrected to within ±.005 of the DCI color spec. This means that when we correct with the polarizers in place on the Sony system for 2D movies that the color will be virtually identical to that seen on a DLP projector without a polarizer in the light path.

They also fail to mention some of the advantages of the way the Sony system works, such as reduced eye fatigue. DLP systems alternate images as implied in the article, they do so by electronically shifting the polarizer state for the left and right eye 3 times per frame per second. This ultimately results in the same situation you find with shutter glasses in that there is flicker that causes headaches and sometimes motion sickness, the difference is that the glasses do not actively perform this task, but close on eye while watching a 3D film ad you may see it (you may not, the system is projecting 144fps or 72 per eye, though make no mistake the content is still 24fps). The Sony system does not have this issue as it splits the 2K image across the top and bottom of the chip and then overlays them on the screen, the dual polarizers on the Sony are completely passive with not electronics involved.

To give a brief background of my knowledge base, I have been a technician for going on a decade, I have been installing digitals since the first “wide” roullout of 100 screens that Disney purchased for Chicken Little 3D. I have industry certifications through Sony, Barco and Dolby on D-Cinema equipment as well as my department’s highest level of internal certification and I am Net+ and A+ certified.

As far as why the film and digitally projected showing had such a difference, I think it’s likely one of two things, the 35mm could have been way above spec, which can happen easily due to the way the lamps are adjusted in many cases or the lamp in the digital was not adjusted properly. The biggest issue I run into is a lack of training within the theaters. I do my best to train when the systems are installed or when I am onsite for service calls, but these days so many people get rotated through the booth that should a lamp go out Friday night they just slap one in without making any of the necessary adjustments.

I’d like to know what was wrong with the management of that theater though, how do you host a premiere without making sure everything is perfect first? I myself haven’t done any due to my location within the country, but I have talked to a number of my coworkers about them and they are on site days before they happen making sure every detail is perfect. In fact many directors want to specify special color corrections for their premieres in digital or ask that sound be tweaked out of spec and so on.

I think the biggest problem digital cinema faces is that the operations departments of most chains think we can take a hands off approach to this equipment, and that is not currently the case. Proper lamp maintenance is crucial in any theater, but even more so in digital. 5-10 years from now when the laser light sources are in the field no-one will ever have need to go in the booth outside of cleaning the port glass and the maintenance calls myself and my cohorts perform.

 

[Update] IPv6, Security, Future Near

The 27th Chaos Communication Congress – subtitled We Come In Peace had an excellent presentation on IPv6 by Marc Heuse, an expert in the field and creator of several tools to test IPv6 security.

IPv6 is the coming standard for intranets, the internet and most IT/IP interconnect equipment. It is quite different from the IPv4, which is currently in place in all of our network systems. The IPv4 protocols use the typical 4 octet system, e.g. 192.168.1.1 (taking 32 bits), while IPv6 uses 128 bit address of numbers and letters. The comparison is 232 v 3.4 x 1038 – the number is 340 undecillion unique addresses.

Other advantages include autoconfiguration of IP addresses and networking, a hierarchical address structure which reduces operational cost and several Integrated security features. 

As Mr. Heuse points out, all major operating systems and most modern routers already support IPv6, but it is turned off. For most intranet installations, IPv4 will probably continue to be sufficient and won’t need to be replaced by IPv6. But as with all new protocols, there are some advantages that might move manufacturers to use the system to uniquely identify equipment for communication security, or other features that are not available with IPv4. Therefore we need to stay abreast of its advantages and potential pitfalls. Especially when one of the current problems being worked out is security weaknesses in tunneling, when using IPv4 and IPv6 together (like that will ever happen!). And though it handles multicasting more securely than with IPv4, that area is also one that has some issues. 

The issues with security come from the standard’s original outline being laid out 15 years ago. It dealt with the security problems of the time. Recommended practices have been developed to upgrade the protocol’s implementaion, but there are many, and they aren’t always dealt with the same way by all manufacturers.

Notwithstanding this, IPv6 is being tested this month in a ‘live on the internet’ plug fest fashion. It will be rolled out in the coming months. The Youtube video that follows isn’t for everyone, but it should be for everyone who claims to be a professional in the entertainment technology field of digital cinema, as cinema is by its nature ‘unique addresses’, on the internet and very concerned with security.

This link points to a page that has several slide presentations on the subject:
27C3: Recent advances in IPv6 insecurities
Don’t miss this slide presentation: 
Recent Advances In IPv6 Insecurities

Side note before the 53 minute video, if you run across any interesting information in this field, or recommendations or comments by the technologists in the d-cinema field about IPv6, please forward it to the editor.

Other articles: 
Last of the IPv4 Addresses Allocated
Understand IPv6 Addresses

YouTube – [27C3] (en) Recent advances in IPv6 insecurities

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10 Rules When Buying a DCinema Projector

In this instance, some engineers at Barco go through the details of what to consider when deciding on which projector to get. Naturally, they point out what they consider as the advantages of the Barco projectors, but with this knowledge one can ask intelligent questions and interpret intelligent answers from other vendors.

What follows is a white paper that can be read here or downloaded from the attachment link below.


What to look for when buying a digital cinema projector?

10 Golden Rules to remember

When considering a new digital cinema projector, image quality, reliability, uptime and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) would seem to be the most obvious criteria. And with good reason. After all, stunning your audience with a crisp and bright picture at every show, while not having to charge an arm and a leg are of vital importance in cinema. But how can you recognize products that rank high on all these criteria? And what other parameters are relevant for your theater?

Below, we have listed 10 golden rules to help you make a decision when investing in digital cinema projection equipment.

Table of contentsBarco Logo

DCI compliance: a no-brainer? 

Total cost of ownership: look at the complete picture 

Uptime: 100% is NOT the Holy Grail 

Image quality: the magical mix of brightness, contrast and resolution 

Engine cooling and sealing: protecting the heart of your projector 

Choose a projector that best suits your auditorium 

Remote monitoring: you don’t need to be in the theater to know it is running well 

Consumables and peripherals: freedom of choice to best suit your needs 

Serviceability and ease of use 

There’s no business like cinema business – find a strategic partner that understands your needs

 Conclusion 

 1. DCI compliance: a no-brainer?

The Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) is a joint venture of major motion picture studios, formed to establish a standard architecture for digital cinema systems. DCI authored the “Digital Cinema System Specification”, commonly referred to as the “DCI Specification”.

The specification establishes standards for the presentation environment (such as ambient light levels, pixel aspect and shape, image luminance, white point chromaticity) as well as the specifics of content protection, encryption, and forensic marking.

This specification is generally accepted as THE standard for the digital projection of features films. Official cinema content –from the major Hollywood studios– can only be played using equipment that has been certified to comply with the DCI Specification. Only a limited number of projector models have achieved this certification.

It may seem like a no-brainer, but the first thing to consider when buying a digital cinema projector is to verify whether the model you selected is DCI compliant. Using equipment that does not have this compliance certification will cause the protection mechanism to kick-in when you try to play your feature film. No show. An exhaustive and up-to-date list of certified projectors can be found on the official website of the DCI: www.dcimovies.com.

2. Total cost of ownership: look at the complete picture

Setting up a fully equipped digital cinema projection booth is a significant investment for many exhibitors. Faced with the upfront costs, it is easy to overlook the complete picture. This means that not only the investment in equipment should be assessed, but also the costs of operating that equipment over its complete lifetime. Taking this holistic approach can generate savings that are significantly higher than the initial investment cost.

The major contribution to operational cost comes from the high power lamps that drive the projectors. In order to achieve the light levels defined by the DCI Specification (see above), lamp light sources from 2kW to 7kW are used in digital projectors. These Xenon bulbs typically have a warranty lifetime of 2500Hrs to 500Hrs. This means that there are two major contributions to the operational costs of these lamps (and projectors):

  • Replacement cost: this is the purchase cost of new lamps, replacing the lamps in the field that have reached their warranty lifetime (or that have broken down before this time).
  • Running cost: is the cost of electricity, used to power the projector-lamp combination. Since in state-of-the-art projectors, the lamp takes up more than 80% of the power consumption, it is clear that it also constitutes the major source of running costs.

When buying a projector and/or lamp technology that comes with it, it is important to examine the complete cost, resulting from the two contributions mentioned above. Some manufacturers promote very high efficiency lamps, claiming that these produce more light using less power. This only impacts the running cost. However, these lamps also have a significantly lower lifetime and come at a higher cost, negatively impacting the replacement cost. Other manufacturers support using lamps similar to those applied in analog (35mm) projection. These lamps do have a longer lifetime (which has a positive impact on replacement cost), yet they require more power to achieve the same brightness (which has a negative impact on running cost). All in all, these two alternative lamp types have a higher TCO than standard short arc lamps (optimized for digital cinema projection). Remember: it is important to look at the complete picture. By selecting the best lamp technology you can achieve direct savings that will offset more than your initial investment cost.

Still, the complete TCO picture doesn’t stop at lamp costs. Operating a digital cinema projector also includes replacing air filters, learning how to use the interaction software, cooling your projection booth… Even though their contribution to Total Cost of Ownership may seem harder to quantify, their impact can be significant. As regards air filters, for example, two types are commonly used. Most brands use paper filters (so-called HEPA filters) to protect the internals of the projector against dust intrusion. Barco has a patented sealed engine design, which allows the use of metal filters. The link with TCO can be established in the fact that paper filters have to be thrown away and replaced when they are clogged with dirt and dust, while metal filters can be cleaned —even with just water— and re-used. At a cost of more than €100 per paper filter and a bi-annual replacement, the total contribution of filter cost to TCO can quickly add up to several thousands of dollars.

The same is true for the other contributions mentioned above. More detail can be found in our dedicated white paper on TCO or supplied on request.

3. Uptime: 100% is NOT the Holy Grail

For an exhibitor, there’s nothing worse than a missed show. Not only does the cost of refunding ticket hurt your revenue, the price you pay for a blemished image is probably much higher. The only way to prevent black screens is to make sure your projection equipment achieves 100% uptime. You might think that this is the unachievable Holy Grail of exhibition, since all components have a finite lifespan and all lamps are rated for a given lifetime (see above). How realistic achieving this perceived unattainable goal actually is may therefore come as a surprise to you.

In state-of-the-art digital projectors, maximum uptime is achieved in two ways:

  • Prevention: keeping the patient healthy is always the best course of action. In projection, keeping the optical chip (the heart of your projector) cool is an important first step. Barco runs its chips at an operating temperature 2°C below that of competitors. As a result, this critical component has a 30% longer lifetime. Another important contribution to maximum uptime is projector cleanliness. The exhibitor can impact this by keeping the projection booth as dust-free as possible; but the manufacturer’s filter design remains the most critical aspect. For more information on Barco’s patented sealed engine and the difference between paper and metal air filters, please see above.

Finally, prevention can come from projector intelligence as well. State-of-the-art devices are network-enabled and can send remote messages to a central management system. Some of these messages contain preventive maintenance alerts, informing the exhibitor that a service intervention should be performed before an intrusive alarm occurs. Barco projectors monitor more than 500 internal parameters and e.g. send notifications when lamp runtime is reaching the warranty lifetime.

  • Fast and easy correction: if something does go wrong, resolving the issue as quickly and smoothly as possible is crucial, preferably without the patrons in the auditorium noticing anything. A way to facilitate such an intervention is to have a projector built on a modular architecture. In such a design, the projector’s building blocks are easily accessible from the side and can be replaced quickly without the need for special tools or training. Truly modular projectors make switching components in-between shows possible (or in such a short timeframe that ticket refunding is not necessary if the show is interrupted). Barco has even extended this modularity to the lamps by being the only manufacturer to offer an easily replaceable lamp housing: not only does this format protect the projector’s interior in case of lamp explosion, it also allows the local technician close to the projector to replace the lamp in the shortest possible time.

4. Image quality: the magical mix of brightness, contrast and resolution

Once you have your DCI compliant projector, which is economical to run at 100% uptime… you want to be sure you get the best possible image on your screen. Unfortunately, no single metric can quantify image quality. However, three major factors contribute to everyone’s perception of image quality:

  • Brightness: this is quantified as the luminance (in cd/m² or fL) on the screen, which is related to the brightness (in lumens) of the projector. The DCI Specification sets a minimum luminance (both for 2D and 3D). Given the impact of the lamp/projector-combination on TCO (see above), it is important to find a setup that best matches your screen size. In this respect, Barco’s DP2K family of six projector models offers you more than 20 lamp/projector combinations to optimally fit the needs of your auditorium. Opting for on-screen brightness far beyond the DCI Specification is not necessary: the dimmed environment of cinema theaters and the wide color gamut of DCI compliant projectors do not require higher brightness. You would only blind your audience with the additional luminance.

Don’t forget, the lamp is only the initial source of the light and brightness. How efficiently you can transport this light from your lamp to your screen defines the actual setup. The state-of-the-art design, development and manufacturing of the projectors impact this setup greatly. A highly efficient projector (quantified in lm/W) needs a smaller lamp to achieve the same on-screen brightness; again helping you keep your TCO under control.

  • Contrast ratio: is defined as the ratio between the brightest possible output (white) and the darkest possible output (black). As opposed to brightness, more is better when it comes to contrast ratio. The human eye can adapt to a very high range of light levels; the better you can fill up this range, the more natural the image will look. Best-in-class projectors go beyond the DCI Specification, e.g. by applying intelligent coatings on the optics that prevent the occurrence of scattered light in the projector.
  • Resolution: this is the total pixel count on the screen. It is defined by both the resolution of the content that is put in and the resolution that the projector can handle. The minimum of these two values defines the on-screen resolution. It is typically quantified by the amount of columns in the image (e.g. “2K” for 2048 columns or “4K” for 4096 columns). Note that a 4K image actually has four times the amount of pixels compared to a 2K image. In the race for increased resolution, the acuity of the human visual system is a defining factor. Below a certain feature size (in cinema, this is the pixel size), a human eye cannot perceive additional detail anymore. This is important when comparing 2K to 4K: the highest resolution only makes sense on your premium screens. Beware when switching from 2D to 3D: some technologies do not maintain the minimum 2K resolution when projecting in 3D mode.

So, when trying to assess the image quality of the projector you’re considering, it is important to look at these three parameters. A bright projector model allows you to serve a bigger screen at a lower cost; a wide choice of models helps you optimize matching the projector to your screen. As for resolution: use 4K wisely for you premium screens.

5. Engine cooling and sealing: protecting the heart of your projector

Like in your car, the engine driving the projector constitutes the heart of the entire device. It contains the most precious components, the high resolution chips that actually form the image. In Barco, Christie and NEC devices this chip is based on DLP technology from TI. Sony uses proprietary LCoS technology. Being such a crucial component, it is important to protect it against any damages.

One form of damage can come from small —dust— particles entering the engine and interfering with the microscopic components of the chip. All projectors use air filters to minimize dust; Barco has a patented sealed light engine which takes this protection to yet another level.

Another form of damage, over a longer period of time, occurs as a result of the impact of heat on the chip’s materials. LCoS devices contain liquid crystal material, which is an organic substance. This means that a yellowing effect occurs as the chip is subjected to the light and thermal load of digital projection. This has an impact on the efficiency and color accuracy. DLP chips inherently have a longer lifespan, but still need cooling when used in the high-power environment of a DC projector. To show how important this cooling is, Barco has succeeded in running its chip at a temperature 2°C lower than that of its competitors, thus achieving a 30% improvement in the chip’s lifetime!

So, when choosing your projector, remember that you will be using it over many years. An intelligent design that combines dust prevention and state-of-the-art cooling will give you worry-free operation over the life of your equipment.

6. Choose a projector that best suits your auditorium

We mentioned above why it is important to optimize your TCO by selecting a projector/lamp combination that best fits your screen. Also from the perspective of investment cost, it makes more sense to have a wide choice of models so that projector and screen can be matched optimally. Let’s say a certain brand only sells one model; then you would have to put that same model in all your auditoria, irrespective of their size. Since this single model would typically be built to cover many brightness ranges, its output is bound to be excessive on your smallest screens. You would have to run it using a small lamp, not taking full advantage of the investment you made. There are six models in Barco’s family of DP2K projectors; this makes it possible for you to optimize your investment, adapting it to the variation and complexity in screen sizes that are common place in every theater. This high granularity makes sure that every projection booth contains the projector that best fits its specifications.

7. Remote monitoring: you don’t need to be in the theater to know it is running well

As mentioned above, a state-of-the-art digital cinema projector is an intelligent device that monitors its internal parameters and health status. Furthermore, it can share this data with the outside world. Barco projectors monitor more than 500 internal parameters and make these accessible through a protocol that runs over standard network connections. In its most basic format, this enables centralized control and monitoring of projectors across the theater.

But monitoring functions do not stop there: there are tools to distribute the projector parameters across global networks (i.e. the Internet) and set up centralized access and control over multiple theaters. This enables hooking up your equipment to a remote helpdesk for example. Another option is to run business intelligence and reporting tools on the collected data and perform preventive maintenance, budget estimates, etc.

With these connectivity and remote monitoring features, long gone are the days of analog projection: now you no longer have to be in your theater to know it is running well. When buying a DC projector today, keep in mind that the connectivity is an enabler for many services that are valuable to your theater.

8. Consumables and peripherals: freedom of choice to best suit your needs

A projector is not a stand-alone device. It uses its internal and peripheral components to generate the high quality on-screen image you expect. Typical internal components are the high power lamps and the 3D system. Typical peripheral components are the digital cinema server or alternative content scaler which provides the inputs.

It is important to know that no single brand supplies all of these components. Some brands focus on lamps (e.g. Osram, Ushio, Philips), while others focus on 3D technology (e.g. RealD, Dolby, MasterImage, Xpand). The choices and combinations in the setup of projector components and peripherals are almost infinite. When selecting you projector, the central node in this setup, it is important to select a brand that allows you to choose your preferred vendor and system, based on your own taste and best available deals.

Some projector manufacturers are only compatible with one type of 3D system, thus forcing you into a limited screen selection and pricing structure. Other manufacturers push one brand of lamps, reducing your ability to compare and negotiate between different suppliers.

Keep in mind that for many of these additional components there is no right or wrong choice to be made and much depends on the personal preference of the exhibitor. A projector manufacturer who understands this provides objective and open advice without pushing you into a model that’s not the best match for you.

9. Serviceability and ease of use

For every type of high-end electronics, you have to perform a minimal amount of regular maintenance tasks in order to enjoy your valuable equipment as long as possible. The same is true for DC projectors where these tasks involve cleaning filters, replacing cooling liquid, updating software… If you are operating multiple theaters and projectors, your technicians will appreciate not having to learn many different service manuals in order to perform these regular interventions.

When it comes to hardware related actions, be sure to check the following when analyzing the serviceability of your projector:

  • Modularity: How easy is it to access and swap the different —internal— parts of the projector? Do you need special training and tools?
  • Communality of spare parts: How big is the list of parts you need to familiarize yourself with and keep in stock? How fast and easily can you swap parts from one model to another?

When it comes to interacting with the projector through its software (either for maintenance or regular use), be sure to check:

  • Ease of learning: Does the software have a simple clear GUI? Is the GUI consistent over different models and generations?
  • Ease of use: Can you easily define and program presets? Does the software support different languages? Does the software support multi-projector setups, through remote control (see above), projector cloning, etc.?
  • Ease of diagnostics: Does the software support you in quickly finding and solving any issues? Does it support preventive tools for early alerts?

10. There’s no business like cinema business – find a strategic partner that understands your needs

Don’t forget: when you are choosing a cinema projector, you are also choosing a partner for a long-term collaboration. Often, what you are selecting is also a service partner that establishes a close collaboration with you and your projector supplier. Cinema is a global business that does not stop working at the weekend and after 5 pm. Not every supplier understands these specific needs. The job is not finished once the equipment is delivered and installed in your projection booth. You are entitled to the latest software updates; your personnel should receive hands-on training; a professional helpdesk should be on-call to solve your requests.

When comparing projector brands, be sure to also compare these after-sales support issues. A service team should be experienced in the business, locally present to service the equipment while having access to the most up-to-date tools. Whether this team is employed by your equipment supplier or by a dedicated service partner does not matter: the most important thing is that you receive the best possible service!

Be sure to select a partner that has sufficient focus (not too large) and bandwidth (not too small) to support your business.

11. Conclusion

We hope this White Paper will help you select the digital cinema projector that best suits your needs and preferences. Even though digitization of your theater may be very disruptive, there is no reason for it to be intrusive. The perfect image quality at every show and flexible programming of feature films and alternative content will open up new opportunities for revenue streams. However, this does not mean you should be overwhelmed with complex technology. In fact, best-in-class digital projectors were built to make your life easier. So, how can you identify a best-in-class projector? We hope this White Paper will guide you in doing just that.

Dr. Ir. Tom Bert
Product Marketing Manager
Barco

[email protected]

 

Wim Buyens
Vice President Digital Cinema
Barco

[email protected]

Copyright © 2011

BARCO n.v., Kortrijk, Belgium

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission from Barco.

3Questions – Laser Light Engines

As we understand it, the replacement of the Xenon bulb with lasers makes a better overall match to the etendue limits of the chip. By their nature, lasers have a very small emission area and a very narrow emission angle. Therefore, they can use less power to put more light at the proper etendue angles of the chip, and can therefore allow the chip to put more light through the projector’s lens. They also allow the use of lenses with higher f#, which in the real world means less expensive lenses.

The most notorious problem with lasers thus far is described as “speckle”, due in large part to the extreme narrow band of color that the laser emits. This speckle is known to cause not only color distortions, but unless reduced below obvious levels can also cause fatigue and even nausea and headaches. Lasers also require active temperature stabilization which in many cases requires a lot of power.

Against this background, we introduce and thank Bill Beck for this opportunity to ask 3Questions.

Bill Beck is a founder of Laser Light Engines Inc., based in southern New Hampshire near the famous R&D centers of Boston (MIT, Harvard, BU Photonics). Their website is polite but also light on detail – one suspects that they were in research mode with little to say, then exploded into development mode and have been too busy to say much.

Recent news items have announced a relatively large infusion of capital, both from typical venture capital sources, and also from the IMAX Corporation to develop a laser light source for their digital projectors. Secondly, they have helped found an industry group with Sony, IMAX and others – Laser Illuminated Projection Association (LIPA) – to help regulatory agencies differentiate the established needs of protecting the public who watch laser-light shows (and which require FDA exemptions for each show) from what they are hoping will be a new category called “laser-illuminated projection”. There is also word of another industry association that is trying to pin down how to quantify speckle: how to measure and what it does.

Separately, Sony has announced their research and development of laser engines (links below) and there are rumors of assistance from a French company which might imply that their development is not as advanced as the Sony website seems to indicate. Kodak also showed their first versions of a laser system for digital cinema which they speak of as being two years away from application.

Q1: We understand that the initial Laser Light Engine concept is to supply a module that replaces the Xenon light engine. Would that include replacing the optical block of condenser lenses and the prism?

Bill Beck: We see this as a multi-step process.  In the future, there won’t be a need for a condenser and splitter as our laser makes narrow band RGB which could easily be delivered directly to the chips. But the optical block of the typical projector, which includes these items, is not part of the module that we can easily modify after the fact. We conceive that our first product offerings will be packages, adapted for each brand and model, which will work with existing optical blocks. It will be a one-time replacement of the lamp and reflector housing that that won’t require a great deal of customer difficulty.

Q2) The optical block is an expensive part of a projector, and your lasers must have costs associated compared to a bulb and the reflective surfaces they replace. Where is the savings?

A2) As you know, the human visual system responds to a very narrow band of wavelengths, and in that band, to some frequencies more than others. The typical xenon bulb is quite efficient compared to other choices. For example, they are quite white balanced. But they still generate significant amounts of infrared and ultraviolet light, which is all wasted energy (typically, ~95% of the energy created) and which requires special designs to eliminate both the heat and the O3 (ozone) created.

And, when you think about it, the design of RGB laser systems won’t require all the interband light between the frequencies needed to mix colors – more wasted light. Plus, the basic laws of physics apply, such that the light is incredibly bright at the arc point, but the power decreases inversely proportional at the square of the distance. By the time the light gets bounced around and focused to the very narrow slit cone the chip can accept, an incredible amount of the light is wasted and the energy used to create it is for naught.

So, yes. In comparison, it takes significant power to create the laser light, but we can generate just to amounts that we need, at the frequencies that we need, and supply it to the chip at the angle that it needs. This allows us to bring an exact ratio of power (which isn’t equal amounts of R and G and B by the way) at the specific frequencies we choose (615/546/455 nanometers.)

The nature of high pressure bulbs (25 atmospheres in an IMAX bulb) also requires them to be replaced quite often, often before their time – we’re talking 100’s, not 1000’s of hours of use. At 5 movie showings a day, 2 hours each, a thousand hours can be reached in 3 months. Because the special glass, and coatings on the glass, get bombarded with such high amounts of energy they become brittle – an exploding bulb can cause 10’s of thousands in damage. They are not inexpensive, so exhibitors have to turn them on and off between each show. Still, a single high duty-cycle projector might use 10,000 dollars worth of bulbs per year, or more.

While the first generation units won’t have all the power consumption reduction optimized, we estimate that we will ultimately get 2X the light to the screen for the same power consumption, without considering the reduced requirements for AC pulling heat away (which is not insignificant.)

Finally, and also not insignificant, our tests show that the system can use high f# laser input and achieve 4000:1 sequential contrast with DLP and 3300:1 with LCOS. With the appropriate f# projection lens, the contrast ratio could go even higher.

It is premature for us to speak about projected pricing for our systems. But even apart from direct costs, we feel that offering a constant source of more energy efficient light, which won’t required a projectionist to suit up in full-body protective clothing every 3 months, will bring advantages in every column.

Q3) It is hard to decide on the third question. Lumens per watt of RGB power, input v output to the screen, or how you got the speckle out, or whether you mean all the speckle or just enough that we don’t notice…or should we ask about what you imply about this multi-step evolution, or what this means for less expensive lenses or what the implications are for 3D, both for more light and, for example, we understand that lasers can, by their nature, coherently spin photons in one direction then another, obviating the need for expensive 3D solutions external to the projector. Please take your pick, but please keep it simple. It took me 20 hours of research just to understand etendue.

A3) Yes, the light people do speak in tongues sometimes. The same effect will often have a different name depending on if you are looking from the source point or if you are looking from the receipt point. I’m an optical fibre guy myself, so I’ll start with our concept and try to keep it in one language.

We speak in terms of lumens per beamliine. In the first system that we propose there can be up to 7 beamlines, each with about 30,000 lumens coming out, which combined, that is about 200,000 lumens going toward the chip and getting 60-100,000 lumens out. Depending on the projector efficiency, that is at least 2 times and approaching 3 times the brightness of a big (6Kw) Xenon lamp.

Our research shows that because of the low etendue of the source, we can keep scaling up, which has been a problem for digital cinema. As you alluded, lamp technology could not scale much further. Even with larger chip sizes, there was only minimal brightness gain in the system. With the ability to further cool the chips, we can foresee putting 3 times the light through each optical cable – that’s about 80k lumens per beamline; about 250 optical watts of white balanced of RGB light to the projector. Looking at this another way, that is about 5 times brighter than the brightest Xenon powered digital projector. [Editor’s note: Wow! Bill Beck’s note: Again, that will require not insignificant work to keep the chips cool.]

As far as alternating polarization of the photons pre-chip, that is another benefit of lasers, and the implications are huge…but  it will take some work with the chip engineers. That subject can take up 3Questions on its own.

 


 

Links: 

Sony Insider » The Science Of The Laser Projector

 

Sony Develops Highly Efficient RGB Laser Light Source Module for Large Screen Projectors

 

Sony Insider » Sony Details New RGB Laser Light Source Module For Projectors

Kodak Laser_Projection_Technology; Large Display Report article.pdf

KODAK Advances Lasers’ March on DCinema

Display Daily » Blog Archive » News on the Laser Cinema Front

3D Wonders

Jeffrey Katzenberg’s desperation plea: Movie biz needs to make movies that look good in 3-D | The Big Picture | Los Angeles Times – Patrick Goldstein
WSJ – Clash of the Titans | Full-bodied takedown
2 articles already commented on Decline and Fall: 3D takes some knocks
Forbes’ Dorothy PomerantzShow Me the Money blog, described Katzenberg’s answer to his critics 

It is easy to agree and disagree with the 3D-bashing. First, this is another case of a technology’s sausage making evolving in public. Usually the steps progress logically. In the case of cinema 3D, Avatar showed what could be done 6 years in advance of what might have happened if natural progression had taken place. This affected all aspects from acquisition and post, and customer perception. Suddenly the bar is set high and movies still in post-production looked 2nd (or 3rd) rate in comparison. Upon these, people are making their judgement.

The part that Cameron didn’t handle was exhibition, though it is said that he tried to arrange for different master prints into auditoriums that could put out more light…which would have been splendid, because there is still a major technical problem of getting enough light to the eyes with 3D, which presents many implications that journalists just skim over (at best). But one point can’t be argued against; there are fewer reasons to forgive the evolution excuse when cinemas are charging extra for the experience, leaving them open to complaints. 

None of the professional critics have room to mention that the cinemas are spending 20 to 30 thousand for the extra 3D portion of the DCinema equipment, plus glasses, plus glasses cleaning equipment, plus the personnel to distribute and clean the glasses. Perhaps that isn’t being explained well by the professional marketeers, but the critic’s research should have figured this out. 

One the other hand, that some cinemas are using silver screens for 3D is just a horror in the making. These screens are made so that some seats get an optimum amount of light. Those outside of this “sweet spot”, which can be the majority of seats, see an inferior picture – a picture with so little light that it causes problems which have not been well researched, and about which people merely generalize.

That the cinemas are then showing 2D movies on these screens should get the SMPTE police on their tails, as well as invoke sanctions if the cinema has a VPF agreement which compels them to follow the DCI specs that call for uniform light across the screen beginning with 48 candela (14 foot Lamberts) in the center. (They are lucky if they get 10 candela now (3.5 ft/L).) As technical articles demonstrate, sitting anywhere off center … or even in the wrong rows depending on the slant of the projector and the screen … makes the already dark 3D image intolerable. People should get a discount instead of being charged more if they are in the wrong areas. See: 23 degrees…half the light. 3D What?

Laser Illuminated Projection Association (LIPA)

The real news of the month has been laser systems. First was an announcement that Laser Light Engines, LLC has received significant financing, including from the IMAX group, for taking their now working products to production. Then Kodak started inviting people to see their system – doubtlessly timed to get people as they went to ShowEast next week. Kodak are not only working to change the source of light, they are changing the entire light block. Their hope is that they can allow standard lenses in the digital cinema projector, knocking off a significant amount of the cost of the dcinema system. And, like with all laser systems, the energy waste a lot less than with the xenon bulbs in standard use.  

And finally, Sony is being shy, but showing that they will have cards to play…which was already obvious 18 and 12 months ago when they went public with their laser announcement(s). (The Science Of The Laser Projector | Sony Insider) There are other rumors of other companies that Sony might be working with – c’est possible. The news though is that they are working publicly to get the standards group that deals with lasers (The US Food and Drug Administration…go figure…) to create a new category named Laser-illuminated Projection. That, instead of the category that laser light shows are under.

Sony, Imax Tout Lasers in Cinema – 3D Cinecast/WSJ
Laser Light Engines gets IMAX funding– Putting Light on the Subject

The article above gives quotes and also points out that increasing light levels will be good for 3D. One can’t have an article about digital cinema without talking about 3D. But it is true, though not the main point.

What that Wall Street Journal article doesn’t mention, and why lasers are mentioned in this 3D article, is not due to the light increase – which will come incrementally and at great pain to the mastering process and exhibition community trying to keep up with even more changes – but rather because lasers won’t need Z-screens or fancy spinning wheels from RealD or MasterImage to make the photons spin in alternating patterns. Giving photons a rotation state is inherent in the capabilities of the laser technology. [Maintaining the rotation state still requires a silver screen, which implies bright spots and dark spots and color shift of the picture depending on where you sit. Perhaps getting more light will allow silver screens with less gain, which might mitigate their most egregious features. But like many things, this requires research – and everyone is busy with the niggling details of keeping up with growth and complying with a change toward international standards after years of transitional standards.]

MasterImage, who also had a press release this month about taking more space at Hollywood’s Raleigh Studios, and RealD are really in a fight for a piece of the home cinema 3D market…as is XpanD. The professional market has been important, and an incredible financial, political and technical operation, but if they win a segment of a growing consumer market, they could afford to lose professional cinema. At this time, the active glasses solution seem to be winning, but the race will be long and the first technology hurdles are just being overcome. Perhaps it will become easier to glue a lens to the front of the screen with enough precision that it won’t subtract from the quality and add too much to the cost, which is what is needed for the passive glasses systems. Then cheap glasses will have a chance. In today’s economy, no one stands a chance…except perhaps for THX, who notably has announced the first THX Certified 3D TV.

YouTube – CEDIA Expo 2010 – What is THX 3D Certification on the LG PX990/PX950 Plasma TVs?
YouTube – LG electronics introduces first 3D TV certified by THX

To MasterImage’s credit, and contrary to the important point in the critics criticisms of 3D in the cinema, MasterImage announced glasses that fit the faces of kids. RealD announced that they were releasing kid sized glasses for Toy Story 3. One wonders how many theaters are making this change? What a scandal that it has taken this long for developers and cinema chains, who up until now have grouped all viewers as if they had the same interpupillary distance, but thankfully that is changing. I still would recommend taking a piece of foam to cushion the bridge of the nose from the plastic, but that’s just me. 

Our picture of a recommendation is in the article:
RealD and Polaroid — Possible Promise PR

Good luck to us all.