MUMBAI: Real Image Media Technologies, a leading technology enabler in India in the film, audio and video industries in the areas of production, post-production and delivery, has launched Qube Real Image's High Definition Digital Cinema Player.
Qube Cinema is a uniquely powerful and flexible system for digital cinema designed and manufactured in India to achieve a very attractive price point of just Rs 500,000. The closest competition comes from Adlabs that has priced its systems at Rs 750,000.
Real Image Media Technologies director Senthil Kumar says: "The system can handle scalable resolutions from PAL to High Definition (HD) and has a variable frame rates from 24 fps to 60 fps with support for a variety of standard image formats such as MPEG-2 for compatibility with standard systems, MPEG-4 and Windows Media 9 for the highest quality images with smaller file sizes. Uncompressed playback for post-production work and other critical applications are possible."
The Qube HD Digital Cinema Player can be used with a high definition 3-chip DLP Projector ( Barco or Panasonic or Christie). DLP Cinema technology from Texas Instruments forms the basis of high quality projectors for the home and for digital theatres. The projector models and lenses used would vary based on the theatre and screen sizes.
According to a press release, the system provides multiple digital surround sound tracks and multi-lingual subtitling as well. Playlists and Scheduling are enabled to allow for this handsfree operations (the control can be placed in the theatre manager's cabin) of advertising commercials, trailers and the main feature.
This will make possible different versions of a film for different audiences being played in a multiplex theatre complex. Scheduling can be remotely handled where necessary for centrally controlled advertising. The rugged controller is so simple that it can be operated by any an ordinary layman primarily - even those who work in rural areas. Finally, the system software can be upgraded to support newer formats to bring the system into conformance with the emerging standards in the near future.
Real Image is highly regarded in the film, video and audio industries in India for having heralded two significant revolutions in India - Digital Non-Linear Editing (Avid) and Digital Surround Sound for cinema (DTS). Senthil Kumar says: "We are the only one company of its kind to do so. In 1993, the company entered into a partnership with the US-based Avid Technology - the global leader in the non-linear editing business to market their products in India."
The cinema industry seems to be making several efforts to set up a strong distribution framework.
