Guest Column

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By Michael Karagosian

Eleven years have passed since the first public introduction of digital cinema at ShoWest.  The industry has since come a long way…and it has still a long way to go.  With nearly 100 percent worldwide digital screen growth in 2009, and with the three major circuits in the US set to rollout in 2010, one might get the sense that digital cinema is on a roll.  While the US is on track to convert approximately 50 percent of its screens, there is still the remaining 50 percent to think about, as well as the rest of the world.

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By Michael Karagosian

Who do you trust is the most fundamental issue of security. Digital cinema was originally devised so that studios could conduct business with exhibitors without concern for theft of content in its pristine, digital form.  As the number of digital cinema installations grows, the management of security keys becomes increasingly difficult to perform and the entities that supply security keys struggle to keep up with new installations.

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By James Hyder


Cinemark USA and Imax Corporation have filed lawsuits against each other over Cinemark’s XD digital theaters. Cinemark, the third largest theater chain in the U.S., filed a suit on November 4 seeking to invalidate two patents Imax holds on “Conversion of a Cinema Theater to a Super Cinema Theater.” Imax countered on November 12 with a complaint that alleges fraud, breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, and tortious interference, and seeks an injunction to prevent Cinemark from “producing, using, and selling its XD system.”