NORDIC (NORway's Digital Interoperability in Cinemas) project


NORDIC project will put the country on the path to complete digital switch-over in 2007

OSLO, Norway 1 March 2006 - Norwegian cinema trade body FILM&KINO has approved funding for the NORDIC (NORway's Digital Interoperability in Cinemas) project, which will prepare the country for a complete migration to digital cinema, in line with DCI-specifications and future SMPTE standards. The project brings together Norway's leading experts in the field, including on-line ticketing portal Filmweb, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, telecom and pay-television operator Telenor, installation and service company Hjalmar Wilhelmsen and digital cinema advertising pioneers Unique Promotions/Unique Digital, as well as all of the major exhibitors and cinemas across Norway.

One Year Project

The twelve-month project will explore issues arising from a country-wide networked installation of digital cinema equipment. It will explore multi-platform distribution of digital film and other content, using all major projector and server technology available in the market. The purpose of the NORDIC project is in line with the call for a Beta Market prior to the initiation of a wide-scale digital cinema roll-out, as issued by the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) last year and supported by the European cinema trade body UNIC. Projector and server manufacturers have already been briefed on the project and expressed their strong support and approval.

Trondheim First in the World

The total budget for the NORDIC project is NOK 14m ($2.1m), with the majority funding coming from the individual project partners and NOK 1.5m ($0.22m) from FILM&KINO. A total of 12 new digital installations will complement Norway's four existing digital cinema screens, which include the world's first Sony 4K SXRD projector installed in a commercial cinema, in Trondheim. Servers from all major manufacturers will take part in the testing, with a strong emphasis on researching JPEG2000 compression and security issues. Films tested will include both local, European and Hollywood features, as well as archive material, advertising, alternative content, business applications and other new uses.

Improved Cinema Experience

Speaking on behalf of the Norwegian D-Cinema Alliance (DKA – D-kinoalliansen), an industry body working for the digitisation of Norwegian cinemas, exhibitor Stein Sandvik of Bergen Kino comments, “We believe that there is important groundwork to be done in preparing Norway for the looming digital cinema switch. That is why we look forward to the results of the NORDIC project, which we strongly believe will help guide the Norwegian film and cinema industry.”

As one of the co-authors of the JPEG-2000 image coding standard and a lead partner in the NORDIC project, NTNU's Professor Andrew Perkis, sees wide international relevance for the project. “We will not only be consulting with the international standards institutions and Hollywood studios about the issues involved in testing D-Cinema interoperability issues,” Professor Perkis affirmed, “but we will also be sharing the outcome and data of the NORDIC project as widely as possible.” Speaking on behalf of the NORDIC project partners, Unique Digital's Director of Technology Dave Spilde noted that “As the first country in the world where every cinema has already been digitised for cinema advertising as of 2002, we look forward to working with our partners Filmweb, Hjalmar Wilhelmsen, NTNU and Telenor to give exhibitors the means and confidence to take the cinema experience to the highest possible digital level.”

25 Digitalizes Cinema Halls

The NORDIC project will be complemented by another local project investigating digital film distribution over broadband, mainly of art-house films to smaller cinemas, but also Kristiansand and Oslo. In total around 25 screens across Norway will be digitised as a result of the two projects.

Details of the NORDIC project will be announced at the ShoWest 2006 cinema industry trade show in Las Vegas, on Monday 13 March.