Thurso is 1,100 km. from London, on the same latitude as Juneau - the capital of Alaska - and holds the record as being the northernmost cinema in the United Kingdom.
Re-opened in 2012, this small complex has challenged the tough market laws which were the reason for its closure in 2009 and in the space of just one year has become a point of reference for the inhabitants of the little town on the Atlantic coast and its vast surrounding area: 9,000 and 24,000 people respectively, who would otherwise have to travel to Inverness, 180 km. further south to find a big screen.

The winning card up its sleeve? The theatre’s new digital equipment - 4K and 3D projectors and a satellite connection - which not only allow it to show films at the same time as they are screened in the Capital, but other content as well, such as opera or ballet, which would otherwise never reach the remotest borders of Scotland. Mike Vickers, Treasurer of MEDIA Salles, opened the tenth edition of the course DigiTraining Plus: New Technologies for the European Cinemas of the Future showing pictures of the rebirth of the Thurso cinema, in order to emphasize what should be the prime aim of the digital transformation: to make the most of the theatre’s role as a site for entertainment and cultural activity and bring viewing on the big screen to a growing number of spectators by taking the cinema to places where it doesn’t yet exist.

The statistics elaborated by MEDIA Salles show, however, that if 25,000 screens, or almost three quarters of the European total, have opted for digital technology, it cannot be assumed that the remaining 25-30% will succeed in shifting to digital without difficulty.

In some territories or types of cinema the spread of digital projectors is decidedly lower than average.
The statistics presented by Elisabetta Brunella, Secretary General of MEDIA Salles, showed that by mid 2012 the 43 exhibition companies in the lead in terms of number of digital screens, alone accounted for over 52% of Europe’s digital screens and that more than half of them had now completed the transition.

It is not only the size of the exhibition companies that influences the rate at which they complete the digital shift, but also the number of screens per complex. In general multiplexes record a far higher rate of digitalization than cinemas with one or two screens. At the beginning of 2012 in France digital existed in 95% of complexes with over 12 screens, as against 31% of single-screen theatres. The gap is even wider in Spain (respectively 59% and 6%).

Nevertheless, for the distribution companies the spread of digital to 90% or more of the large markets, such as France or the United Kingdom, has decreed that for 35mm the switch-off time is here.

On a worldwide scale, stated Michael Karagosian, in his talk at the course, there are now 36 markets on which 35 mm film has totally disappeared and it is estimated that this number will rise to 65 by mid-2014.
The installation of digital projectors, which came to 30,000 units over the past three years, is now slowing down. The industry’s interests are therefore shifting to new products and applications of digital technology but, continued Karagosian, to reassure exhibitors worried about their digital technology rapidly becoming obsolete, experience has shown that digital projectors have a life expectancy that reaches well beyond the ten years or more initially envisaged.

The opening evening at the Kijów.Centrum was an opportunity to visit a cinema which, with over 800 seats, is one of the biggest in Poland and hosts numerous cinematographic events, including, in the past three years, Eurocinema Expo, the convention at which digital technologies are presented to representatives of Poland’s cinema industry.

Informamos a nuestros seguidores que hablan español que el compañero de la revista Cineinforme Antonio Roldán está cubriendo el curso DigiTraining en exclusiva para España.
Aqui pueden consultar sus articulos diarios: http://www.cineytele.com/noticia.php?nid=40356