Shortly after the
commencement of operations in the United States, Qube Cinema, Inc. has signed an
agreement with Landmark Theatres to begin their first rollout of Qube digital
cinema servers in North America. Qube Cinema, Inc. is a subsidiary of Real Image
Media Technologies Pvt. Ltd, an India-based technology leader in the media &
entertainment space. After the successful implementation of digital cinema
systems in India and Portugal, Real Image established Qube Cinema, Inc. as part
of an initiative to address emerging global digital cinema market needs.
With the successful deployment of Qube E- and D-Cinema servers in Landmark's
flagship screens across the country, the first phase of the agreement is
complete. This initial deployment was completed in time for the release of
Steven Soderbergh's new film "Bubble" on January 27th. The film was released
simultaneously across theatrical, television, and home video platforms, creating
a new paradigm with this innovative "day-and-date" concept. With the release of
"Bubble" as a launch point, the install base of Qube systems is to be
expanded.With over 59 theatres in 23 markets across the United States, Landmark
is America's largest theatre circuit dedicated exclusively to art and
independent film.
"Qube's range of digital cinema server solutions along with its use of open
standards based systems made it the ideal choice for Landmark's digital
platform," said Paul Duchouquette, VP of IT/AV of Landmark Theatres. "Domain
experience, a clear upgrade path, and a history of standards compliance put Qube
Cinema, Inc. at the top of our list."
Landmark chose the Qube XP system after an extensive evaluation of many leading
server manufacturers. Major factors in Landmark's choice were a robust and
flexible software architecture, an attractive price-point, and Qube Cinema's
significant progress towards full compliance with the recently released DCI
spec. Qube Cinema's next milestone in the upgrade path to DCI compliance will be
in March, when it will unveil full support for DCI-compliant JPEG2000 in time
for ShoWest in Las Vegas.
Qube Cinema offers a complete end-to-end solution for the mastering,
distribution, and playout of digital content. At the core of this solution are
the Qube XP E- and D-cinema servers. Completely conceptualized and developed by
Real Image, Qube XP is highly versatile, designed to be format independent, and
uses the MXF interop format with high bit-rate MPEG-2 picture and uncompressed
multi-channel sound. It also comes equipped with powerful back-end tools for
control, reporting, and media management. Its flexibility and allowance for
leveraging the price curves of computer industry hardware give it distinct
advantages over conventional hardware-dependent solutions.
"We are pleased to work with Landmark, the nation's largest theatre chain
dedicated to art and independent film," said Vasu Devan, Managing Director of
Qube Cinema. "We look forward to a longstanding partnership that will bring the
benefits of digital technology to audiences across the entire Landmark chain."
