Technology announcements flowed from Caesars Palace on the first day of CinemaCon on Monday [15], led by the news that Chinese theatre giant Wanda plans to instal Dolby Atmos as the standard audio equipment in all its X-Land giant screens.

Dolby Laboratories executives said the Colosseum theatre at Caesars Palace has been equipped with Dolby Atmos, which the company unveiled a year ago, for the duration of the show.

In other developments from Las Vegas:

  • International deployment company Scrabble Entertainment has begun to roll out its lease-to-own, DCI-compliant digital conversion programme. According to Scrabble the initiative does not require any financial pre-qualifications or credit check of any kind and thus far all the US majors except Sony Pictures, which is in “advanced negotiations”, have signed non-exclusive deals.

Patrick Artiaga has joined visual technology display specialist Christie Digital Systems USA in the new position of director of business development and entertainment solutions. Artiaga arrives from ACS Enterprises and is tasked with driving new products and business initiatives. He reports to vp of entertainment solutions Craig Sholder.

  • RealD introduced Precision White Screen technology for cinema projection, which combines 2D white screen performance with the ability to project polarised 3D images. The company claims its Precision White Screen technology features edges four to five times brighter than a standard screen and results in 40% more total light coming off the screen. Precision White Screen technology is expected to be available exclusively to exhibitors, production and post-production facilities utilising RealD 3D Cinema Systems initially through Ballantyne Strong’s Strong-MDI. Details on pricing and availability will be announced shortly.  

Projection surfaces manufacturer Harkness Screens has launched two free apps available on iTunes. The Digital Screen Modeller is a 3D simulation tool that allows architects, engineers and exhibitors to visualise digital cinema scenarios in a virtual 3D environment. The Digital Screen Archiver is a secure cloud-based data capture and reporting tool that aids projectionists, managers, engineers and exhibitors to maintain their digital cinema auditoria.

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