Barco Releases CineMate App for Digital Cinema Theatre Control

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Tue, 06/25/2013 - 15:24 -- Nick Dager

Barco has released CineMate, a free mobile app for both Apple iOS and Android devices that enables exhibitors to easily control and operate their digital cinema equipment via their smart phone, tablet or other mobile device. The app will be available for download in the App Store and Google Play from mid-July onwards.

The digitization of the cinema industry has been very hardware-oriented and digitizing the equipment in the projection booth has been the number one priority for all stakeholders involved in this transition. Now that the conversion to digital cinema is well on its way to completion, exhibitors worldwide are looking for ways to maximally leverage their digital installed base. To support them, Barco has developed a free app for mobile devices (both Apple iOS and Android) that brings the day-to-day operation of digital cinema equipment to their fingertips in an easy-to-use dashboard.

As of mid-July, the CineMate app will be available for download via the App Store and Google Play. Once installed onto a tablet or smart phone, users can easily control and run their web-enabled digital cinema equipment via their mobile device. As a fully scalable system, they can simply add screens and build the structure of their theater from the intuitive user interface.

The app plays nicely with Communicator Lite on Barco’s DP2K-10S projector and with media servers featuring a web-based user interface. Currently, CineMate automatically detects Barco projectors and the Doremi IMS1000, which simplifies the initial theater setup. It also enables the integration of any other equipment with a web user interface into the dashboard. In this way, the app allows you to group and structure your digital cinema equipment in a clear overview that enables faster operation. 

From the theater overview on the dashboard, users can zoom in on a specific projection booth and access the digital cinema equipment that’s in there (e.g. servers or projectors). Thus, they have immediate and centralized access to everything they need for the day-to-day operations of their servers (content management, planning, etc.) and projectors (lamp, macros, dowser, etc.).

Even troubleshooting and maintenance actions can quickly be performed via this interface, from any location in the theater. In this way theater managers and projectionists have the business-critical tools at their fingertips to run their theater.