The new project constitutes the latest stage in the collaboration between Christie and Time Antaeus, which began at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games ceremonies with the purchase of 120 Christie CP2000-ZX devices. These projectors were subsequently installed in theatres across China.
Image quality, reliability, stability and service provision are said to be among the reasons for Time Antaeus’ selection of Christie as its partner for the new digital cinema project.
“This will certainly help us contribute to the growth of the digital cinema market in China,” said Zhang Baoquan, chairman of the board for Time Antaeus Media Group. “As a leading player in the local cinema industry, we have contributed to the digital cinema infrastructure in terms of production and distribution. Now, we have completed the digital chain by embarking on the digital exhibition platform. By advocating digital cinema deployments on a massive scale, we hope to turn digital movies into mainstream popular culture that is readily available and affordable to the masses.”
Surveying the current level of adoption of digital cinema technology on a broader international basis, Christie’s EMEA vice-president, Dale Miller, told II: “Reaching over 7,500 active installations worldwide – with over 1,300 across EMEA only – is in itself a remarkable achievement. In 2004, there were only a small number of installations worldwide, and many people questioned the long-term viability of the move to digital. Despite the difficult economic times, Christie is seeing a fantastic growth opportunity. The long-term prospects remain strong and we look forward to maintaining a steady pace of installations for years to come.”
