South Africa’s biggest exhibitor upgrades to Christie screens

South African cinema chain Ster-Kinekor, has placed an order with Christie in an effort to become fully DCI-compliant by mid-2013.

Ster-Kinekor Theatres is South Africa’s largest exhibitor with 438 screens and 63,000 seats, spread across 54 sites. The company has some Christie Series 2 cinema projectors operating already, having begun the conversion in 2008, but by 2013 the total number will grow to 180 Christie Series 2 projectors and 198 Solaria One and Solaria One+ projectors. Each of these will come with lens, custom-designed Xenon lamp, Christie Integrated Media Block (IMB) and Screen Management Software (SMS).

Select screens in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town will also receive Christie 4K DLP Cinema projectors. This upgrade will be the first time that the Christie Solaria, Solaria One and Solaria One+, as well as Christie IMB and 4K, have all featured in the same deployment.

Dale Miller, Vice President Christie EMEA commented: “With the recent opening of a local office in Johannesburg, led by Territory Manager Phil Lord, Christie is perfectly placed to offer a high level of technical support.”

Ster-Kinekor Theatres CEO, Fiaz Mahomed says that the upgrade is a critical step in growing the company: “Christie is crucial to this development, and their close relationship with Arts Alliance and overall bid was compelling. The digital conversion will ensure a heightened viewing experience and is critical in meeting the very real demand from our valued audiences in seeing the best film content — at its best.”