Oslo—Jul 21, 2011
Norway Becomes the World`S First Country with Only Digital Cinema Technology
All cinemas in Norway are digital by the July 2011. Film & Kino, the Norwegian cinema association have conducted the roll-out of 420 screens all over the country. This means that no more 35 mm will be distributed.
The roll-out started in June 2010 and has taken a year. It has been a challenge due to Norway`s elongated shape with sparsely populated areas, but the process took one year less than anticipated. Mainly Christie projectors and Doremi servers have been used in the roll-out, but 65 Sony 4K`s have also been installed. About 80 percent of Norwegian Cinemas are 3D capable.
Some results of digitalization can already be witnessed. The system is now more secure compared to the 35mm system. Only a handful quality failures have been counted for the first 150 000 digital screenings. VPF income is a bit higher than predicted and VPF payments will probably end in 2017. The small and medium sized cinemas are the winners of digitalization and have obtained access to a much larger selection of film than previously. They also get the films considerably faster than before. This has resulted in higher attendance and better economy for the smaller cinemas.
"This is a great achievement for Norway", said Jorgen Stensland, Head of Consultants at Film & Kino. "We would like to thank, Disney, Fox, Paramount, Universal, Sony and Warner as well as local distributors such as SF-Norway and Nordisk Film, for working with us in this scheme. We also would like to thank Unique Cinema Systems, Nordic Digital Alliance, DNB-NOR Finance, Christie, Doremi and Sony who all have contributed in this great effort. We are happy that Norwegians all over the country now are able to experience the perfect quality of a DCI-compliant digital exhibition in their local cinemas."
